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A 



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2,^ 

A GENEALOGICAL 



AND 



Biographical Record^'" 



OF 



MIAMI COUNTY 



OHIO 



Compendium of National Biography 



CHICAGO 

The Lewis Publishing Company 

1900 



.M(.Ct 



•5 




Biography is the onij' true History. — Emerson. 

A people that take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors 

will never achieve anything worthy to be remembered with 

pride by remote generations. — Macaulay. 






35 u« 



*^ 



CONTENTS 



GENERAL INDEX. 




Table of Contents, 
Introductory, - 



3 
11 



Compendium of National Biography, 13 

Compendium of Local Biography, 223 



INDEX TO FART I, 



Compendium of National Biography. 



Biographical Sketches of National Celebrities. 



PAGE 

Abbott, Lyman 144 

Adams, Charles Kendall 143 

Adams, John .26 

Adams, John Qiiincy 61 

Agassiz, Louis J. R 137 

Alger, Russell A 173 

Allison, William B 131 

Allston, Washington 190 

Altgeld, John Peter 140 

Andrews, Elisha B 184 

Anthony, Susan B 62 

Armour, Philij) D 62 

Arnold, Benedict 84 

Arthur, Chester Allen 168 

Astor, John Jacob 139 

Audubon, John James 166 

Bailey, James Montgomery... 177 

Bancroft, George 74 

Barnard, Frederick A. P 179 

Barnum, Phineas T 41 

Barrett, Lawrence 156 

Barton, Clara 209 

Bayard, Thomas Francis 200 

Beard, William H 196 

Beauregard, Pierre G. T 203 

Beecher, Henry Ward 26 

Bell, Alexander Graham 96 

Bennett, James Gordon 206 

Benton, Thomas Hart 53 

Bergh, Henry 160 

Bierstadt, Albert 197 

Billings, Josh... 166 

Blaine, James Gillespie 22 

Bland, Richard Parks 106 



PAGE 

Boone, Daniel 36 

Booth, Edwin 61 

Booth, Junius Brutus 177 

Brice, Calvin S 181 

Brooks, Phillips 130 

Brown, John 51 

Brown. Charles Farrar 91 

Brush Charles Francis 153 

liryan, William Jennings 158 

Bryant, William CuUen 44 

Buchanan, Franklin 105 

Buchanan, James 128 

Buckner, Simon Bolivar 188 

Burdette, Robert J 103 

Burr, Aaron Ill 

Butler, Benjamin Franklin.. . . 24 

Calhoun, John Caldwell 23 

Cameron, James Donald 141 

Cameron, Simon 141 

Cammack, Addison 197 

Campbell, Alexander 180 

Carlisle, John G 133 

Carnegie, Andrew 73 

Carpenter, Matthew Hale 178 

Carson, Christopher (Kit) 86 

Cass, Lewis 110 

Chase, Salmon Portland 66 

Childs, George W 83 

Choate, Rufus 207 

Claflin, Horace Brigham 107 

Clay, Henry 21 

Clemens, Samuel Langhorne.. 86 

Cleveland, Grover 174 

Clews, Henry 153 



page 

Clinton, DeWitt 110 

Colfax, Schuyler 139 

Conkling, Alfred 32 

Conkling, Roscoe 32 

Cooley, Thomas Mclntyre. . . . 140 

Cooper, James Feniniore 58 

Cooper, Peter 37 

Copely, John Singleton 191 

Corbin, Austin 205 

Corcoran, W. W 196 

Cornell, Ezra 161 

Cramp, William 189 

Crockett, David 76 

Cullom, Shelby Moore 116 

Curtis, George William 144 

Cushman, Charlotte 107 

Custer, George A 95 

Dana, Charles A 88 

" Danbury News Man " 177 

Davenport, Fanny 106 

Davis, Jefferson 24 

Debs, Eugene V. . . ., 132 

Decatur, Stephen 101 

Deering, William 198 

Depew, Chauncey Mitchell.. .. 209 

Dickinson, Anna 103 

Dickinson, Don M 139 

Dingley, Nelson, Jr 215 

Donnelly, Ignatius 161 

Douglas, Stephen Arnold 53 

Douglass, Frederick 43 

Dow, Neal 108 

Draper, John William 184 



TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART I. 



PAGE 

Drexel, Anthony Joseph 124 

Dupont, Henry 198 

Edison, Thomas Alva 55 

Edmunds, George F 201 

Ellsworth, Oliver 168 

Emerson, Ralph Waldo 57 

Ericsson, John 127 

Evarts, William Maxwell 89 

Farragut, David Glascoe 80 

Field, Cyrus West 173 

Field, David Dudley 126 

Field, Marshall 59 

Field, Stephen Johnson 216 

Fillmore, Millard 113 

Foote, Andrew Hull 176 

Foraker, Joseph B 143 

Forrest, Edwin 92 

Franklin, Benjamin 18 

Fremont, John Charles 29 

Fuller, Melville Weston 168 

Fulton, Robert 62 

Gage, Lyman J 71 

Gallatin, Albert 112 

Garfield, James A .... 163 

Garrett, John Work 200 

Garrison, William Lloyd 50 

Gates, Horatio 70 

Galling, Richard Jordan 116 

George, Henry 203 

Gibbons, Cardinal James 209 

Gilmore, Patrick Sarsfield 77 

Girard, Stephen 137 

Gough, John B 131 

Gould, Jay 62 

Gordon, John B 215 

Grant, Ulysses S 155 

Gray, Asa 88 

Gray, Elisha 149 

Greeley, Adolphus W 142 

Greeley, Horace 20 

Greene, Nathaniel 69 

Gresham, Walter Quintin 183 

Hale, Edward Everett 79 

Hall, Charles Francis 167 

Hamilton, Alexander 31 

Hamlin, Hannibal 214 

Hampton, Wade 192 

Hancock, Wintield Scott 146 

Hanna, Marcus Alonzo 169 

Harris, Isliam G 214 

Harrison, William Henry 87 

.Harrison, Benjamin ,. 182 

Har'. ard, John 129 

Havemeyer, John Craig 182 

Hawthorne, Nathaniel 135 

Hayes, Rutherford Hirchard.. . 157 
Hendricks, Thomas Andrew.. 212 

Henry, Joseph 105 

Henrv, Patrick 83 

Hill, IJavid Bennett 90 

Hobart, Garrett A 213 

Holmes, Oliver Wendell 206 

Hooker, Joseph 62 

Howe, Elias 130 

Kowells, William Dean 104 



PAGE 

Houston, Sam 120 

Hughes, Archbishop John 157 

Hughitt, Marvin 159 

Hull, Isaac 169 

Huntington, Collis Potter 94 

Ingalls, John James 114 

IngersoU, Robert G 85 

Irving, Washington 33 

Jackson, Andrew 71 

Jackson, "Stonewall " 67 

Jackson, Thomas Jonathan 67 

Jay, John 39 

Jefferson, Joseph 47 

Jefferson, Thomas 34 

Johnson, Andrew 145 

Johnson, Eastman 202 

Johnston, Joseph Eccleston.. . . 85 
ones, James K 171 

Jones, John Paul 97 

Jones, Samuel Porter 115 

Kane, Elisha Kent 126 

Kearney, Philip 210 

Kenton, Simon 188 

Knox, John Jay 134 

Lamar, Lucius Q. C 201 

Landon, Melville D 109 

Lee, Robert Edward 38 

Lewis, Charles B 193 

Lincoln, Abraham 135 

Livermore, Mary Ashton 131 

Locke, David Ross 172 

Logan, John A 26 

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth 37 

Longstreet, James 56 

Lowell, James Russell 104 

Mackay, John William 148 

Madison, James 42 

Marshall, John 166 

Mather, Cotton 164 

Mather, Increase 163 

Maxim, Hiram S 194 

McClellan, George Brinton.. . . 47 

McCormick, Cyrus Hall 172 

McDonough, Com. Thomas.. . 167 

McKinley, William 217 

Meade, George Gordon 75 

Medill, Joseph 159 

Miles, Nelson A 176 

Miller, Cincinnatus Heine 218 

Miller, Joaquin 218 

Mills, Roger Quarles 211 

Monroe, James 54 

Moody, Dwight L 207 

Moran, Thomas 98 

Morgan, John Pierpont 208 

Morgan, John T 216 

Morris, Robert 165 

Morse, Samuel F. B 124 

Morton, Levi P 142 

Morton, Oliver Perrv 215 

Motley, John Lathro'p 130 

"Nye, Bill" 59 

Nye, Edgar Wilson 59 



PAGE 

O'Conor, Charles 187 

Olney, Richard 133 

Paine, Thomas 147 

Palmer, John M 195 

Parkhurst, Charles Henry 160 

" Partington, Mrs." 202 

Peabody, George 170 

Peck, George W 187 

Peffer, William A 164 

Perkins, Eli 109 

Perry, Oliver Hazard 97 

Phillips, Wendell 30 

Pierce, Franklin 122 

Pingree, Hazen S 212 

Plant, Henry B 192 

Poe, Edgar Allen 69 

Polk, James Knox 102 

Porter, David Dixon 68 

Porter, Noah 93 

Prentice, George Denison. . . . 119 

Prescott, William Hickling 96 

Pullman, George Mortimer.... 121 

Quad, M 193 

Quay Matthews 171 

Randolph, Edmund 136 

Read, Thomas Buchanan 132 

Reed, Thomas Brackett 208 

Reid, Whitelaw...'. 149 

Roach, John 190 

Rockefeller, John Davison.... 195 

Root, George Frederick 218 

Rothermel, Peter F 113 

Rutledge, John 57 

Sage, Russell 211 

Schofield, John McAllister 199 

Schurz, Carl 201 

Scott, Thomas Alexander 204 

Scott, Winfield 79 

Seward, William Henry 44 

Sharon, William 165 

Shaw, Henry W 166 

Sheridan, Phillip Henry 40 

Sherman, Charles R 87 

Sherman, John 86 

Shillaber, Benjamin Penhallow 202 

.Sherman, W'illiam Tecumseh.. 30 

Smith, Edmund Kirby 114 

Sousa, John Philip 60 

Spreckels, Claus 159 

Stanford, Leiand 101 

Stanton, Edwin McMasters... 179 

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 126 

.Stephens, Alexander Hamilton 32 

Stephenson, Adlai Ewing. .. . 141 

Stewart, Alexander T 58 

Stewart, William Morris 213 

Stowe, Harriet Elizabeth 

Beecher 66 

Stuart, James E. B 122 

Sumner, Charles 84 

Talmage, Thomas DeWitt. .. . 60 

Taney, Roger Brooke 129 

Taylor, Zacharv 108 

Teller. Henry M 127 



TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART I. 



PAGE 

Tesla, Nikola 193 

Thomas, George H 73 

Thumas, Theodore 172 

Thurman, Allen G 90 

Thurston, John M 166 

Tilden, Samuel J 48 

Tillman, Benjamin Ryan 119 

Toombs, Robert 205 

"Twain, Mark" 86 

Tyler, John 93 

Van Buren, Martin 78 

Vanderhilt, Cornelius 35 

Vail, Alfred 154 

\'est, George Graham 214 



PAGE 

Vilas, William Freeman 140 

Voorhees, Daniel Wolsey 95 

Waite, Morrison Remich 125 

Wallace, Lewis 199 

Wallack, Lester 121 

Wallack, John Lester 121 

Wanamaker, John 89 

Ward, "Artemus " 91 

Washburne, Klihu Benjamin. . 189 

Washington, George 17 

Walson, Thomas E. 178 

W'atterson, Henry 76 

Weaver, James B 123 

Webster, Daniel 19 



PAGE 

Webster, Noah 49 

Weed, Thurlow 91 

West, Benjamin 115 

W'hipple, Henry Benjamin. .. . 161 

White, Stephen V 162 

U'hitefield, George 150 

Whitman, Walt 197 

Whitney, Eli 120 

Whitney, William Collins 92 

Whittier, John Greenleaf 67 

Willard, Frances E 133 

Wilson, William L 180 

Winchell, Alexander 175 

Windom, William 138 



PORTRAITS OF NATIONAL CELEBRITIES. 



PAGF. 

'^Alger, Russell A 16 

^Allison, William B 99 

>l Anthony, Susan B 63 

^Armour, Philip U 151 

JArthur, Chester A 81 

yiiarnum. I'hineas T 117 

^Beecher, Henry Ward 27 

^Blaine, James G 151 

-/Booth, Edwin 63 

^Brvan, Wni. J 63 

Bryant, William CuUen 185 

^Buchanan, James 81 

-.Buckner, Simon B 16 

V Butler Benjamin F 151 

^'Carlisle, John G 151 

-I Ciiase, Salmon P 16 

^Chikh, George W 99 

Jclay, Henry 81 

-i Cleveland, Grover 45 

^/Cooper, Peter 99 

v'Dana, Charles A 151 

V Depew, Chauncey M 117 

^ Douglass, Fred 63 

■1 Emerson, Ralph Waldo 27 

^varts, W'illiam M 99 

vFarragut, Com. D. G 185 

V, Field, Cvrus W 63 



PAGE 

Field, Marshall 117 

^Franklin, Benjamin 63 

'JFremont.Gen. John C 16 

■•'Gage, Lyman J 151 

■/Garfield, James A 45 

\ Garrison, William Lloyd 63 

■George, Henry 117 

Gould, Jay 99 

- Grant, Gen. L'. S 185 

'Greeley, Horace 81 

• Hampton, Wade 16 

■VHancock, Gen. Winfield S 185 

Hanna, Mark A 117 

'Harrison, Benjamin 81 

Hayes, R. B 45 

Hendricks, Thomas A 81 

.Holmes, Oliver W 151 

^' Hooker, Gen. Joseph 16 

■ Ingersoll, Robert G 117 

-Irving, Washington 27 

. Jackson, Andrew 45 

Jefferson, Thomas 45 

• Johnston, Gen. J. E 16 

Lee, Gen. Robert E 185 

-.Lincoln, Abraham 81 

Logan, Gen. lohn A 16 

^Longfellow, Henry W 186 



PAGE 

V Longstreet, Gen. James 16 

V Lowell, James Russell 27 

xWcKinley, William 45 

v1\lorse, S. F. B 185 

-Thillips, Wendell 27 

^ Porter, Com. D. D 185 

^ Pullman, George M. 117 

Quay, i\l. S 99 

Reed, Thomas B 151 

«Sage, Russell 117 

'Scott, Gen. W' infield 185 

Seward, William H 45 

V Sherman, John 99 

. Sherman, Gen. W. T 151 

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady 27 

Stowe, Harriet Beecher 27 

Sumner, Charles 45 

Talmage, T. DeWitt 63 

Teller, Henry M 99 

Thurman, Allen G 81 

Tilden, Samuel J 117 

Van Buren, Martin 81 

\'anderbilt. Commodore 99 

Webster, Daniel 27 

Whittier, John G 21 

W'ashington, George 45 

Watterson, Henry 63 



^ir^^^^^^^^'^'iT^^^^^^'%>^^^^^^^^^*lr'^^^Mf'^^^ 






\. 



COMPENDIUM 



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LOCAL BIOGRAPHY 



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PART II. 

Biographical Compendium of Miami County. 



PAGE 

Adams, John F 699 

Albaugh, Noah H 473 

Amnion, Levi 6.58 

Anderson, John E 521 

Anderson, William S 617 

Argerbright, Daniel 489 

Ashwurtii, John 818 

Ashworth, William 655 

Aspinall, Charles E 660 

Bacon, Asa K 889 

Bailey, Edgar E 320 

Bailev, William H 252 

Bartel, August. 578 

Bartel, John W 610 

Bashor, Benjamin S 879 

Battelle.JohnG 370 

Bausnian, Samuel N 494 

Bierwirth, William H 828 

Binklev, O. H 333 

Black, Joseph 644 

Boal, William King 516 

Bohlender, Peter 420 

Bond, William G 296 

Bousman Family, The 443 

Bousmaii, John E 446 

Bowne. Cornelius 380 

Boyer, John L 545 

Bradley, Firman J 701 

Bradley, John M 701 

Branson, Dewitt C S47 

Briggs, Charles U 742 

Bright, Adam 436 

Brinkmann, W'dliam 379 

Brokaw, Henry 686 

■Brotherton, Alfred M 477 

Brown, Charles H 756 

Brown, Cyrus T 394 

Brown, Henry C 600 

Brown, McPherson 530 

Brown, Miles K 600 

Brown, Thomas C 663 

Brown, William B 318 

Brump, Clara Belle 570 

Bryant, Henry H 628 

Buchanan, John A 667 

Buchanan, Levi H 239 

Buchanan, William W. V 3 

Bull, Asenath 551 

Burkholder, Frank 603 

Butcher, Arthur E 908 

Butterworth, Isaac 591 



PAGE 

Caldwell, James H 350 

Campbell, Alonzo B 681 

Campbell, Frank E 770 

Campbell, \'ictor E 762 

Carver, George W 749 

Caven, John M 413 

Christian, Aaron 632 

Clark, John 636 

Clark, John H 549 

Clark, Levi 690 

Cline, Charles C 442 

Clyde, W.J 287 

Clyne, Isaac 705 

Coate, David M 765 

Coble, Henry 476 

Coleman, Asa 463 

Coleman, Augustus H 232 

Coleman, Horace 4.58 

Coiiover, Leonidas 3.56 

Conrad, George v\' 528 

Coppock, H. H 575 

Coppock, Lorin E 299 

Co.\, John 644 

Cox, Thompson 580 

Crampton, Byron 260 

Crawmer, Charles E. S 738 

Cravvmer, James W 293 

Crawmer, Michael 736 

Cromer, Nora 643 

Cn riier, Peyton E 892 

Cron, L. C .508 

Crow, Ira D 495 

Cruse, George W 679 

Davies, William D .551 

Davis, David 810 

Davis, Lewis W 844 

Davy, Jacob A 564 

Davy, William W 744 

Decker, Valentine 731 

Deeter, Samuel R 645 

Defrees, John W 364 

Detrick, Jacob F 886 

Devenney, Luther 447 

Deweese, Franklin A 481> 

Deweese, J. Albert 783 

Deweese, Marion L SlU 

Diehl, Justus 729 

Dilbone, William -583 

Dillaway, L. F 330 

Dinsmore, William 265 

Doll, Philip J 677 



PAGE 

Dorsev, Godwin V 358 

Doss, 'William J 876 

Dowler, Joseph C 789 

Drake, Theodore R 269' 

Drury, John C 232 

Duncan, Aaron 280 

Dimcan, William A 720 

Eagle, Peter F 870 

Eddy, William A 743 

Edwards Brothers 4.50 

Edwards, Ogden 4.50 

Eikenbury, Oscar B 464 

Elleman, William 825 

Estey, James H 7.50 

Estey, jotham S 871 

Ethell, William H 491 

Evans, Robert M 778 

Farrington, Edwin R 542 

Favorite, L^riah J 513 

Fine, David M 895 

Folker, Samuel 901 

Ford & Company 868- 

Forman, Henry M 840 

Fouts, Henry 863 

Francis, \Villiam H .357 

Frank, Samuel D 340 

Frederick, John H 726 

Friedlich, lacob M 803 

Frisch, Frank H 908 

Fry, Airhart M 422 

Fulker, Hen'y 674 

Funderburgh, Solomon 559' 

Furnas, Joshua 386 

Furrow, Alonzo J 699' 

Gaines, Charles K 894 

Gantz, Martin K 490 

Gearheart, James E 605 

Gearheart, John H 620 

Gearheart, Thomas B 605 

Geiger, Joseph F 882 

Geyer, John C 837 

Giesseman, William 776 

Gilbert, William H 526. 

Goodknight, fames L 498 

Goodrich, C. H 498 

Goodrich, P.J 497 

Graham, William L 594 

Gray, Francis 398 

Green, Joseph H 3.52 

Green, S. Davis 61.5. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART 11. 



PAGE 

Hagan, John G <380 

Hall, Albert A 49o 

Hall, Conover 171 

Harbaugh, Thomas C S81 

Hardesty, Charles 501 

Harilesty. James W 560 

Harris, Fielder B 6}2 

Harris, Simmeon E 853 

Harshbarger, Lloyd S^ 

Hart, Henry H 738 

Hart, James H 231 

Haskett, Joseph F 794 

Hawver, Henry A 814 

Hayes, Samuel R 441 

Hays. William S 824 

Heaton, Edgar M 367 

Henderson, John C 8(J2 

Hendrickson, D. C 276 

Henke, George W 448 

Henne, Jacob 54l\ 

Helhermgton, William 283 p- 

Hetzler, Peter 683 

Hildebrand, William H 278 

Hill, J.Charles F 85U 

Hill, Samuel 661 

Himes, Robert W 733 

Hoeflich, Samuel 669 

Hoffman, Arthur S 330 

Hoffman, George P 7.53 

Holtinger, Peter 841 

Holloway, Jeremiah 341 

Holloway, William 891 

Honeyman, Dorsey 339 

Honeyman, M ichael 349 

Hoover, Lewis S 769 

Honher, Jacob 260 

Houser, H. Lawrence. 520 

Houser, Levi 682 

Houser, Martin V 297 

Huber, Frederick 849 

Hughes, Thomas L 734 

Hunt, Gustavus S 806 

Hustler, NLirv V 303 

Hyde, Ramsey L 811 



Iddmgs, Jefferson D 577 

Iddings, Nate 638 

Irwin, George F 359 

Jackson, Marion 727 

Jay, Henry 634 

Jay, Lau'a 634 

ennings, Solomon 754 

Johnson, Charles P" 884 

Johnson, John 414 

Jones, Charles C 342 

iones, Joseph 303 

ones, Mark C 780 

ones, Walter D 6f8 

Kerr, Ellis H 268 

Kerr, J. A 421 

Kerr. John M 667 

Kerr, Sally 375 

Kessler, David A 648 

Kessler. Samuel C 7?0 

Kessler, William H 715 

Keyl.JohnW 697 



PAGE 

Kinna, James H 316 

Kinsella, Moses 8-54 

Knick, Samuel '•09 

Knick, Thomas 741 

Knight, Paul F 564 

Knoop Children's Home 640 

Knoop, Daniel H 246 

Knoop, Henry C 249 

Knoop, John, and Brothers — 227 

Koetitz, William 801 

Kuhnle, Philip A 669 

Kyle, Bartons 230 

Lair, Henry M 708 

Lamme, Oswell D 470 

Landniann, Christoph 392 

Lape, E. W 860 

Larger, August H 839 

Leaf, William H 829 

Le B ond, Alfred M 473 

Lee, David L 843 

Lentz, Daniel H. 852 

Leonard, Thomas C 899 

Leppert, William 703 

Lewis, Lucinda 280 

Licklider, Abram G 672 

Lind, Samuel 525 

Longanecker, Benjamin 793 

Looney, George W 775 

Lowe, James H 395 

Loy, Ed N 3.54 

Magee Brothers - . 444 

Manning, David C 739 

Manson, David 878 

Markley, Joseph A 648 

Marlin, J. H 8.^9 

Marr, James S 562 

Martin, A. C 403 

Martin, W.P 403 

Mathers, Miles W 679 

Maxwell, Spafford W 391 

May, Charles H 796 

McConnell, Edward 906 

McConnell, George R 898 

McCoole, Charles A 385 

McCurdy, Edward B 647 

McCurdv, Samuel 827 

McKec'john ,.... 911 

McKinnev, Arthur L 671 

McKnight, Samuel G 403 

McMaken,Iohn 665 

McManes, Matthew E .563 

McManus, William H 336 

McMaster, John A 304 

McMillan, (leorge 275 

McXeal, Frederick B 408 

Me'ins, Joseph W 288 

Meeks, David C 383 

Meeks, Eusebia B 433 

Meeks, William W 855 

Meredith, Aaron A 713 

Michael, Louis H 904 

Miles, A.W 786 

Miles, Samuel P 777 

Miller, Albert 667 

Miller, Anthony 893 

Miller, George'F 702 



PAGE 

Minnich, David 873 

Minnich, Ira C 791 

Mitchell, John F 784 

Moore, James C 347 

Moore, James M 383 

Aloore, John H 6.53 

Moore, John \V 596 

Moore, Preston P 717 

Moore, Reuben 557 

Morris, Isaac S 278 

Morris, John W 266 

Morrow, Andrew M 424 

Morrow, James 5fi4 

Mumford, George 761 

Mumford, Isaac 690 

Mumford, Joseph E 324 

Mumford, William R 412 

Murphy, Joseph 291 

Myers, David 812 

Neal, Henry 328 

Neal, Henry 457 

Nicholson, John 831 

Nunlist, John A 338 

Oakes, Samuel M 817 

O'Donnell, J. Guv 818 

O'Kane & Hoffman 330 

O'Kane, Walter C 330 

Orr, W. P 321 

Palmer, Samuel D 798 

Patterson, John 6-i3 

Patty, Charles M 748 

Patty, William 2.55 

Pearson, Eli 835 

Pearson, Ephraim 684 

Pearson, George 630 

Pearson, Herbert R 693 

Pearson, John M 492 

Pearson, Noah, Jr 816 

Pearson, Willis A 781 

Pence, Paul N. S 815 

Peters, Wilson J 822 

I'eterson, John G 347 

Pierce, Zenas , 276 

Poock, Freik-rick. , 833 

Popp, John M 624 

Price, Isaac X 377 

Priest. Frank T 772 

Prill, William E 482 

Printz, Henry B 511 

Rankin, Francis M 466 

Reck, Charles L 5.57 

Reck, Levi E 556 

Reed, John 7-57 

Rehmert, Fred 251 

Rench, E. B 883 

Rettig, Henry 420 

Riddle, George W 366 

Rinehnrt, Hairy G 805 

Hitter, Harrv J 687 

Robbins, William F 864 

Robins, Maiiison 345 

Robinson. Charles H 696 

Rogers, William C 566 

Rohrer, Jacob 237 



TABLE OF CONTENTS— PART II. 



PAGE 

Rohrer, John H 846 

RoUin, Horace J 36x 

Rosevelt, Charles VV 746 

Routson, Albert M 263 

Routson, George W 644 

Routson, Josiah 614 

Routzon, Reuben 430 

Rouzer, Daniel I\I 694 

Rudy, Levi 321 

Ru?h, Henry Y 758 

Russell, James R 788 

Russell, Oliver P 479 

Sanders, George M 407 

Sanders, John M 527 

Sando, William \V 360 

Sanzenbacher, Conrad G 858 

Saunders, William R 274 

Sayers, John H 721 

Scarff, Bernard B 903 

Scarff, William N 428 

Schaffer, Jacob 752 

Scobey, Frank E 808 

Scudder, Howard 857 

Secrest, John .303 

See, Jacob 608 

Senour, John G 767 

Shade, Joseph A 270 

Shanck, Nelson 519 

Sheets, Elizabeth 397 

~ Sheets, George M 585 

— ^Sheets, Isaac S 405 

Sheets, Lewis T 672 

Shoemaker, John 797 

Shrader, William 378 

Shuman, Michael 698 

Sifford, Reese M 426 

Simmons, Levi R 593 

Singer, John 718 

Sinks, Jacob 678 



PAGE 

-Smith, George 629 

■Smith, J. Harrison 483 

" " .. 258 

.. 830 
.. 909 
. 732 
.. 649 
.. 764 



_J^nith, John E. 

■■rSniith, Joseph 

Snook, Clarence G 

Snyder, John W 

Sowry, James 

Speelma , George W.. 

Sprou', Robert 773 

Statler, Uavid C 887 

Steil, Frederick 795 

Steinlage, George P 503 

Stewart, Clark E 624 

Stewart, Thomas B 393 

Stewart, William 711 

Stinsman, Frank 312 

Stinsman, Isaac H 311 

Stratton, John R 434 

-^tudebaker, Isaac S 455 

— Studebaker, Joseph M 602 

""Sullivan, Oliver 604 

Swallow, Daniel 606 

Swartz, Ira T 416 

Swartz, John W 285 

Switzer, Levi 574 

T^nnehill, Eli M 627 

Taylor, Sallie E 445 

Ten Eick, William B •. . . 484 

Thackara, Alonzo J 876 

Thackara, Charles 874 

Thomas, Llewellyn Ap 861 

Thomas, Abraham 224 

Thomas, Thomas M 905 

Thomas, William 1 469 

Thompson, William M 722 

Thomson, Elmer E 670 

Thorne, John R 907 

Timmer Brothers 305 

Timmer, B. F 838 



PAGE 

Timmer, Gerhart 522 

Tisor, Co'umbus 305 

Torlina, Theodore G. - 766 

Tracy, Philip H 807 

Ullery, David E 504 

Valentine, L-riah 334 

Wagner, Groven & Company. 619 

Wagner, Jacob G 586 

Walker, John E 439 

Wall, Francis M 662 

Weddle, Darius W 306 

Wefler, Peter 901 

Weldv, Byron T .532 

Wells, Samuel S 245 

West, Joseph W 3.53 

White, George W .546 

Whitlock, Horace E 869 

Widney,John W 691 

Wilbee, Edwin M 622 

Wilgus, G. Rousseau 315 

Wilgus, John H 313 

Wilkinson, J. E 911 

Williams, Elihu S 234 

Williams, H. H 294 

Williams. William 820 

Winans, Samuel 881 

Wise, Hugh. ..^ 626 

Woilerton, Samuel R 301 

Wood, Charles A 355 

Wood, Charles L ._. . . 267 

Wright, John C .'.... 468 ' 

Wright, Thomas M '502 

Yales, Samuel S. 634 

Youart, George K 471 

Youart, Lucien L 438 

Zeller, Theodore J 768 



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HE greatest of English historians, Macaulay, and one of the most 
brilliant writers and profound thinkers of the present century, has 
said: "The history of a country is best told in a record of the 
lives of its people." This is a fact which is becoming more and 
more recognized as our people advance in education and intelli- 
gence, and our own great Emerson, whose name stands at the 
head of American writers of his day, in carrying forward and 
emphasizing the great fact expressed by Macaulay, says: "Biog- 
raphy is the only true history." It was for the purpose of gathering and preserving 
this biographical matter in enduring form that the design for this volume originated. 

COMPENDIUM OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY. 

Regarding the fore part of this volume, "Part I," which is, devoted to a "Com- 
pendium OF National Biography," but little need be said. The hves of the great 
men and celebrities of America are so inaccessible to the general public, and are so 
often in demand without being accessible, that it has been deemed wise to gather 
together a vast number of the biographies of our nation's greatest men and include 
them in this work as a fitting preface to the life histories and biographies of the 
local parties which follow and embrace the latter part of the volume. It is not 
given to all men to become great in a national sense, but the life history of those 
who do, makes up the history of our nation, and as such the history of their lives 
should be in every home and library as a means of reference and education. 

compendium of local biography. 

That portion of the volume devoted to a "Compendium of Local Biography," 
or "Part II," is of the greatest value, and its value will increase as the years go by. 
In this department of local biography is carried out the object which led to the com- 
pilation of this work, in gathering together and placing in enduring form, before it 
becomes too' late, the life history of those who have helped to build up this region 
and who have taken part in the progress and development in business, political, 
social, and agricultural affairs. The rank that any county holds among its sister 
counties depends largely upon the achievements of its citizens. Some add to its rep- 
utation by efficient public service, some by increasing its manufacturing or commercial 



12 INTRODUC TOR r. 



interests, and some by adding to the general wealth and prosperity in cultivating and 
improving its lands. To give a faithful account of the lives of old settlers and rep- 
resentative citizens of this region is to write its history in the truest sense. Each 
year, as it rolls its endless way along the mighty pathway of time, is thinning the 
ranks of those hardy pioneers and old settlers whose lives are so thoroughly identi- 
fied with this region. The relentless hand of death, pursuing its remorseless and 
unceasing avocation, is cutting down, one by one, those whose life histories should 
be preserved as a part of the history of the growth and development of this region. 
The necessity for the collection and preservation of this matter, before it becomes 
too late, is the object of this work. 

Instead of going to musty records and taking therefrom dry statistical matter and 
official generalities, which can be appreciated by but few, our corps of writers have 
gone direct to the people, to the men and women who have by their enterprise and 
industry, brought about the development found in this region, and from their lips 
have written the story of their life struggles. No more interesting or instructive mat- 
ter could be presented to an intelligent public. In this department, devoted to Local 
Biography, will be found a record of many whose lives are worthy the imitation of 
coming generations. It tells how some, commencing life in poverty, by industry and 
economy have accumulated wealth. It tells how others, with limited advantages for 
securing an education, have become learned men and women, with an influence 
widely extended. It tells of men who have risen from the lower walks of life to 
eminence, and whose names have become famous. It tells of those in every walk in 
life who have striven to succeed, and records how success has usually crowned their 
efforts. It tells, also, of many, very many, who, not seeking the applause of the 
world, have pursued "the even tenor of their way," content to have it said of them 
as Christ said of the woman performing a deed of mercy, — ''they have done what 
they could." It tells how many, in the pride and strength of young manhood, left 
the plow and the anvil, the lawyer's office and the counting room, left every trade 
and profession, and at their country's call went forth valiantly "to do or die," for 
the cause and principles they held so dear. In the life of every man and of every 
woman is a lesson that should not be lost upon those who follow after. 

Coming generations will appreciate this volume and preserve it as a sacred treas- 
ure, from the fact that it contains so much that would never find its way into pub- 
lic records, and which would otherwise be inaccessible and lost forever. Great care 
has been taken in the compilation of this work, and every opportunity for revision 
possible given to those represented to insure correctness in what has been written, 
and the publishers feel warranted in saying that they give to their readers a work 
with very few, if any, errors of consequence. 

In closing this brief introductory the memorable words of Carlyle fittingly e.xpress 
the hope, aim, and desire of the publishers in the compilation of this volume: "Let 
the record be made of the men and things of to-day, lest they pass out of memory 
lo-inorrow and are lost. Then perpetuate them, not upon wood or stone that crum- 
bles to dust, but chronicled in picture and in words that endure forever." 




I 1 



9 




1^^:^^^^,^^ 



-^. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY 



OF 



Celebrated Americans 



'<3^'^"^'m' 



■<m^.A 



lit .-^ t' 

yi ^^ lEORGE WASHINGTON, 




^> 



J the first president of the Unit- 
& ed States, called the "Father 
■jlit\/i<>n<i»H2>i>^ of his Country," was one of 
^^"^GvJ^ the most celebrated characters 

^fgj^ in history. He was born Feb- 
ruary 22, 1732, in Washing- 
ton Parish, Westmoreland county, Virginia. 
His father, Augustine Washington, first 
married Jane Butler, who bore him four 
children, and March 6, 1730, he -married 
Mary Ball. Of six children by his second 
marriage, George was the eldest. 

Little is known of the early years of 
Washington, beyond the fact that the house 
in which he was born was burned during his 
early childhood, and that his father there- 
upon moved to another farm, inherited from 
his paternal ancestors, situated in Stafford 
county, on the north bank of the Rappahan- 
nock, and died there in 1743. From earliest 
childhood George developed a noble charac- 
ter. His education was somewhat defective, 
being confined to the elementary branches 
taught him by his mother and at a neighbor- 
ing school. On leaving school he resided 
some time at Mount Vernon with his half 




brother, Lawrence, who acted as his guar, 
dian. George's inclinations were for a sea- 
faring career, and a midshipman's warrant 
was procured for him; but through the oppo- 
sition of his mother the project was aban- 
doned, and at the ags of si.xteen he was 
appointed surveyor to the immense estates 
of the eccentric Lord Fairfax. Three years 
were passed by Washington in a rough fron- 
tier life, gaining experience which afterwards 
proved very essential to him. In 175 1, 
when the Virginia militia were put under 
training with a view to active service against 
France, Washington, though only nineteen 
years of age, was appointed adjutant, with 
the rank of major. In 1752 Lawrence 
Washington died, leaving his large property 
to an infant daughter. In his will George 
was named one of the executors and as an 
eventual heir to Mount Vernon, and by the 
death of the infant niece, soon succeeded to 
that estate. In 1753 George was commis- 
sioned adjutant-general of the Virginia 
militia, and performed important work at 
the outbreak of the French and Indian 
war, was rapidly promoted, and at the close of 
that war we find him commander-in-chief of 



Copjrtsht 1897, by Geo. A. Ogle & Co. 



18 



COMTENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



all the forces raised in Virginia. A cessation 
of Indian hostilities on the frontier having 
followed the expulsion of the French from 
the Ohio, he resigned his commission as 
commander-in-chief of the Virginia forces, 
and then proceeded to Williamsburg to take 
his seat in the Virginia Assembly, of which 
he had been elected a member. 

January 17, 1759, Washington married 
Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Curtis, a young 
and beautiful widow of great wealth, and 
devoted himself for the ensuing hfteen years 
to the quiet pursuits of agriculture, inter- 
rupted only by the annual attendance in 
winter upon the colonial legislature at 
Williamsburg, until summoned by his coun- 
try to enter upon that other arena in which 
his fame was to become world-wide. The 
war for independence called Washington 
into service again, and he was made com- 
mander-in-chief of the colonial forces, and 
was the most gallant and conspicuous figure 
in that bloody struggle, serving until Eng- 
land acknowledged the independence of 
each of the thirteen States, and negotiated 
with them jointly, as separate sovereignties. 
December 4, 1783, the great commander 
took leave of his officers in most affection- 
ate and patriotic terms, and went to An- 
napolis, Maryland, where the congress of 
the States was in session, and to that bod}', 
when peace and order prevailed everywhere, 
resigned his commission and retired to 
Mount Vernon. 

It was in 1789 that Washington was 
called to the chief magistracy of the na- 
tion. The inauguration took place April 
30, in the presence of an immense multi- 
tude which had assembled to witness the new 
and imposing ceremony. In the manifold de- 
tails of his civil administration Washington 
proved himself fully equal to the requirements 
of his position. In 1792, at the second presi- 



dential election, Washington was desirous 
to retire; but he yielded to the general wish 
of the country, and was again chosen presi- 
dent. At the third election, in 1796, he 
was again most urgently entreated to con- 
sent to remain in the executive chair. This 
he positively refused, and after March 4, 
1797, he again retired to Mount Vernon 
for peace, quiet, and repose. 

Of the call again made on this illustrious 
chief to quit his repose at Mount Ver- 
non and take command of all the United 
States forces, with rank of lieutenant-gen- 
eral, when war was threatened with France 
in 1798, nothing need here be stated, ex- 
cept to note the fact as an unmistakable 
testimonial of the high regard in which he 
was still held by his countrymen of all 
shades of political opinion. He patriotic- 
ally accepted this trust, but a treaty of 
peace put a stop to all action under it. He 
asrain retired to Mount Vernon, where he 
died December 14, 1799, in the sixty-eighth 
year of his age. His remains were depos- 
ited in a family vault on the banks of the 
Potomac, at Mount Vernon, where they still 
lie entombed. 

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, an eminent 
American statesman and scientist, was 
born of poor parentage, January 17, 1706, 
in Boston, Massachusetts. He was appren- 
ticed to his brother James to learn the print- 
er's trade to prevent his running away and 
going to sea, and also because of the numer- 
ous family his parents had to support (there 
being seventeen children, Benjamin being 
the fifteenth). He was a great reader, and 
soon developed a taste for writing, and pre- 
pared a number of articles and had them 
published in the paper without his brother's 
knowledge, and when the authorship be- 
came known it resulted in difficulty for tae 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPH7: 



young apprentice, although his articles had 
been received with favor by the public. 
James was afterwards thrown into prison for 
political reasons, and young Benjamin con- 
ducted the paper alone during the time. In 
1823, however, he determined to endure his 
bonds no longer, and ran away, going to 
Philadelphia, where he arrived with only 
three pence as his store of wealth. With 
these he purchased three rolls, and ate them 
as he walked along the streets. He soon 
found employment as a journeyman printer. 
Two years later he was sent to England by 
the governor of Pennsylvania, and was 
promised the public printing, but did not get 
it. On his return to Philadelphia he estab- 
lished the "Pennsylvania Gazette," and 
soon found himself a person of great popu- 
larity in the province, his ability as a writer, 
philosopher, and politician having reached 
the neighboring colonies. He rapidly grew 
in prominence, founded the Philadelphia Li- 
brary in 1842, and two years later the 
American Philosophical Society and the 
University of Pennsylvania. He was made 
Fellow of the Royal Society in London in 
1775. His world-famous investigations in 
electricity and lightning began in 1746. He 
became postmaster-general of the colonies 
in 1753, having devised an inter-colonial 
postal system. He advocated the rights of 
the colonies at all times', and procured the 
repeal of the Stamp Act in 1766. He was 
elected to the Continental congress of 1775, 
and in 1776 was a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, being one of the commit- 
tee appointed to draft that paper. He rep- 
resented the new nation in the courts of 
Europe, especially at Paris, where his simple 
dignity and homely wisdom won him the 
admiration of the court and the favor of the 
people. He was governor of Pennsylvania 
four years; was also a member of the con- 



vention in 17S7 that drafted the constitution 
of the United States. 

His writings upon political topics, anti- 
slavery, finance, and economics, stamp him 
as one of the greatest statesmen of his time, 
while his "Autobiography" and "Poor 
Richard's Almanac " give him precedence in 
the literary field. In early life he was an 
avowed skeptic in religious matters, but 
later in life his utterances on this subject 
were less extreme, though he never ex- 
pressed approval of any sect or creed. He 
died in Philadelphia April 17, 1790. 



DANIEL WEBSTER.— Of world wide 
reputation for statesmanship, diplo- 
macy, and oratory, there is perhaps no more 
prominent figure in the history of our coun- 
try in the interval between 181 5 and 1861, 
than Daniel Webster. He was born at 
Salisbury (now Franklin), New Hampshire, 
January 18, 1782, and was the second son 
of Ebenezer and Abigail (Eastman) Webster. 
He enjoyed but limited educational advan- 
tages in childhood, but spent a few months 
in 1797, at Phillip Exeter Academy. He 
completed his preparation for college in the 
family of Rev. Samuel Wood, at Boscawen, 
and entered Dartmouth College in the fall 
of 1797. He supported himself most of the 
time during these years by teaching school 
and graduated in 1801, having the credit of 
being the foremost scholar of his class. He 
entered the law office of Hon. Thomas W. 
Thompson, at Salisbury. In 1802 he con- 
tinued his legal studies at Fryeburg, Maine, 
where he was principal of the academy and 
copyist in ithe office of the register of 
deeds. In the office of Christopher Gore, 
at Boston, he completed his studies in 
1804-5, ^'^^ was admitted to the bar in the 
latter year, and at Boscawen and at Ports- 
mouth soon rose to eminence in his profes- 



20 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHr. 



sion. He became known as a federalist 
but did not court political honors; but, at- 
tracting attention by his eloquence in oppos- 
ing the war with England, he was elected 
to congress in 1812. During the special 
session of May, 18 13, he was appointed on 
the committee on foreign affairs and made 
his maiden speech June 10, 181 3. Through- 
out this session (as afterwards) he showed 
his mastery of the great economic questions 
of the day. He was re-elected in 1S14. In 
1 8 16 he removed to Boston and for seven 
years devoted himself to his profession, 
earning by his arguments in the celebrated 
"Dartmouth College Case" rank among 
the most distinguished jurists of the country. 
In 1820 Mr. Webster was chosen a member 
of the state convention of Massachusetts, to 
revise the constitution. The same year he 
delivered the famous discourse on the " Pil- 
grim fathers," which laid the foundation for 
his fame as an orator. Declining a nomi- 
nation for United States senator, in 1822 he 
was elected to the lower house of congress 
and was re-elected in 1824 and 1826, but in 
1827 was transferred to the senate. He 
retained his seat in the latter chamber until 
1 841. During this time his voice was ever 
lifted in defence of the national life and 
honor and although politically opposed to 
him he gave his support to the administra- 
tion of President Jackson in the latter's con- 
test with nullification. Through all these 
years he was ever found upon the side of 
right and justice and his speeches upon all 
the great questions of the day have be- 
come household words in almost every 
family. In 1841 Mr. Webster was appointed 
secretary of state by President Harrison 
and was continued in the same office by 
President Tyler. While an incumbent of 
this office he showed consummate ability as 
a diplomat in the negotiation of the "Ash- 



burton treaty " of August 9, 1849, which 
settled many points of dispute between the 
United States and England. In May, 1843, 
he resigned his post and resumed his pro- 
fession, and in December, 1845, took his 
place again in the senate. He contributed 
in an unofficial way to the solution of the 
Oregon question with Great Britain in 1847. 
He was disappointed in 1848 in not receiv- 
ing the nomination for the presidency. He 
became secretary of state under President 
Fillmore in 1S50 and in dealing with all the 
complicated questions of the day showed a 
wonderful mastery of the arts of diplomacy. 
Being hurt in an accident he retired to his 
home at Marshfield, where he died Octo- 
ber 24, 1852. 

HORACE GREELEY. —As journalist, 
author, statesman and political leader, 
there is none more widely known than the 
man whose name heads this article. He 
was born in Amherst, New Hampshire, Feb- 
ruary 3, 181 1, and was reared upon a farm. 
At an early age he evinced a remarkable 
intelligence and love of learning, and at 
the age of ten had read every book he could 
borrow for miles around. About 1821 the 
family removed to Westhaven, Vermont, 
and for some years young Greeley assisted 
in carrying on the farm. In 1826 he entered 
the office of a weekly newspaper at East 
Poultney, Vermont, where he remained 
about four years. On the discontinuance 
of this paper he followed his father's, 
family to Erie county, Pennsylvania, 
whither they had moved, and for a time 
worked at the printer's trade in that neigh- 
borhood. In 1 83 1 Horace went to New 
York City, and for a time found employ- 
ment as journeyman printer. January, 
1833, in partnership with Francis Story, he 
published the Morning Post, the first penny 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY 



21 



paper ever printed. This proved a failure 
and was discontinued after three weeks. 
The business of job printing was carried on, 
however, until the death of Mr. Story in 
July following. In company with Jonas 
Winchester, March 22, 1834, Mr. Greeley 
commenced the publication of the Nciv 
Yorker, a weekly paper of a high character. 
For financial reasons, at the same time, 
Greeley wrote leaders for other papers, and, 
in 183S, took editorial charge of the Jfffcr- 
sonian, a Whig paper published at Albany. 
In 1840, on the discontinuance of that sheet, 
he devoted his energies to the Log Cabin, a 
campaign paper in the interests of the Whig 
party. In the fall of 1841 the latter paper 
was consolidated with the Nciu Yorker, un- 
der the name of the Tribune, the first num- 
ber of which was issued April 10, 184 1. At 
the head of this paper Mr. Greeley remained 
until the day of his death. 

In 1848 Horace Greeley was elected to 
the national house of representatives to 
fill a vacancy, and was a member of that 
body until March 4, 1849. In 1851 he went 
to Europe and served as a juror at the 
World's Fair at the Crystal Palace, Lon- 
don. In 1855, he made a second visit to 
the old world. In 1859 he crossed the 
plains and received a public reception at 
San Francisco and Sacramento. He was a 
member of the Republican national con- 
vention, at Chicago in i860, and assisted in 
the nomination of Abraham Lincoln for 
President. The same year he was a presi- 
dential elector for the state of New York, 
and a delegate to the Loyalist convention 
at Philadelphia. 

At the close of the war, in 1865, Mr. 
Greeley became a strong advocate of uni- 
versal amnesty and complete pacification, 
and in pursuance of this consented to be- 
come one of the bondsmen for Jefferson 



Davis, who was imprisoned for treason. In 
1867 he was a delegate to the New York 
state convention for the revision of the 
constitution. In 1870 he was defeated for 
congress in the Sixth New York district. 
At the Liberal convention, which met in 
Cincinnati, in May, 1872, on the fifth ballot 
Horace Greeley was nominated for presi- 
dent and July following was nominated for 
the same office by the Democratic conven- 
tion at Baltimore. He was defeated by a 
large majority. The large amount of work 
done by him during the campaign, together 
with the loss of his wife about the same 
time, undermined his strong constitution, 
and he was seized with inflammation of the 
brain, and died November 29, 1872. 

In addition to his journalistic work, Mr. 
Greeley was the author of several meritori- 
ous works, among which were: "Hints 
toward reform," "Glances at Europe," 
" History of the struggle for slavery exten 
sion," "Overland journey to San Francis- 
co," "The American conflict," and " Rec- 
ollections of a busy life." 



HENRY CLAY.— In writing of this em- 
inent American, Horace Greeley once 
said: "He was a matchless party chief, an 
admirable orator, a skillful legislator, wield- 
ing unequaled influence, not only over his 
friends, but even over those of his political 
antagonists who were subjected to the magic 
of his conversation and manners. " A law- 
yer, legislator, orator, and statesman, few 
men in history have wielded greater influ- 
ence, or occupied so prominent a place in 
the hearts of the generation in which they 
lived. 

Henry Clay was born near Richmond, 
in Hanover county, Virginia, April 12, 
1777, the son of a poor Baptist preacher 
who died when Henry was but five years 



22 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



old. The mother married again about teij. 
years later and removed to Kentucky leav- 
ing Henry a clerk in a store at Richmond. 
Soon afterward Henry Clay secured a posi- 
tion as copyist in the office of the clerk of the 
high court of chancery, and four years later 
entered the law office of Robert Brooke, 
then attorney general and later governor of 
his native state. In 1797 Henry Clay was 
licensed as a lawyer and followed his mother 
to Kentuck].'; opening an office at Lexington 
and soon built up a profitable practice. 
Soon afterward Kentucky, in separating from 
Virginia, called a state convention for the 
purpose of framing a constitution, and Clay 
at that time took a prominent part, publicly 
urging the adoption of a clause providing 
for the abolition, of slavery, but in this he 
was overruled, as he was fifty years later, 
when in the height of his fame he again ad- 
vised the same course when the state con- 
stitution was revised in 1850. Young Clay 
took a very active and conspicuous part in 
the presidential campaign in 1800, favoring 
the election of Jefferson; and in 1803 was 
chosen to represent Fayette county in the 
state 'egislature. In 1806 General John 
Adair, then United States senator from 
Kentucky, resigned and Henry Clay was 
elected to fill the vacancy by the legislature 
and served through one session in which he 
at once assumed a prominent place. In 
1807 he was again a representative in the 
legislature and was elected speaker of the 
house. At this time originated his trouble 
with Humphrey Marshall. Clay proposed 
that each member clothe himself and family 
wholly in American fabrics, which Marshall 
characterized as the " language of a dema- 
gogue." This led to a duel in which both 
parties were slightly injured. In 1809 
Henry Clay was again elected to fill a va- 
cancy in the United States senate, and two 



years later elected representative in the low- 
er house of congress, being chosen speaker 
of the house. About this time war was de- 
clared against Great Britain, and Clay took 
a prominent public place during this strug- 
gle and was later one of the commissioners 
sent to Europe by President Madison to ne- 
gotiate peace, returning in September, 181 5, 
having been re-elected speaker of the 
house during his absence, and was re-elect- 
ed unanimously. He was afterward re- 
elected to congress and then became secre- 
tary of state undv^r John Quincy Adams. 
In 1 83 I he was again elected senator from 
Kentucky and remained in the senate most 
of the time until his death. 

Henry Clay was three times a candidate 
for the presidency, and once very nearly 
elected. He was the unanimous choice of 
the Whig part}' in 1844 for the presidency, 
and a great effort was made to elect him 
but without success, his opponent, James K. 
Polk, carrying both Pennsylvania and New 
York by a very slender margin, while either 
of them alone would have elected Clay. 
Henry Clay died at Washington June 29, 
1852. 

JAMES GILLESPIE BLAINE was one 
of the most distinguished of American 
statesmen and legislators. He was born 
January 31, 1830, in Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, and received a thorough edu- 
cation, graduating at Washington College in 
1847. In early life he removed to Maine 
and engaged in newspaper work, becoming 
editor of the Portland ' 'Advertiser. " While 
yet a young man he gained distinction as a 
debater and became a conspicuous figure in 
political and public affairs. In 1862 he was 
elected to congress on the Republican ticket 
in Maine and was re-elected five times. In 
March, 1869, he was chosen speaker of the 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOCrRAPHY. 



23 



house of representatives and was re-elected 
in 1 8/ I and again in 1873. In 1876 he was 
a representative in the lower house of con- 
gress and during that year was appointed 
United States senator by the Governor to 
fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of 
Senator Morrill, who had been appointed 
secretary of the treasury. Mr. Blaine 
served in the senate until March 5, 1881, 
when President Garfield appointed him sec- 
retary of state, which position he resigned 
in December, 1881. Mr. Blaine was nom- 
inated for the presidency by the Republic- 
ans, at Chicago in June, 1884, but was de- 
feated by Grover Cleveland after an exciting 
and spirited campaign. During the later 
years of his life Mr. Blaine devoted most of 
his time to the completion of his work 
"Twenty Years in Congress," which had a 
remarkably large sale throughout the United 
States. Blaine was a man of great mental 
ability and force of character and during the 
latter part of his life was one of the most 
noted men of his time. He was the origina- 
torof what is termed the ' ' reciprocity idea " 
in tariff matters, and outlined the plan of 
carrying it into practical effect. In 1876 
Robert G. IngersoU in making a nominating 
speech placing Blaine's name as a candidate 
for president before the national Republican 
convention at Cincinnati, referred to Blaine 
as the " Plumed Knight " and this title clung 
to him during the remainder of his life. His 
death occurred at Washington, January 27, 
1893. 

JOHN CALDWELL CALHOUN, a dis- 
tinguished American statesman, was a 
native of South Carolina, born in Abbeville 
district, March 18, 1782. He was given 
the advantages of a thorough education, 
graduating at Yale College in 1804, and 
adopted the calling of a lawyer. A Demo- 



crat politically, at that time, he took a fore- 
most part in the councils of his party and 
was elected to congress in iSii, supporting 
the tariff of 1S16 and the establishing of 
the United States Bank. In 18 17 he be- 
came secretary of war in President Monroe's 
cabinet, and in 1824 was elected vice-president 
of the United States, on the ticket with John 
Quincy Adams, and re-elected in 1 828, on the 
ticket with General Jackson. Shortly after 
this Mr. Calhoun became one of the strongest 
advocates of free trade and the principle of 
sovereignty of the states and was one of 
the originators of the doctrine that "any 
state could nullify unconstitutional laws of 
congress." Meanwhile Calhoun had be- 
come an aspirant for the presidency, and 
the fact that General Jackson advanced the 
interests of his opponent. Van Buren, led 
to a quarrel, and Calhoun resigned the vice- 
presidency in 1832 and was elected United 
States senator from South Carolina. It was 
during the same year that a convention was 
held in South Carolina at which the " Nul- 
lification ordinance " was adopted, the ob- 
ject of which was to test the constitution- 
ality of the protective tariff measures, and 
to prevent if possible the collection of im- 
port duties in that state which had been 
levied more for the purpose of ' ' protection " 
than revenue. This ordinance was to go 
into effect in February, 1S33, and created a 
great deal of uneasiness throughout the 
country as it was feared there would be a 
clash between the state and federal authori- 
ties. It was in this serious condition of 
public affairs that Henry Clay came forward 
with the the famous "tariff compromise" 
of 1833, to which measure Calhoun and 
most of his followers gave their support and 
the crisis was averted. In 1843 Mr. Cal- 
houn was appointed secretary ol state in 
President Tyler's cabinet, and it was under 



24 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



his administration that the treaty concern- 
ing the annexation of Texas was negotiated. 
In 1845 he was re-elected to the United 
States senate and continued in the senate 
until his death, which occurred in March, 
1 850. He occupied a high rank as a scholar, 
student and orator, and it is conceded that 
he was one of the greatest debaters America 
has produced. The famous debate between 
Calhoun and Webster, in 1833, is regarded 
as the most noted for ability and eloquence 
in the history of the country. 



BENJAMIN FRANKLIN BUTLER, one 
of America's most brilliant and pro- 
found lawyers and noted public men, was 
a native of New England, born at Deer- 
field, New Hampshire, November 5, 18 18. 
His father. Captain John Butler, was a 
prominent man in his day, commanded a 
company during the war of 1812, and 
served under Jackson at New Orleans. 
Benjamin F. Butler was given an excellent 
education, graduated at Waterville College, 
Maine, studied law, was admitted to the 
bar in 1840, at Lowell, Massachusetts, 
where he commenced the practice of his 
profession and gained a wide reputation for 
his ability at the bar, acquiring an extensive 
practice and a fortune. Early in life he 
began taking an active interest in military 
affairs and served in the state militia through 
all grades from private to brigadier-general. 
In 1853 he was elected to the state legisla- 
ture on the Democratic ticket in Lowell, 
and took a prominent part in the passage of 
legislation in the interests of labor. Dur- 
ing the same year he was a member of the 
constitutional convention, and in 1859 rep- 
resented his district in the Massachusetts 
senate. When the Civil war broke out 
General Butler took the field and remained 
at the front most of the time during that 



bloody struggle. Part of the time he had 
charge of Fortress Monroe, and in Febru- 
ary, 1S62, took command of troops forming 
part of the expedition against New Orleans, 
and later had charge of the department of 
the Gulf. He was a conspicuous figure dur- 
ing the continuance of the war. After the 
close of hostilities General Butler resumed 
his law practice in Massachusetts and in 
1866 was elected to congress from the Es- 
sex district. In 1882 he was elected gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts, and in 1884 was the 
nominee of the " Greenback" party for 
president of the United States. He con- 
tinued his legal practice, and maintained his 
place as one of the most prominent men in 
New England until the time of his death, 
which occurred January 10, 1893. 



JEFFERSON DAVIS, an officer, states- 
man and legislator of prominence in 
America, gained the greater part of his fame 
from the fact that he was president of the 
southern confederacy. Mr. Davis was born 
in Christian county, Kentucky, June 3, 
1808, and his early education and surround- 
ings were such that his sympathies and in- 
clinations were wholly with the southern 
people. He received a thorough education, 
graduated at West Point in 1828, and for a 
number of years served in the army at west- 
ern posts and in frontier service, first as 
lieutenant and later as adjutant. In 1835 
he resigned and became a cotton planter in 
Warren county, Mississippi, where he took 
an active interest in public affairs and be- 
came a conspicuous figure in politics. In 
1844 he was a presidential elector from 
Mississippi and during the two following 
years served as congressman from his dis- 
trict. He then became colonel of a Missis- 
sippi regiment in the war with Mexico ana 
participated in some of the most severe lvil- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



25 



ties, being seriously wounded at Buena 
Vista. Upon his return to private life he 
again took a prominent part in political af- 
fairs and represented his state in the United 
States senate from 1847 to 1S51. He then 
entered President Pierce's cabinet as secre- 
tary of war, after which he again entered 
the United States senate, remaining until 
the outbreak of the Civil war. He then be- 
came president of the southern confederacy 
and served as such until captured in May, 
1865, at Irwinville, Georgia. He was held 
as prisoner of war at Fortress Monroe, until 
1867, when he was released on bail and 
finally set free in 1868. His death occurred 
December 6, 1889. 

Jefferson Davis was a man of excellent 
abilities and was recognized as one of the 
best organizers of his day. He was a 
forceful and fluent speaker and a ready 
writer. He wrote and published the " Rise 
and Fall of the Southern Confederacy," a 
work which is considered as authority by 
the southern peopl.- 



JOHN ADAMS, the second president of 
the United States, and one of the most 
conspicuous figures in the early struggles of 
his country for independence, was born in 
the present town of Quincy, then a portion 
■of Braintree, Massachusetts, October 30, 
1735- He received a thorough education, 
graduating at Harvard College in 1755, 
studied law and was admitted to the bar in 
1758. He was well adapted for this profes- 
sion and after opening an office in his native 
town rapidly grew in prominence and public 
favor and soon was regarded as one of the 
leading lawyers of the country. His atten- 
tion was called to political affairs by the 
passage of the S'amp Act, in 1765, and he 
■drew up a set of resolutions on the subject 
which were very popular. In 1768 he re- 



moved to Boston and became one of the 
most courageous and prominent advocates 
of the' popular cause and was chosen a 
member of the Colonial legislature from 
Boston. He was one of the delegates that 
represented Massachusetts in the first Con- 
tinental congress, which met in September, 
1774. In a letter written at this crisis he 
uttered the famous words: "The die is now 
cast; I have passed the Rubicon. Sink or 
swim, live or die, survive or perish with my 
country, is my unalterable determination." 
He was a prominent figure in congress and 
advocated the movement for independence 
when a majority of the members were in- 
clined to temporize and to petition the King. 
In May, 1776, he presented a resolution in 
congress that the colonies should assume 
the duty of self-government, which was 
passed. In June, of the same year, a reso- 
lution that the United States "are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent," 
was moved by Richard H. Lee, seconded by 
Mr. Adams and adopted by a small majority. 
Mr. Adams was a member of the committee 
of five appointed June i i to prepare a 
declaration of independence, in support of 
which he made an eloquent speech. He was 
chairman of the Board of War in 1776 and 
in 1778 was sent as commissioner to France, 
but returned the following year. In 1780 
he went to Europe, having been appointed 
as minister to negotiate a treaty of peace 
and commerce with Great Britain. Con- 
jointly with Franklin and Jay he negotiated 
a treaty in 1782. He was employed as a 
minister to the Court of St. James from 
1785 to 1788, and during that period wrote 
his famous "Defence of the American Con- 
stitutions." In 1789 he became vice-presi- 
dent of the United States and was re-elected 
in 1792. 

In 1796 Mr. Adams was chosen presi- 



20 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



dent of the United States, his competitor 
being Thomas Jefferson, who became vice- 
president. In 1800 he was the Federal 
candidate for president, but he was not 
cordially supported by Gen. Hamilton, the 
favorite leader of his party, and was de- 
feated by Thomas Jefferson. 

Mr. Adams then retired from public life 
to his large estate at Quincy, Mass., where 
he died July 4, 1826, on the same day that 
witnessed the death of Thomas Jefferson. 
Though his physical frame began to give way 
many years before his death, his mental 
powers retained their strength and vigor to 
the last. In his ninetieth year he was glad- 
dened by .the elevation of his son, John 
Quincy Adams, to the presidential office. 



HENRY WARD BEECHER, one of the 
most celebrated American preachers 
and authors, was born at Litchfield, Connec- 
ticut, June 24, 1813. His father was Dr. Ly- 
man Beecher, also an eminent divine. At 
an early age Henry Ward Beecher had a 
strong predilection for a sea-faring life, and 
it was practically decided that he would fol- 
low this inclination, but about this time, in 
consequence of deep religious impressions 
which he experienced during a revival, he 
renounced his former intention and decided 
to enter the ministry. After having grad- 
uated at Amherst College, in 1834, he stud- 
ied theology at Lane Seminary under the 
tuition of his father, who was then president 
of that institution. In 1847 he became pas- 
tor of the Plymouth Congregational church 
in Brooklyn, where his oratorical ability and 
original eloquence attracted one of the larg- 
est congregations in the country. He con- 
tinued to served this church until the time 
of his death, March 8, 1887. Mr. Beecher 
also found time for a great amount of liter- 
ary work- For a number of years he was 



editor of the "Independent" and also the 
' ' Christian Union. " He also produced many 
works which are widely known. Among his 
principal productions are "Lectures to Young 
Men," " Star Papers, " "Life of Christ," 
"Life Thoughts," "Royal Truths" (a 
novel), "Norwood," " Evolution and Rev- 
olution," and " Sermons on Evolution and 
Religion. " Mr. Beecher was also long a 
prominent advocate of anti-slavery princi- 
ples and temperance reform, and, at a later 
period, of the rights of women. 



JOHN A. LOGAN, the illustrious states- 
man and general, was born in Jackson 
county, Illinois, February 9, 1824. In his 
boyhood days he received but a limited edu- 
cation in the schools of his native county. 
On the breaking out of the war with Mexico 
he enlisted in the First Illinois Volunteers 
and became its quartermaster. At the close 
of hostilities he returned home and was 
elected clerk of the courts of Jackson county 
in 1849. Determining to supplement his 
education Logan entered the Louisville Uni- 
versity, from which he graduated in 1852 
and taking up the study of law was admitted 
to the bar. He attained popularity and suc- 
cess in his chosen profession and was elected 
to the legislature in 1852, 1853, 1856 and 
1857. He was prosecuting attorney from 
1853 to 1857. He was elected to congress 
in 1858 to fill a vacancy and again in i860. 
At the outbreak of the Rebellion, Logan re- 
signed his office and entered the army, and 
in September, 1861, was appointed colonel 
of the Thirty-first Illinois Infantry, which he 
led in the battles of Belmont and Fort Don- 
elson. In the latter engagement he was 
wounded. In March, 1862, he was pro- 
moted to be brigadier-general and in the 
following month participated in the battles 
of Pittsburg Landing. In November, 1862, 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHr. 



29- 



for gallant conduct he was made major-gen- 
eral. Throughout the Vicksburg campaign 
he was in command of a division of the Sev- 
enteenth Corps and was distinguished at 
Port Gibson, Champion Kills and in the 
siege and capture cf Vicksburg. In October, 
1S63, he was placed in command of the 
Fifteenth Corps, which he led with great 
credit. During the terrible conflict before 
Atlanta, July 22, 1864, on the death of 
General McPherson, Logan, assuming com- 
mand of the Army of the Tennessee, led it 
on to victory, saving the day by his energy 
and ability. He was shortly after succeeded 
by General O. O. Howard and returned to 
the command of his corps. He remained 
in command until the presidential election, 
when, feeling that his influence was needed 
at home he returned thither and there re- 
mained until the arrival of Sherman at Sa- 
vannah, when General Logan rejoined his 
command. In May, 1865, he succeeded 
General Howard at the head of the Army of 
the Tennessee. He resigned from the army 
in August, the same year, and in November 
was appointed minister to Me.xico, but de- 
clined the honor. He served in the lower 
house of the fortieth and forty-first con- 
gresses, and was elected United States sena- 
tor from his nati\'e state in 1870, 1S78 and 
1885. He was nominated for the vice-presi- 
dency in 1884 on the ticket with Blaine, but 
was defeated. General Logan was the 
author of "The Great Conspiracy, its origin 
and history," published in 1885. He died 
at Washington, December 26, 1886. 



JOHN CHARLES FREMONT, the first 
Republican candidate for president, was 
born in Savannah, Georgia, January 21, 
18 1 3. He graduated from Charleston Col- 
lege (South Carolina) in 1830, and turned his 
attention to civil engineering. He was shortly 



afterward employed in the department of 
government surveys on the Mississippi, and 
constructing maps of that region. He was 
made lieutenant of engineers, and laid be- 
fore the war department a plan for pene- 
trating the Rocky Mountain regions, which 
was accepted, and in 1842 he set out upon 
his first famous exploring expedition and ex- 
plored the South Pass. He also planned an 
expedition to Oregon by a new route further 
south, but afterward joined his expedition 
with that of Wilkes in the region of the 
Great Salt Lake. He made a later expedi- 
tion which penetrated the Sierra Nevadas, 
and the San Joaquin and Sacramento river 
valleys, making maps of all regions explored. 
In 1845 he conducted the great expedi- 
tion which resulted in the acquisition of 
California, which it was believed the Mexi- 
can government was about to dispose of to 
England. Learning that the Mexican gov- 
ernor was preparing to attack tne American 
settlements in his dominion, Fremont deter- 
mined to forestall him. The settlers rallied 
to his camp, and in June, 1846, he defeated 
the Mexican forces at Sonoma Pass, and a 
month later completely routed the governor 
and his entire army. The Americans at 
once declared their independence of Mexico, 
and Fremont was elected governor of Cali- 
fornia. By this time Commodore Stockton 
had reached the coast with instructions from 
Washington to conquer California. Fre- 
mont at once joined him in that effort, which 
resulted in the annexation of California with 
its untold mineral wealth. Later Fremont 
became involved in a difficulty with fellow 
officers which resulted in a court martial, 
and the surrender of his commission. He 
declined to accept reinstatement. He af- 
terward laid out a great road from the Mis- 
sissippi river to San Francisco, and became 
the first United States senator from Califor- 



so 



COMPEXDIl'M OF BIOGRAPHr. 



nia, in 1849. In 1S56 he was nominated 
by the new Republican part}' as its first can- 
didate for president against Buchanan, and 
received 1 14 electoral votes, out of 296. 

In 1 86 1 he was made major-general and 
placed in charge of the western department. 
He planned the reclaiming of the entire 
Mississippi valley, and gathered an army of 
thirty thousand men, with plenty of artil- 
lery, and was ready to move upon the con- 
federate General Price, when he was de- 
prived of his command. He was nominated 
for the presidency at Cincinnati in 1864, but 
withdrew. He was governor of Arizona in 
1878, holding the position four years. He 
was interested in an engineering enterprise 
looking toward a great southern trans-con- 
tinental railroad, and in his later years also 
practiced law in New York. He died July 13, 
1890. 

WENDELL PHILLIPS, the orator and 
abolitionist, and a conspicuous figure 
in American history, was born November 
29, 181 1, at Boston, Massachusetts. He 
received a good education at Harvard 
College, from which he graduated in 1831, 
and then entered the Cambridge Law School . 
After completing his course in that institu- 
tion, in 1833, he was admitted to the bar, 
in 1834, at Suffolk. He entered the arena 
of life at the time when the forces of lib- 
erty and slavery had already begun their 
struggle that was to culminate in the Civil 
war. William Lloyd Garrison, by his clear- 
headed, courageous declarations of the anti- 
slavery principles, had done much to bring 
about this struggle. Mr. Phillips was not a 
man that could stand aside and see a great 
struggle being carried on in the interest of 
humanity and look passively on. He first 
•iittracted attention as an orator in 1837, at 
a meeting that was called to protest against \ 



the murder of the Rev. Elijah P. Lovejoy. 
The meeting would have ended in a few 
perfunctory resolutions had not Mr. Phillips 
by his manly eloquence taken the meeting 
out of the hands of the few that were in- 
clined to temporize and avoid radical utter- 
ances. Having once started out in this ca- 
reer as an abolitionist Phillips never swerved 
from what he deemed his duty, and never 
turned back. He gave up his legal practice 
and launched himself heart and soul in the 
movement for the liberation of the slaves. 
He was ah orator of very great ability and 
by his earnest efforts and eloquence he did 
much in arousing public sentiment in behalf 
of the anti-slavery cause — possibly more 
than any one man of his time. After the 
abolition of slavery Mr. Phillips was, if pos- 
sible, even busier than before m the literary 
and lecture field. Besides temperance and 
women's rights, he lectured often and wrote 
much on finance, and the relations of labor 
and capital, and his utterances on whatever 
subject always bore the stamp of having 
emanated from a master mind. Eminent 
critics have stated that it might fairly be 
questioned whether there has ever spoken 
in America an orator superior to Phillips. 
The death of this great man occurred Feb- 
ruary 4, 18S4. 



WILLIAM TECUMSEH SHERMAN 
was one of the greatest generals that 
the world has ever produced and won im- 
mortal fame by that strategic and famous 
" march to the sea," in the war of the Re- 
bellion.- He was born February 8, 1820, at 
Lancaster, Ohio, and was reared in the 
family of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, as his 
father died when he was but nine years of 
age. He entered West Point in 1836, wa? 
graduated from the same in 184O, and ap- 
pointed a second lieutenant in the Third 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



3r 



Artillery. He passed throuf;h the various 
grades of the service and at the outbreak of 
the Civil war was appointed colonel of the 
Thirteenth Regular Infantry. A full history 
of General Sherman's conspicuous services 
would be to repeat a history of the armj'. 
He c immanded a division at Shiloh, and 
was instrumental in the winning of that bat- 
tle, and was also present at the siege of Vicks- 
burg. On July 4, 1863, he was appointed 
brigadier-general of the regular army, and 
shared with Hooker the victory of Mission- 
ary Ridge. He was commander of the De- 
partment of the Tennessee from October 
27th until the appointment of General 
Grant as lieutenant-general, by whom he 
was appointed to the command of the De- 
partment of the Mississippi, which he as- 
sumed in March, 1864. He at once began 
organizing the army and enlarging his com- 
munications preparatory to his march upon 
Atlanta, which he started the same time of 
the beginning of the Richmond campaign by 
Grant. He started on May 6, and was op- 
posed by Johnston, who had fifty thousand 
men, but by consummate generalship, he 
captured Atlanta, on September 2, after 
several months of hard fighting and a severe 
loss of men. General Sherman started on 
his famous march to the sea November 15, 
1864, and by December 10 he was before 
Savannah, which he took on December 23. 
This campaign is a monument to the genius 
of General Sherman as he only lost 567 
men from Atlanta to the sea. After rest- 
ing his army he moved northward and occu- 
pied the following places: Columbia, 
Cheraw, Fayetteville, Ayersboro, Benton- 
ville, Goldsboro, Raleigh, and April 18, he 
accepted the surrender of Johnston's army 
on a basis of agreement that was not re- 
ceived by the Government with favor, but 
finally accorded Johnston the same terms as 



Lee was given by General Grant. He was 
present at the grand review at Washington, 
and after the close of the war was appointed 
to the command of the military division, of 
the Mississippi; later was appointed lieu- 
tenant-general, and assigned to the military 
division of the Missouri. When General 
Grant was elected president Sherman became 
general, March 4, 1869, and succeeded to 
the command of the army. His death oc- 
curred February 14, 1891, at Washington. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON, one of the 
most prominent of the early American 
statesmen and financiers, was born in Nevis, 
an island of the West Indies, January 11, 
1757, his father being a Scotchman and his 
mother of Huguenot descent. Owing to the 
death of his mother and business reverses 
which came to his father, young Hamilton 
was sent to his mother's relatives in Santa 
Cruz; a few years later was sent to a gram- 
mar school at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, 
and in 1773 entered what is now known as 
Columbia College. Even at that time he 
began taking an active part in public affairs 
and his speeches, pamphlets, and newspaper 
articles on political affairs of the day at- 
tracted considerable attention. In 1776 he 
received a captain's commission and served 
in Washington's army with credit, becoming 
aide-de-camp to Washington with rank of 
lieutenant-colonel. In i 781 he resigned his 
commission because of a rebuke from Gen- 
eral Washington. He next received com- 
mand of a New York battalion and partici- 
pated in the battle of Yorktown. After 
this Hamilton studied law, served several 
terms in congress and was a member of the 
convention at which the Federal Constitu- 
tion was drawn up. His work connected 
with "The Federalist" at about this time 
attracted much attention. Mr. Hamiltoa 



■.•6-2 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



was chosen as the first secretary of the 
United States treasury and as such was the 
author of the funding system and founder of 
the United States Bank. In 1798 he was 
made inspector-general of the army with the 
rank of major-general and was also for a 
short time commander-in-chief. In 1804 
Aaron Burr, then candidate for governor of 
New York, challenged Alexander Hamilton 
to fight a duel, Burr attributing his defeat 
to Hamilton's opposition, and Hamilton, 
though declaring the code as a relic of bar- 
barism, accepted the challenge. They met 
at Weehawken, New Jersey, July 11, 1804. 
Hamilton declined to fire at his adversary, 
but at Burr's first fire was fatally wounded 
and died July 12, 1804. 



ALEXANDER HAMILTON STEPH- 
ENS, vice-president of the southern 
confederacy, a former United States senator 
and governor of Georgia, ranks among the 
great men of American history. He was born 
February 11, 18 12, near Crawfordsville, 
Georgia. He was a graduate of the Uni- 
versity of Georgia, and admitted to the bar 
in 1834. In 1837 he made his debut in 
political life as a member of the state house 
of representatives, and in 1841 declined the 
nomination for the same office; but in 1S42 
he was chosen by the same constituency as 
state senator. Mr. Stephens was one of 
the promoters of the Western and Atlantic 
Railroad. In 1843 he was sent by his dis- 
trict to the national house of representatives, 
which office he held for sixteen consec- 
utive years. He was a member of the 
house during the passing of the Compromise 
Bill, and was one of its ablest and most 
active supporters. The same year (1850) 
Mr. Stephens was a delegate to the state 
convention that framed the celebrated 
" Georgia Platform," and was also a dele- 



gate to the convention that passed the ordi- 
nance of secession, though he bitterly op- 
posed that bill by voice and vote, yet he 
readily acquiesced in their decision after 
it received the votes of the majority of the 
convention. He was chosen vice-president 
of the confederacy without opposition, and 
in 1865 he was the head of the commis- 
sion sent by the south to the Hampton 
Roads conference. He was arrested after 
the fall of the confederacy and was con- 
fined in Fort Warren as a prisoner of state 
but was released on his own parole. Mr. 
Stephens was elected to the forty-third, 
forty-fourth, forty-fifth, forty-sixth and for- 
ty-seventh congresses, with hardly more than 
nominal opposition. He was one of the 
Jeffersonian school of American politics. 
He wrote a number of works, principal 
among which are: "Constitutional View 
of the War between the States," and a 
" Compendium of the History of the United 
States." He was inaugurated as governor 
of Georgia November 4th, 1882, but died 
March 4, 1883, before the completion of 
his term. 

ROSCOE CONKLING was one of the 
most noted and famous of American 
statesmen. He was among the most fin- 
ished, fluent and eloquent orators that have 
ever graced the halls of the American con- 
gress; ever ready, witty and bitter in de- 
bate he was at once admired and feared by 
his political opponents and revered hy his 
followers. True to his friends, loyal to the 
last degree to those with whom his inter- 
ests were associated, he was unsparing to his 
foes and it is said "never forgot an injury." 
Roscoe Conkling was born at Albany, 
New York, on the 30th of October, 1829, 
being a son of Alfred Conkling. Alfred 
Conkling was also a native of New York, 



COMPEJVDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY 



83 



born at East Hampton, October I2, 1789, 
and became one of the most eminent law- 
yers in the Empire state; published several 
legal works; served a term in congress; aft- 
erward as United States district judge for 
Northern New York, and in 1852 was min- 
ister to Mexico. Alfred Conkhng died in 

1874- 

Roscoe Conkling, whose name heads 
this article, at an early age took up the 
study of law and soon became successful and 
prominent at the bar. About 1846 he re- 
moved to Utica and in 1858 was elected 
mayor of that city. He was elected repre- 
sentative in congress from this district and 
was re-elected three times. In 1867 he was 
elected United States senator from the state 
of New York and was re-elected in 1873 
and 1879. In May, 1881, he resigned on 
account of differences with the president. 
In March, 1882, he was appointed and con- 
firmed as associate justice of the United 
States supreme court but declined to serve. 
His death occurred April 18, 1888. 



WASHINGTON IRVING, one of the 
most eminent, talented and popu- 
lar of American authors, was born in New 
York City, April 3, 1783. His father was 
William Irving, a merchant and a native of 
Scotland, who had married an English lady 
and emigrated to America some twenty 
years prior to the birth of Washington. 
Two of the older sons, William and Peter, 
were partially occupied with newspaper 
work and literary pursuits, and this fact 
naturally inclined Washington to follow 
their example. \\'ashington Irving was given 
the advantages afforded by the common 
schools until about sixteen years of age 
when he began studying law, but continued 
to acquire his literary training by diligent 
perusal at home of the older English writers. 



When nineteen he made his first literary 
venture by printing in the ' ' Morning Chroni- 
cle," then edited by his brother. Dr. Peter 
Irving, a series of local sketches under the 
noin-dc-pluuic o{ " Jonathan Oldstyle." In 
1804 he began an extensive trip through 
Europe, returned in 1806, quickly com- 
pleted his legal studies and was admitted to 
the bar, but never practiced the profession. 
In 1807 he began the amusing serial "Sal- 
magundi," which had an immediate suc- 
cess, and not only decided his future 
career but long determined the charac- 
ter of his writings. In 1808, assisted by 
his brother Peter, he wrote " Knickerbock- 
er's History of New York," and in 18 10 an 
excellent biography of Campbell, the poet. 
After this, for some time, Irving's attention 
was occupied by mercantile interests, but 
the commercial house in which he was a 
partner failed in 1817. In 1814 he was 
editor of the Philadelphia "Analectic Maga- 
zine." About 1818 appeared his "Sketch- 
Book," over the nom-de- plume of ' 'Geoffrey 
Crayon," which laid the foundation of Ir- 
ving's fortune and permanent fame. This 
was soon followed by the legends of 
"Sleepy Hollow, "and " Rip Van Winkle," 
which at once took high rank as literary 
productions, and Irving's reputation was 
firmly established in both the old and new 
worlds. After this the path of Irving was 
smooth, and his subsequent writings ap- 
peared with rapidity, including " Brace- 
bridge Hall," "The Tales of a Traveler," 
" History of the Life and Voyages of Chris- 
topher Columbus," "The Conquest of 
Granada," "The Alhambra," " Tour on 
the Prairies," "Astoria," "Adventures ol 
Captain Bonneville," "Wolfert's Roost," 
" Mahomet and his Successors," and "Life 
of Washington," besides other works. 

Washington Irving was never married. 



84 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



He resided during the closing years of his 
life at Sunnyside (Tarrytown) on the Hud- 
son, where he died November 28, 1859. 



CHARLES SUMNER.— Boldly outlined 
on the pages of our history stands out 
the rugged figure of Charles Sumner, states- 
man, lawyer and writer. A man of unim- 
peachable integrity, indomitable will and 
with the power of tireless toil, he was a fit 
leader in troublous times. First in rank as 
an anti-slavery leader in the halls of con- 
gress, he has stamped his image upon the 
annals of his time. As an orator he took 
front rank and, in wealth of illustration, 
rhetoric and lofty tone his eloquence equals 
anything to be found in history. 

Charles Sumner was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, January 6, 181 1, and was 
the son of Charles P. and Relief J. Sumner. 
The family had long been prominent in that 
state. Charles was educated at the Boston 
Public Latin School; entered Harvard Col- 
lege in 1826, and graduated therefrom in 
1830. In 1 83 1 he joined the Harvard Law 
School, then under charge of Judge Story, 
and gave himself up to the study of law 
with enthusiasm. His leisure was devoted 
to contributing to the American Jurist. Ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1834 he was appointed 
reporter to the circuit court by Judge Story. 
He published several works about this time, 
and from 1835 to 1837 and again in 1843 
was lecturer in the law school. He had 
planned a lawyer's life, but in 1845 he gave 
his attention to politics, speakingand working 
against the admission of Texas to the Union 
and subsequently against the Mexican war. 
In 1848 he was defeated for congress on the 
Free Soil ticket. His stand on the anti- 
slavery question at that time alienated both 
friends and clients, but he never swerved 
from his convictions. In 185 1 he was elected 



to the United States senate and took his 
seat therein December i of that year. From 
this time his life became the history of the 
anti-slavery cause in congress. In August, 
1852, he began his attacks on slavery by a 
masterly argument for the repeal of the 
fugitive slave law. On May 22, 1856, Pres- 
ton Brooks, nephew of Senator Butler, of 
South Carolina, made an attack upon Mr. 
Sumner, at his desk in the senate, striking 
him over the head with a heavy cane. The 
attack was quite serious in its effects and 
kept Mr. Sumner absent from his seat in the 
senate for about four years. In 1857, 1863 
and 1869 he was re-elected to the office of 
senator, passing some twenty-three years in 
that position, always advocating the rights 
of freedom and equity. He died March il, 
1874- 

THOMAS JEFFERSON, the third pres- 
ident of the United States, was born 
near Charlottesville, Albemarle county, Vir- 
ginia, April 13, 1743, and was the son of 
Peter and Jane (Randolph^ JefTerson. He 
received the elements of a good education, 
and in 1760 entered William and Mary Col- 
lege. After remaining in that institution for 
two years he took up the study of law with 
George Wythe, of Williamsburg, Virginia, 
one of the foremost lawyers of his day, and 
was admitted to practice in 1767. He ob- 
tained a large and profitable practice, which 
he held for eight years. The conflict be- 
tween Great Britain and the Colonies then 
drew him into public life, he having for 
some time given his attention to the study 
of the sources of law, the origin of liberty 
and equal rights. 

Mr. Jefferson was elected to the Virginia 
house of burgesses in 1769, and served in 
that body several years, a firm supporter of 
liberal measures, and, although a slave- 



Compendium of biographt. 



85 



holder himself, an opponent of slavery. 
With others, he was a leader among the op- 
position to the king. He took his place as 
a member of the Continental congress June 
21, 1775, and after serving on several com- 
mittees was appointed to draught a Declara- 
tion of Independence, which he did, some 
corrections being suggested by Dr. Franklin 
and John Adams. This document was pre- 
sented to congress June 28, 1776, and after 
six days' debate was passed and was signed. 
In the following September Mr. Jefferson 
resumed his seat in the Virginia legislature, 
and gave much time to the adapting of laws 
of that state to the new condition of things. 
He drew up the law, the first ever passed by 
a legislature or adopted by a government, 
which secured perfect religious freedom. 
June I, 1779, he succeeded Patrick Henry 
as governor of Virginia, an office which, 
after co-operating with Washington in de- 
fending the country, he resigned two years 
later. One of his own estates was ravaged 
by the British, and his house at Monticello 
was held by Tarleton for several days, and 
Jefferson narrowly escaped capture. After 
the death of his wife, in 1782, he accepted 
the position of plenipotentiary to France, 
which he had declined in 1776. Before 
leaving he served a short time in congress 
at Annapolis, and succeeded in carrying a 
bill for establishing our present decimal sys- 
tem of currency, one of his most useful pub- 
lic services. He remained in an official ca- 
pacity until October, 1789, and was a most 
active and vigilant minister. Besides the 
onerous duties of his office, during this time, 
he published "Notes on Virginia," sent to 
the United States seeds, shrubs and plants, 
forwarded literary and scientific news and 
gave useful advice to some of the leaders of 
the French Revolution. 

Mr. Jefferson landed in Virginia Novem- 



ber 18, 1789, having obtained a leave of 
absence from his post, and shortly after ac- 
cepted Washington's offer of the portfolio 
of the department of state in his cabinet. 
He entered upon the duties of his office in 
March, 1791, and held it until January i, 
1794, when he tendered his resignation. 
About this time he and Alexander Hamilton 
became decided and aggressive political op- 
ponents, Jefferson being in warm sympathy 
with the people in the French revolution! 
and strongly democratic in his feelings, 
while Hamilton took the opposite side. In 
1796 Jefferson was elected vice-president of 
the United States. In 1800 he was elected 
to the presidency and was inaugurated 
March 4, 1801. During his administration, 
which lasted for eight years, he having been 
re-elected in 1804, he waged a successful 
war against the Tripolitan pirates; purchased; 
Louisiana of Napoleon; reduced the public 
debt, and was the originator of many wise 
measures. Declining a nomination for a 
third term he returned to Monticello, where 
he died July 4, 1826, but a few hours before; 
the death of his friend, John Adams. 

Mr. Jefferson was married January i, 
1772, to Mrs. Martha Skelton, a young, 
beautiful, and wealthy widow, who died 
September 6, 1782, leaving three children, 
three more having died previous to her 
demise. 

CORNELIUS VANDERBILT,known as 
"Commodore" Vanderbilt, was the 
founder of what constitutes the present im- 
mense fortune of the Vanderbilt family. He 
was born May 27, 1794, at Port Richmond, 
Staten Island, Richmond county, New 
York, and we find him at sixteen years run- 
ning a small vessel between his home and 
New York City. The fortifications of Sta- 
ten and Long Islands were just in course of 



36 



COMPENDIUM OF BJOGRAPHT. 



construction, and he carried the laborers 
from New York to the fortifications in his 
" perianger, " as it was called, in the day, 
and at night carried supplies to the fort on 
the Hudson. Later he removed to New 
York, where he added to his little fleet. At 
the age of twenty-three he was free from 
debt and was worth $9,000, and in 1817, 
with a partner he built the first steamboat 
that was run between New York and New 
Brunswick, New Jersey, and became her 
captain at a salary of $1,000 a year. The 
next j-ear he took command of a larger and 
better boat and by 1824 he was in complete 
control of the Gibbon's Line, as it was 
called, which he had brought up to a point 
where it paid $40,000 a year. Commodore 
Vanderbilt acquired the ferry between New 
York and Elizabethport, New Jersey, on a 
fourteen years' lease and conducted this on 
a paying basis. He severed his connections 
with Gibbons in 1S29 and engaged in 
business alone and for twenty years he was 
the leading steamboat man in the country, 
building and operating steamboats on the 
Hudson River, Long Island Sound, on the 
Delaware River and the route to Boston, 
and he had the monopoly of trade on these 
routes. In 1850 he determined to broaden 
his field of operation and accordingly built 
the steamship Prometheus and sailed for 
the Isthmus of Darien, where he desired to 
make a personal investigation of the pros- 
pects of the American Atlantic and Pacific 
■Ship Canal Company, in which he had pur- 
chased a controlling interest. Commodore 
Vanderbilt planned, as a result of this visit, 
a transit route from Greytown on the At- 
lantic coast to San Juan del Sud on the Pa- 
cific coast, which was a saving of 700 miles 
■over the old route. In 1S51 he placed three 
steamers on the Atlantic side and four on 
Ihe Pacific side to accommodate the enor- 



mous traffic occasioned by the discovery of 
gold in California. The following year 
three more vessels were added to his fleet 
and a branch line established from New 
Orleans to Greytown. In 1853 the Com- 
modore sold out hisNicarauguaTransit Com- 
pany, which had netted him $1,000,000 
and built the renowned steam yacht, the 
" North Star." He continued in the ship- 
ping business nine years longer and accu- 
mulated some $10,000,000. In 1S61 he 
presented to the government his inngnifi- 
cent steamer "Vanderbilt, " which had cost 
him $800,000 and for which he received the 
thanks of congress. In 1S44 he became 
interested in the railroad business which he 
followed in later years and became one of 
the greatest railroad magnates of his time. 
He founded the Vanderbilt University at a 
cost of $1,000,000. He died January 4, 
1877, leaving a fortune estimated at over 
$ 1 00, 000, 000 to his children. 



DANIEL BOONE v/as one of the most 
famous of the many Atnerican scouts, 
pioneers and hunters which the early settle- 
ment of the western states brought into 
prominence. Daniel Boone was born Feb- 
ruary II, 1735, in Bucks county, Pennsyl- 
vania, but while yet a young man removed 
to North Carolina, where he was married. 
In 1769, with five companions, he pene- 
trated into the forests and wilds of Kentucky 
— then uninhabited by white men. He had 
frequent conflicts with the Indians and was 
captured by them but escaped and continued 
to hunt in and explore that region for over 
a year, when, in 1771, he returned to his 
home. In the summer of 1773, he removed 
with his own and five other families into 
what was then the wilderness of Kentucky, 
and to defend his colony against the savages, 
he built, in 1775, a fort at Boonesborough, 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



37 



on the Kentucky river. This fort was at- 
tacked by the Indians several times in 1777, 
but they were repulsed. The following 
year, however, Boone was surprised and 
captured by them. They took him to De- 
troit and treated him with leniency, but he 
soon escaped and returned to his fort which 
he defended with success against four hun- 
dred and fifty Indians in August, 1778. His 
son, Enoch Boone, was the first white male 
child born in the state of Kentucky. In 
1795 Daniel Boone removed with his family 
to Missouri, locating about forty-five miles 
west of the present site of St. Louis, where 
he found fresh fields for his favorite pursuits 
— adventure, hunting, and pioneer life. His 
death occurred September 20, 1820. 



HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFEL- 
LOW, said to have been America's 
greatest "poet of the people," was born at 
Portland, Maine, February 27, 1807. He 
entered Bowdoin College at the age of four- 
teen, and graduated in 1825. During his 
college days he distinguished himself in mod- 
ern languages, and wrote several short 
poems, one of the best known of which was 
the " Hymn of the Moravian Nuns." After 
his graduation he entered the law office of 
his father, but the following year was offered 
the professorship of modern languages at 
Bowdoin, with the privilege of three years 
study in Europe to perfect himself in French, 
Spanish, Italian and German. After the 
three years were passed he returned to the 
United States and entered upon his profes- 
sorship in 1829. His first volume was a 
small essay on the "Moral and Devotional 
Poetry of Spain " in 1 833. In 1 83 5 he pub- 
lished some prose sketches of travel under 
the title of "Outre Mer, a Pilgrimage be- 
yond the Sea." In 1835 he was elected to 
the chair of modern languages and literature 



at Harvard University and spent a year in 
Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland, culti- 
vating a knowledge of early Scandinavian 
literature and entered upon his professor- 
ship in 1836. Mr. Longfellow published in 
1839 " Hyperion, a Romance," and "Voices 
of the Night, " and his first volume of original 
verse comprising the selected poems of 
twenty years work, procured him immediate 
recognition as a poet. " Ballads and other 
poems" appeared in 1842, the "Spanish 
Student" a drama in three acts, in 1843, 
"The Belfry of Bruges " in 1846, "Evan- 
geline, a Tale of Acadia," in 1847, which 
was considered his master piece. In 1845 
he published a large volume of the "Poets 
and Poetry of Europe," 1849 " Kavanagh, 
a Tale," ''The Seaside and Fireside " in 
1850, "The Golden Legend " in 1851, "The 
Song of Hiawatha " in 1855, " The Court- 
ship of Miles Standish " in 1858, " Tales of 
a Wayside Inn " in 1863; " Flower de Luce" 
in 1866;" "New England Tragedies" in 
1869; "The Divine Tragedy" in 1871; 
"Three Books of Song" in 1872; "The 
Hanging of the Crane " in 1874. He also 
published a masterly translation of Dante 
in 1867-70 and the " Morituri Salutamus," 
a poem read at the fiftieth anniversary of 
his class at Bowdoin College. Prof. Long- 
fellow resigned his chair at Harvard Univer- 
sity in 1854, but continued to reside at Cam- 
bridge. Some of his poetical works have 
been translated into many languages, and 
their popularity rivals that of the best mod- 
ern English poetry. He died March 24, 
1882, but has left an imperishable fame as 
one of the foremost of American poets. 



PETER COOPER was in three partic- 
ulars — as a capitalist and manufacturer, 
as an inventor, and as a philanthropist — 
connected intimately with some of the most 



88 



COMPEXDICM OF BIOGBAPHT. 



important and useful accessions to the in- 
dustrial arts of America, its progress in in- 
vention and the promotion of educational 
and benevolent institutions intended for the 
benefit of people at large. He was born 
in New York city, February 12, 1791. His 
life was one of labor and struggle, as it was 
with most of America's successful men. In 
early boyhood he commenced to help his 
father as a manufacturer of hats. He at- 
tended school only for half of each day for 
a single year, and beyond this his acquisi- 
tions were all his own. When seventeen 
years old he was placed with John Wood- 
ward to learn the trade of coach-making and 
served his apprenticeship so satisfactorily 
' that his master oPtred to set him up in busi- 
ness, but this he declined because of the 
debt and obligation it would involve. 

The foundation of Mr. Cooper's fortune 
was laid in the invention of an improvement 
in machines for shearing cloth. This was 
largely called into use during the war of 
18 1 2 with England when all importations 
of cloth from that country were stopped. 
The machines lost their value, however, on 
the declaration of peace. Mr. Cooper then 
turned his shop into the manufacture of 
cabinet ware. He afterwards went into the 
grocery business in New York and finally he 
engaged in the manufacture of glue and isin- 
glass which he carried on for more than 
fifty years. In 1830 he erected iron works 
in Canton, near Baltimore. Subsequently 
he erected a rolling and a wire mill in the 
city of New York, in which he first success- 
fully applied anthracite to the puddling of 
iron. In these works, he was the first to 
roll wrought-iron beams for fire-proof build- 
ings. These works grew to be very exten- 
sive, including mines, blast furnaces, etc. 
While in Baltimore Mr. Cooper built in 
1830, after his own designs, the first loco- 



motive engine ever constructed on this con- 
tinent and it was successfully operated on 
the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He also 
took a great interest and invested large cap- 
ital in the extension of the electric telegraph, 
also in the laying of the first Atlantic cable; 
besides interesting himself largely in the 
New York state canals. But the most 
cherished object of Mr. Cooper's life was 
the establishment of an institution for the 
instruction of the industrial classes, which 
he carried out on a magnificent scale in New 
York city, where the "Cooper Union" 
ranks among the most important institu- 
tions. 

In May, 1876, the Independent party 
nominated Mr. Cooper for president of the 
United States, and at the election following 
he received nearly 100,000 votes. His 
death occurred April 4, 1883. 



GENER.\L ROBERT EDWARD LEE, 
one of the most conspicuous Confeder- 
ate generals during the Civil war, and one 
of the ablest military commanders of mod- 
ern times, was born at Stratford House, 
Westmoreland county, Virginia, January 19, 
1807. In 1825 he entered the West Point 
academy and was graduated second in his 
class in 1829, and attached to the army as 
second lieutenant of engineers. For a 
number of years he was thus engaged in en- 
gineering work, aiding in establishing the 
boundary line between Ohio and Michigan, 
and superintended various river and harbor 
improvements, becoming captain of engi- 
neers in 1838. He first saw field service in 
the Mexican war, and under General Scott 
performed valuable and efficient service. 
In that brilliant campaign he was conspicu- 
ous for professional ability as well as gallant 
and meritorious conduct, winning in quick 
succession the brevets of major, lieutenant- 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



39 



colonel, and colonel for his part in the bat- 
tles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Cherubusco, 
Chapultepec, and in the capture of the city 
Mexico. At the close of that war he re- 
sumed his engineering work in connection 
with defences along the Atlantic coast, and 
from 1852 to 1855 was superintendent of 
the Military Academy, a position which he 
gave up to become lieutenant-colonel of the 
Second Cavalry. For several years there- 
after he served on the Texas border, but 
happening to be near Washington at the 
time of John Brown's raid, October 17 to 
25, 1859, Colonel Lee was placed in com- 
mand of the Federal forces employed in its 
repression. He soon returned to his regi- 
ment in Texas where he remained the 
greater part of i860, and March 16; 1861, 
became colonel of his regiment by regular 
promotion. Three weeks later, April 25, he 
resigned upon the secession of Virginia, 
went at once to Richmond and tendered his 
services to the governor of that state, being 
by acclamation appointed commander-in- 
chief of its military and naval forces, with 
the rank of major-general. 

He at once set to work to organize and 
develop the defensive resources of his state 
and within a month directed the occupation 
in force of Manassas Junction. Meanwhile 
Virginia having entered the confederacy and 
Richmond become the capitol, Lee became 
one of the foremost of its military officers 
and was closely connected with Jefferson 
Davis in planning the moves of that tragic 
time. Lee participated in many of the 
.hardest fought battles of the war among 
which were Fair Oaks, White Lake Swamps, 
Cold Harbor, and the Chickahominy, Ma- 
nassas, Cedar Run, Antietam, Fredericks- 
burg, Chancellorsville, Malvern Hill, Get- 
tysburg, the battles of the Wilderness cam- 
paign, all the campaigns about Richmond, 



Petersburg, Five Forks, and others. Lee's 
surrender at Appomatox brought the war to 
a close. It is said of General Lee that but 
few commanders in history have been so 
quick to detect the purposes of an opponent 
or so quick to act upon it. Never surpassed, 
if ever equaled, in the art of winning the 
passionate, personal love and admiration of 
his troops, he acquired and held an influ- 
ence over his army to the very last, founded 
upon a supreme trust in his judgment, pre- 
science and skill, coupled with his cool, 
stable, equable courage. A great writer has 
said of him: "As regards the proper meas- 
ure of General Lee's rank among the sol- 
diers of history, seeing what he wrought 
with such resources as he had, under all the 
disadvantages that ever attended his oper- 
ations, it is impossible to measure what he 
might have achieved in campaigns and bat- 
tles with resources at his own disposition 
equal to those against which he invariably 
contended." 

Left at the close of the war without es- 
tate or profession, he accepted the presi- 
dency of Washington College at Lexington, 
Virginia, where he died October 12, 1870. 



JOHN JAY, first chief-justice of the 
United States, was born in New York, 
December 12, 1745. He took up the study 
of law, graduated from Iving's College 
(Columbia College), and was admitted to 
the bar in 1768. He was chosen a member 
of the committee of New York citizens to 
protest against the enforcement by the 
British government of the Boston Port Bill, 
was elected to the Continental congress 
which met in 1774, and was author of the 
addresses to the people of Great Britian and 
of Canada adopted by that and the suc- 
ceeding congress. He was chosen to the 
provincial assembly of his own state, and 



40 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



resigned from the Continental congress to 
serve in that body, wrote most of its pubhc 
papers, including the constitution of the new 
state, and was then made chief-justice. He 
was again chosen as a member of the Con- 
tinental congress in 1778, and became presi- 
dent of that body. He was sent to S[)ain 
as minister in 1780, and his services there 
resulted in substantial and moral aid for the 
struggling colonists. Jay, Franklin, and 
Adams negotiated the treaty of peace with 
Great Britain in 1782, and Jay was ap- 
pointed secretary of foreign affairs in 1784, 
and held the position until the adoption of 
the Federal constitution. During this time 
he had contributed strong articles to the 
"Federalist" in favor of the adoption of 
the constitution, and was largely instru- 
mental in securing the ratification of that 
instrument by his state. He was appointed 
by Washington as first chief-justice of the 
United States in 1789. In this high capac- 
ity the great interstate and international 
questions that arose for immediate settle- 
ment came before him for treatment. 

In 1794, at a time when the people in 
gratitude for the aid that France had ex- 
tended to us, were clamoring for the privilege 
of going to the aid of that nation in her 
struggle with Great Britain and her own op- 
pressors, John Jay w^as sent to England as 
special envoy to negotiate a treaty with 
that power. The instrument known as 
"Jay's Treaty " was the result, and while 
in many of its features it favored our nation, 
yet the neutrality clause in it so angered the 
masses that it was denounced throughout 
the entire country, and John Jay was burned 
in effigy in the city of New York. The 
treaty was finally ratified by Washington, 
and approved, in August, 1795. Having 
been elected governor of his state for three 
consecutive terms, he then retired from 



active life, declining an appointment as 
chief-justice of the supreme court, made by 
John Adams and confirmed by the senate. 
He died in New York in 1829. 



PHILLIP HENRY SHERIDAN was 
one of the greatest American cavalry 
generals. He was born March 6, 1831, at 
Somerset, Perry county, Ohio, and was ap- 
pointed to the United States Military Acad- 
emy at West Point, from which he graduat- 
ed and was assigned to the First Infantry as 
brevet second lieutenant July i, 1853. 
After serving in Texas, on the Pacific coast, 
in Washington and Oregon territories until 
the fall of 1 86 1, he was recalled to the 
states and assigned to the army of south- 
west Missouri as chief quartermaster from 
the duties of which he was soon relieved. 
After the battle of Pea Ridge, he was quar- 
termaster in the Corinth campaign, and on 
May 25 he was appointed colonel of the 
Second Michigan Cavalry. On July i, in 
command of a cavalry brigade, he defeated 
a superior force of the enemy and was com- 
missioned brigadier-general of volunteers. 
General Sheridan was then transferred to 
the army of the Ohio, and commanded a 
division in the battle of Perrysville and also 
did good service at the battle of Murfrees- 
boro, where he was commissioned major- 
general of volunteers. He fought with 
great gallantry at Chickamauga, after which 
Rosecrans was succeeded by General Grant, 
under whom Sheridan fought the battle of 
Chattanooga and won additional renown. 
Upon the promotion of Grant to lieutenant- 
general, he applied for the transfer of Gen- 
eral Sheridan to the east, and appointed 
him chief of cavalry in the army of the 
Potomac. During the campaign of 1864 
the cavalry covered the front and flanks of 
the infantry until May 8, when it was wiIa 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRArilT. 



41 



drawn and General Sheridan started on a 
raid against the Confederate lines of com- 
munication with Richmond and on May 25 
he rejoined the army, having destroyed con- 
siderable of the confederate stores and de- 
feated their cavalry under General Stuart at 
Yellow Tavern. The outer line of defences 
around Richmond were taken, but the sec- 
ond line was too strong to be taken by as- 
sault, and accordingly Sheridan crossed the 
Chickahominy at Meadow Bridge, reaching 
James River May 14, and thence by White 
House and Hanover Court House back to 
the army. The cavalry occupied Cold 
Harbor May 31, which they held until the 
arrival of the infantry. On General Sheri- 
dan's next raid he routed Wade Hampton's 
cavalry, and August 7 was assigned to the 
command of the Middle Military division, 
and during the campaign of the Shenan- 
doah Valley he performed the unheard of 
feat of " destroying an entire army." He 
was appointed brigadier-general of the reg- 
ular army and for his victory at Cedar Creek 
he was promoted to the rank of major-gen- 
eral. General Sheridan started out Febru- 
ary 27, 1865, with ten thousand cavalry 
and destroyed the Virginia Central Railroad 
and the James River Canal and joined the 
army again at Petersburg March 27. He 
commanded at the battle of Five Forks, the 
decisive victory which compelled Lee to 
evacuate Petersburg. On April 9, Lee tried 
to break through Sheridan's dismounted 
command but when the General drew aside 
his cavalry and disclosed the deep lines of 
infantry the attempt was abandoned. Gen- 
eral Sheridan mounted his men and was about 
to charge when a white flag was flown at the 
head of Lee's column which betokened the 
surrender of the army. After the war Gen- 
eral Sheridan had command of the army of 
the southwest, of the gulf and the depart- 



ment of Missouri until he was appointed 
lieutenant-general and assigned to the di- 
vision of Missouri with headquarters at Chi- 
cago, and assumed supreme command of 
the army November i, 1883, which post he 
held until his death, August 5, 1888. 



PHINEAS T. BARNUM, the greatest 
showman the world has ever seen, was 
born at Danbury, Connecticut, July 5, 1810. 
At the age of eighteen years he began busi- 
ness on his own account. He opened a re- 
tail fruit and confectionery house, including 
a barrel of ale, in one part of an old car- 
riage house. He spent fifty dollars in fitting 
up the store and the stock cost him seventy 
dollars. Three years later he put in a full 
stock, such as is generally carried in a 
country store, and the same year he started 
a Democratic newspaper, known as the 
"Herald of Freedom." He soon found 
himself in jail under a sixty days' sentence 
for libel. During the winter of 1834-5 he 
went to New York and began soliciting busi- 
ness for several Chatham street houses. In 

1835 he embarked in the show business at 
Niblo's Garden, having purchased the cele- 
brated " Joice Heth" for one thousand dol- 
lars. He afterward engaged the celebrated 
athlete, Sig. Vivalia, and Barnum made his 
' ' first appearance on any stage, " acting as a 
"super" to Sig. Vivalia on his opening 
night. He. became ticket seller, secretary 
and treasurer of Aaron Turner's circus in 

1836 and traveled v;ith it about the country. 
His next venture was the purchase of a 
steamboat on the Mississippi, and engaged 
a theatrical company to show in the princi- 
pal towns along that river. In 1840 he 
opened Vaux Hall Garden, New York, with 
variety performances, and introduced the 
celebrated jig dancer, John Diamond, to the 
public. The next year he quit the show 



42 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRArilT 



business and settled down in New York as 
agent of Sear's Pictorial Illustration of the 
Bible, but a few months later again leased 
Vaux Hall. In September of the same year 
he again left the business, and became 
' ' puff " writer for the Bowery Amphitheater. 
In December he bought the Scudder Museum, 
and a year later introduced the celebrated 
Tom Thumb to the world, taking him to 
England in 1844, and remaining there three 
years. He then returned to New York, and 
in 1849, through James Hall Wilson, he en- 
gaged the "Swedish Nightingale," Jenny 
Lind, to come to this country and make a 
tour under his management. He also had 
sent the Swiss Bell Ringers to America in 
1844. He became owner of the Baltimore 
Museum and the Lyceum and Museum at 
Philadelphia. In 1850 he brought a dozen 
elephants from Ceylon to make a tour of this 
country, and in 1S51 sent the " Bateman 
Children" to London. During 185 1 and 
1852 he traveled as a temperance lecturer, 
and became president of a bank at Pequon- 
nock, Connecticut. In 1852 he started a 
weekly pictorial paper known as the " Illus- 
trated News." In 1865 his Museum was 
destroyed by fire, and he immediately leased 
the Winter Garden Theatre, where he played 
his company until he opened his own 
Museum. This was destroyed by fire in 
1868, and he then purchased an interest in 
the George Wood Museum. 

After dipping into politics to some ex- 
tent, he began his career as a really great 
showman in 1871. Three years later he 
erected an immense circular building in New 
York, in which he produced his panoramas. 
He has frequently appeared as a lecturer, 
some times on temperance, and some times 
on other topics, among which were ' ' Hum- 
bugs of the World," "Struggles and 
Triumphs," etc. He was owner of the im- 



mense menagerie and circus known as the 
"Greatest Show on Earth," and his fame 
extended throughout Europe and America. 
He died in 1S91. 



JAMES MADISON, the fourth president 
of the United States, 1809-17, was 
born at Port Conway, Prince George coun- 
ty, Virginia, March 16, 1751. He was the 
son of a wealthy planter, who lived on a fine 
estate called " Montpelier," which was but 
twenty-five miles from Monticello, the home 
of Thomas Jefferson. Mr. Madison was the 
eldest of a family of seven children, all of 
whom attained maturity. He received his 
early education at home under a private 
tutor, and consecrated himself with unusual 
vigor to study. At a very early age he was 
a proficient scholar in Latin, Greek, French 
and Spanish, and in 1769 he entered Prince- 
ton College, New Jersey. He graduated in 
1 77 1, but remained for several months after 
his graduation to pursue a course of study 
under the guidance of Dr. Witherspoon. 
He permanently injured his health at this 
time and returned to Virginia in 1772, and 
for two years he was immersed in the study 
of law, and at the same time made extend- 
ed researches in theology, general literature, 
and philosophical studies. He then directed 
his full attention to the impending struggle 
of the colonies for independence, and also 
took a prominent part in the religious con- 
troversy at that time regarding so called 
persecution of other religious denominations 
by the Church of England. Mr. Madison 
was elected to the Virginia assembly in 1776 
and in November, 1777, he was chosen 
a member of the council of state. He took 
his seat in the continental congress in 
March, 1780. He was made chairman of 
the committee on foreign relations, and 
drafted an able memoranda for the use of 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



43 



the American ministers to the French and 
Spanish governments, that established the 
claims of the republic to the territories be- 
tween the Alleghany Mountains and the 
Mississippi River. He acted as chairman of 
the ways and means committee in 1783 and 
as a member of the Virginia legislature in 
1784-86 he rendered important services to 
the state. Mr. Madison represented Vir- 
giana in the national constitutional conven- 
tion at Philadelphia in 1787, and was one of 
the chief framers of the constitution. He 
was a member of the first four congresses, 
1789-97, and gradually became identified 
with the anti-federalist or republican party 
of which he eventually became the leader. 
He remained in private life during thead- 
ministration of John Adams, and was secre- 
tary of state under President Jefferson. Mr. 
Madison administered the affairs of that 
post with such great ability that he was the 
natural successor of the chief magistrate 
and was chosen president by an electoral 
vote of 122 to 53. He was inaugurated 
March 4, 1809, at that critical period in our 
history when the feelings of the people were 
embittered with those of England, and his 
first term was passed in diplomatic quarrels, 
which finally resulted in the declaration of 
war, June 18, 1S12. In the autumn of that 
year President Madison was re-elected by a 
vote of 128 to 89, and conducted the war 
for three j'ears with varying success and 
defeat in Canada, by glorious victories at 
sea, and by the battle of New Orleans that 
was fought after the treaty of peace had 
been signed at Ghent, December 24, 18 14. 
During this war the national capitol at 
Washington was burned, and many valuable 
papers were destroyed, but the declaration 
of independence was saved to the country 
by the bravery and courage of Mr. Madi- 
son's illustrious wife. A commercial treaty 



was negotiated with Great Britain in 181 5, 
and in April, 18 16, a national bank was in- 
corporated by congress. Mr. Madison was 
succeeded, March 4, 1S17, by James Monroe, 
and retired into private life on his estate at 
Montpelier, where he died June 28, 1836. 



FREDERICK DOUGLASS, a noted 
American character, was a protege of 
the great abolitionist, William Lloyd Garri- 
son, by whom he was aided in gaining his 
education. Mr. Douglass was born in Tuck- 
ahoe county, Maryland, in February, 18 17, 
his mother being a negro woman and his 
father a white man. He was born in slav- 
ery and belonged to a man by the name of 
Lloyd, under which name he went until he 
ran away from his master and changed it to 
Douglass. At the age of ten years he was 
sent to Baltimore where he learned to read 
and write, and later his owner allowed him 
to hire out his own time for three dollars a 
week in a shipyard. In September, 1838, 
he fled from Baltimore and made his way to 
New York, and from thence went to New 
Bedford, Massachusetts. Here he was mar- 
ried and supported himself and family by 
working at the wharves and in various work- 
shops. In the summer of 1841 he attended 
an anti-slavery convention at Nantucket, 
and made a speech which was so well re- 
ceived that he was offered the agency of the 
Massachusetts Anti-slavery Society. In this 
capacity he traveled through the New En- 
gland states, and about the same time he 
published his first book called " Narrative 
of my E.xperience in Slavery." Mr. Doug- 
lass went to England in 1845 and lectured 
on slavery to large and enthusiastic audi- 
ences in all the large towns of the country, 
and his friends made up a purse of seven 
hundred and- fifty dollars and purchased his 
freedom in due form of law. 



44 



COMPEXDICM OF niOGRAPHT 



Mr. Douglass applied himself to the de- 
livery of lyceum lectures after the abolition 
of slavery, and in 1870 he became the editor 
of the " New National Era " in Washington. 
In 1 87 1 he was appointed assistant secretary 
of the commission to San Domingo and on 
his return he was appointed one of the ter- 
ritorial council for the District of Colorado 
by President Grant. He was elected presi- 
dential elector-at-large for the state of New 
York and was appointed to carry the elect- 
oral vote to Washington. He was also 
United States marshal for the District of 
Columbia in 1876^ and later was recorder 
of deeds for the same, from which position 
he was removed by President Cleveland in 
1886. In the fall of that year he visited 
England to inform the friends that he had 
made while there, of the progress of the 
colored race in America, and on his return 
he was appointed minister to Hayti, by 
President Harrison in 18S9. His career as 
a benefactor of his race was closed by his 
death in February, 1895, near Washington. 



WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.— The 
ear for rhythm and the talent for 
graceful expression are the gifts of nature, 
and they were plentifully endowed on the 
above named poet. The principal charac- 
teristic of his poetry is the thoughtfulness 
and intellectual process by which his ideas 
ripened in his mind, as all his poems are 
bright, clear and sweet. Mr. Brjant was 
born November 3, 1794, at Cummington, 
Hampshire county, Massachusetts, and was 
educated at Williams College, from which 
he graduated, having entered it in 18 10. 
He took up the study of law, and in 181 5 
was admitted to the bar, but after practicing 
successfully for ten years at Plainfield and 
Great Harrington, he removed to New York 
in 1 82 3. The following year he became 



the editor of the "Evening Post," which 
he edited until his death, and under his di- 
rection this paper maintained, through a 
long series of years, a high standing by the 
boldness of its protests against slavery be- 
fore the war, by its \igorous support of the 
government during the war, and by the 
fidelity and ability of its advocacy of the 
Democratic freedom in trade. Mr. Bry- 
ant visited Europe in 1834, 1845, 1849 and 
1857, and presented to the literary world 
the fruit of his travels in the series of "Let- 
ters of a Traveler," and "Letters from 
Spain and Other Countries." In the world 
of literature he is known chiefly as a poet, 
and here Mr. Br\ant's name is illustrious, 
both at home and abroad. He contributed 
verses to the "Country Gazette " before he 
was ten years of age, and at the age of nine- 
teen he wrote " Thanatopsis," the most im- 
pressive and widely known of his poems. 
The later outgrowth of his genius was his 
translation of Homer's "Iliad" in 1870 
and the "Odyssey" in 1871. He also 
made several speeches and addresses which 
have been collected in a comprehensive vol- 
ume called " Orations and Addresses." He 
was honored in many ways by his fellow 
citizens, who delighted to pay tributes of 
respect to his literary eminence, the breadth 
of his public spirit, the faithfulness of his 
service, and the worth of his private char- 
acter. Mr. Bryant died in New York City- 
June 12, 1878. 



WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD, the 
secretary of state during one of the 
most critical times in the histoiy of our 
country, and the right hand man of Presi- 
dent Lincoln, ranks among the greatest 
statesmen America has produced. Mr. 
Seward was born May 16, i 801, at Florida, 
Orange county, New York, and with such 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



facilities as the place afforded he fitted him- 
self for a college course. He attended 
Union College at Schenectady, New York, 
at the age of fifteen, and took his degree in 
the regular course, with signs of promise in 
1820, after which he diligently addressed 
himself to the study of law under competent 
instructors, and started in the practice of 
his profession in 1823. 

Mr. Seward entered the political arena 
and in 1828 we find him presiding over a 
convention in New York, its purpose being 
the nomination of John Quincy Adams for a 
second term. He was married in 1824 and 
in 1830 was elected to the state senate. 
From 1838 to 1842 he was governor of the 
state of New York. Mr. Seward's next im- 
portant position was that of United States 
senator from New York. 

W. H. Seward was chosen by President 
Lincoln to fill the important office of the 
secretary of state, and by his firmness and 
diplomacy in the face of difficulties, he aided 
in piloting the Union through that period of 
strife, and won an everlasting fame. This 
great statesman died at Auburn, New York, 
October 10, 1872, in the seventy-second 
year of his eventful life. 



JOSEPH JEFFERSON, a name as dear 
as it is familiar to the theater-going 
world in America, suggests first of all a fun- 
loving, drink-loving, mellow voiced, good- 
natured Dutchman, and the name of "Rip 
Van Winkle " suggests the pleasant features 
of Joe Jefferson, so intimately are play and 
player associated in the minds of those who 
have had the good fortune to shed tears of 
laughter and sympathy as a tribute to the 
greatness of his art. Joseph Jefferson was 
born in Philadelphia, February 20, 1829. 
His genius was an inheritance, if there be 
such, as his great-grandfather, Thomas 



Jefferson, was a manager and actor in Eng- 
land. His grandfather, Joseph Jefferson, 
was the most popular comedian of the New- 
York stage in his time, and his father, Jos- 
eph Jefferson, the second, was a good actor 
also, but the third Joseph Jefferson out- 
shone them all. 

At the age of three years Joseph Jeffer- 
son came on the stage as the child in "Pi- 
zarro," and his training was upon the stage 
from childhood. Later on he lived and 
acted in Chicago, Mobile, and Texas. After 
repeated misfortunes he returned to New 
Orleans from Texas, and his brother-in-law, 
Charles Burke, gave him money to reach 
Philadelphia, where he joined the Burton 
theater company. Here his genius soon as- 
serted itself, and his future became promis- 
ing and brilliant. His engagements through- 
out the United States and Australia were 
generally successful, and when he went to 
England in 1865 Mr. Boucicault consented 
to make some important changes in his 
dramatization of Irving's story of Rip Van 
Winkle, and Mr. Jefferson at once placed 
it in the front rank as a comedy. He made 
a fortune out of it, and played nothing else 
for many years. In later years, however, 
Mr. Jefferson acquitted himself of the charge 
of being a one-part actor, and the parts of 
"Bob Acres," "Caleb Plummer" and 
"Golightly " all testify to the versatility of 
his genius. 

GEORGE BRINTON McCLELLAN, 
a noted American general, was born 
in Philadelphia, December 3, 1826. He 
graduated from the University of Pennsyl- 
vania, and in 1846 from West Point, and 
was breveted second lieutenant of engineers. 
He was with Scott in the Mexican war, 
taking part in all the engagements from 
Vera Cruz to the final capture of the Mexi- 



48 



COMPEXDirM OF BIOGRArilT. 



can capital, and was breveted first lieuten- 
ant and captain for gallantry displayed on 
various occasions. In 1857 he resigned his 
commission and accepted the position of 
chief engineer in the construction of the 
Illinois Central Railroad, and became presi- 
dent of the St. Louis & Cincinnati Railroad 
Company. He was commissioned major- 
general by the state of Ohio in 1861, 
placed in command of the department of 
the Ohio, and organized the first volunteers 
called for from that state. In May he was 
appointed major-general in the United 
States army, and ordered to disperse the 
confederates overrunning West Virginia. 
He accomplished this task promptly, and 
received the thanks of congress. After the 
first disaster at Bull Run he was placed 
in command of the department of Wash- 
ington, and a few weeks later of the 
Army of the Potomac. Upon retirement 
of General Scott the command of the en- 
tire United States army devolved upon Mc- 
Clellan, but he was relieved of it within a 
few months. In March, 1862, after elabor- 
ate preparation, he moved upon Manassas, 
only to find it deserted by the Confederate 
army, which had been withdrawn to im- 
pregnable defenses prepared nearer Rich- 
mond. He then embarked his armies for 
Fortress Monroe and after a long delay at 
Yorktown, began the disastrous Peninsular 
campaign, which resulted in the Army of the 
Potomac being cooped up on the James 
River below Richmond. His forces were 
then called to the support of General Pope, 
near Washington, and he was left without an 
army. After Pope's defeat McClellan was 
placed in command of the troops for the de- 
fense of the capital, and after a thorough or- 
ganization he followed Lee into Maryland 
and the battles of Antietam and South Moun- 
tain ensued. The delay which followed 



caused general dissatisfaction, and he was re- 
lieved of his command, and retired from active 
service. 

In 1864 McClellan was nominated for 
the presidency by the Democrats, and over- 
whelmingly defeated by Lincoln, three 
states only casting their electoral votes for 
McClellan. On election day he resigned 
his commission and a few months later went 
to Europe where he spent several years. 
He wrote a number of military text- books 
and reports. His death occurred October 
29, 1885. 

SAMUEL J. TILDEN.— Among the great 
statesmen whose names adorn the pages 
of American history may be found that of 
the subject of this sketch. Known as a 
lawyer of highest ability, his greatest claim 
to immortality will ever lie in his successful 
battle against the corrupt rings of his native 
state and the elevation of the standard of 
official life. 

Samuel J. Tilden was born in New Leb- 
anon, New York, February 9, 1814. He 
pursued his academic studies at Yale Col- 
lege and the University of New York, tak- 
ing the course of law at the latter. He 
was admitted to the bar in 1S41. His rare 
ability as a thinker and writer upon public 
topics attracted the attention of President 
Van Buren, of whose policy and adminis- 
tration he became an active and efficient 
champion. He made for himself a high 
place in his profession and amassed quite a 
fortune as the result of his industry and 
judgment. During the days of his greatest 
professional labor he was ever one of the 
leaders and trusted counsellors of the Demo- 
cratic party. He was a member of the 
conventions to revise the state constitution, 
both in 1846 and 1S67, and served two 
terms in the lower branch of the state leg- 



COMPEXDILM OF BJOGRAPHT. 



49 



islature. He was one of the controlling 
spirits in the overthrow of the notorious 
"Tweed rin;,' " and the reformation of the 
government of the city of New York. In 
1874 he was elected governor of the state 
of New York. While in this position he 
assailed corruption in high places, success- 
fully battling with the iniquitous "canal 
ring " and crushed its sway over all depart- 
ments of the government. Recognizing his 
character and executive ability Mr. Tilden 
was nominated for president by the na- 
tional Democratic convention in 1S76. At 
the election he received a much larger popu- 
lar vote than liis opponent, and 1S4 uncon- 
tested electoral votes. There being some 
electoral votes contested, a commission ap- 
pointed by congress decided in favor of the 
Republican electors and Mr. Hayes, the can- 
didate of that party was declared elected. 
In 18S0, the Democratic party, feeling that 
Mr. Tilden had been lawfully elected to the 
presidency tendered the nomination for the 
same office to Mr. Tilden, but he declined, 
retiring from all public functions, owing to 
failing health. He died August 4, 1S86. 
By will he bequeathed several millions of 
dollars toward the founding of public libra- 
ries in New York City, Yonkers, etc. 



NOAH WEBSTER.— As a scholar, law- 
yer, author and journalist, there is no 
one who stands on a higher plane, or whose 
reputation is better established than the 
honored gentleman whose name heads this 
sketch. He was a native of West Hartford, 
Connecticut, and was born October 17, 
1758. He came of an old New England 
family, his mother being a descendant of 
Governor William Bradford, of the Ply- 
mouth colony. After acquiring a solid edu- 
cation in early life Dr. Webster entered 
Yale College, from which he graduated in 



1778. For a while he taught school in. 
Hartford, at the same time studying law,. 
and was admitted to the bar in 1781. He 
taught a classical school at Goshen, Orange 
county, New York, in 17S2-83, and while 
there prepared his spelling book, grammar 
and reader, which was issued under the title 
of "A Grammatical Institute of the English^ 
Language ," in three parts, — so successful a 
work that up to 1876 something like forty- 
million of the spelling books had been 
sold. In 1786 he delivered a course of lec- 
tures on the English language in the seaboard 
cities and the following year taught an 
academy at Philadelphia. From December- 
17, 17S7, until November, 17S8, he edited, 
the "American Magazine, "a periodical that 
proved unsuccessful. In 17S9-93 he prac- 
ticed law in Hartford having in the former 
year married the daughter of William Green- 
leaf, of Boston. He returned to New York 
and November, 1793, founded a daily paper, 
the "Minerva," to which was soon added a 
semi-weekly edition under the name of the 
" Herald." The former is still in existence 
under the name of the " Commercial Adver- 
tiser." In this paper, over the signature of 
"Curtius," he published a lengthy and schol- 
arly defense of " John Jay's treaty. " 

In 1798, Dr. Webster moved to New 
Haven and in 1807 commenced the prepar- 
ation of his great work, the "American Dic- 
tionary of the English Language , " which 
was not completed and published until 1828. 
He made his home in Amherst, Massachu- 
setts, for the ten years succeeding 181 2, and 
was instrumental in the establishment of 
Amherst College, of which institution he was 
the first president of the board of trustees. 
During 1824-5 he resided in Europe, pursu- 
ing his philological studies in Paris. He 
completed his dictionary from the libraries 
of Cambridge University in 1825, and de- 



.50 



COMTEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT 



voted his leisure for the remainder of his 
life to the revision of that and his school 
books. 

Dr. Webster was a member of the legis- 
latures of both Connecticut and Massachu- 
setts, was judge of one of the courts of the 
former state and was identified with nearly 
all the literary and scientific societies in the 
neighborhood of Amherst College. He died 
in New Haven, May 28, 1843. 

Among the more prominent works ema- 
nating from the fecund pen of Dr. Noah 
Webster besides those mentioned above are 
the following: "Sketches of American 
Policy," " Winthrop's Journal," " A Brief 
History of Epidemics," " Rights of Neutral 
Nations in time of War," "A Philosophical 
and Practical Grammar of the English Lan- 
guage," "Dissertations on the English 
Language," "A Collection of Essays," 
"The Revolution in France," "Political 
Progress of Britain," "Origin, History, and 
Connection of the Languages of Western 
Asia and of Europe," and many others. 



WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, the 
great anti-slavery pioneer and leader, 
was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts, 
December 12, 1804. He was apprenticed 
to the printing business, and in 1828 was in- 
duced to take charge of the "Journal of the 
Times" at Bennington, Vermont. While 
supporting John Quincy Adams for the presi- 
dency he took occasion in that paper to give 
expression of his views on slavery. These 
articles attracted notice, and a Quaker 
named Lundy, editor of the "Genius of 
Emancipation," published in Baltimore, in- 
duced him to enter a partnership with him 
for the conduct of his paper. It soon 
transpired that the views of the partners 
were not in harmony, Lundy favoring grad- 
ual emancipation, while Garrison favored 



immediate freedom. In 1850 Mr. Garrison 
was thrown into prison for libel, not being 
able to pay a fine of fifty dollars and costs. 
In his cell he wrote a number of poems 
which stirred the entire north, and a mer- 
chant, Mr. Tappan, of New York, paid his 
fine and liberated him, after seven weeks of 
confinement. He at once began a lecture 
tour of the northern cities, denouncing 
slavery as a sin before God, and demanding 
its immediate abolition in the name of re- 
ligion and humanity. He opposed the col- 
onization scheme of President Monroe and 
other leaders, and declared the right of 
every slave to immediate freedom. 

In 1 83 1 he formed a partnership with 
Isaac Knapp, and began the publication of 
the "Liberator" at Boston. The "imme- 
diate abolition " idea began to gather power 
in the north, while the south became 
alarmed at the bold utterance of this jour- 
nal. The mayor of Boston was besought 
by southern influence to interfere, and upon 
investigation, reported upon the insignifi- 
cance, obscurity, and poverty of the editor 
and his staff, which report was widely 
published throughout the country. Re- 
wards were offered by the southern states 
for his arrest and conviction. Later Garri- 
son brought from England, where an eman- 
cipation measure had just been passed, 
some of the great advocates to work for the 
cause in this country. In 1835 a mob 
broke into his office, broke up a meeting of 
women, dragged Garrison through the street 
with a rope around his body, and his life 
was saved only by the interference of the 
police, who lodged him in jail. Garrison 
declined to sit in the World's Anti-Slavery 
convention at London in 1840, because 
that body had refused women representa- 
tion. He opposed the formation of a po- 
litical party with emancipation as its basis. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



51 



He favored a dissolution of the union, and 
declared the constitution which bound the 
free states to the slave states " A covenant 
with death and an agreement with hell." 
In 1843 he became president of the Amer- 
ican Anti-Slavery society, which position he 
held until 1865, when slavery was no more. 
During all this time the " Liberator " had 
continued to promulgate anti-slavery doc- 
trines, but in 1865 Garrison resigned his 
position, and declared his work was com- 
pleted. He died May 24, 1879. 



JOHN BROWN (" Brown of Ossawato- 
inie"), a noted character in American 
history, wasbornatTorrington, Connecticut, 
May 9, 1800. In his childhood he removed 
to Ohio, where he learned the tanner's 
trade. He married there, and in 1855 set- 
tled in Kansas. He lived at the village of 
Ossawatomie in that state, and there began 
his fight against slavery. He advocated im- 
mediate emancipation, and held that the 
negroes of the slave states merely waited 
for a leader in an insurrection that would re- 
sult in their freedom. He attended the 
convention called at Chatham, Canada, in 
1859, and was the leading spirit in organiz- 
ing a raid upon the United States arsenal at 
Harper's Ferrj', Virginia. His plans were 
well laid, and carried out in great secrecy. 
He rented a farm house near Harper's Ferry- 
in the summer of 1859, and on October 
16th of that year, with about twenty follow- 
ers, he surprised and captured the United 
States arsenal, with all its supplies and 
arms. To his surprise, the negroes did not 
come to his support, and the next day he 
was attacked by the Virginia state militia, 
Vv'ounded and captured. He was tried in 
the courts of the state, convicted, and was 
hanged at Charlestown, December 2, 1859. 
The raid and its results had a tremendous 



effect, and hastened the culmination of the 
troubles between the north and south. The 
south had the advantage in discussing this 
event, claiining that the sentiment which 
inspired this act of violence was shared by 
the anti-slavery element of the country. 



EDWIN BOOTH had no peer upon the 
American stage during his long career 
as a star actor. He was the son of a famous 
actor, Junius Brutus Booth, and was born 
in 1833 at his father's home at Belair, neai" 
Baltimore. At the age of si.xteen he made hi.s 
first appearance on the stage, at the Boston 
Museum, in a minor part in "Richard III." 
It was while playing in California in 185 1 
that an eminent critic called general atten- 
tion to the young actor's unusual talent, 
However, it was not until 1863, at the great 
Shakspearian revival at the Winter Garden 
Theatre, New York, that the brilliancy o{ 
his career began. His Hamlet held the 
boards for 100 nights in succession, and 
from that time forth Booth's reputation was 
established. In 1868 he opened his own 
theatre (Booth's Theater) in New York. 
Mr. Booth never succeeded as a manager, 
however, but as an actor he was undoubted- 
ly the most popular man on the American 
stage, and perhaps the most eminent one in 
the world. In England he also won the 
greatest applause. 

Mr. Booth's work was confined mostly 
to Shakspearean roles, and his art was 
characterized by intellectual acuteness, 
fervor, and poetic feeling. His Hamlet, 
Richard II, Richard III, and Richelieu gave 
play to his greatest powers. In 1865, 
when his brother, John Wilkes Booth, 
enacted his great crime, Edwin Booth re- 
solved to retire from the stage, but was pur- 
suaded to reconsider that decision. The 
odium did not in any way attach to the 



52 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



great actor, and his popularity was not 
affected. In all his work Mr. Booth clung 
closely to the legitimate and the traditional 
in drama, making no experiments, and offer- 
ing little encouragement to new dramatic 
authors. His death occurred in New York, 
June 7, 1894. 



JOSEPH HOOKER, a noted American 
officer, was born at Hadley, Massachu- 
setts, November 13, 1814. He graduated 
from West Point Military Academy in 1837, 
and was appointed lieutenant of artillery. 
He served in Florida in the Seminole war, 
and in garrison until the outbreak of the 
Mexican war. During the latter he saw 
service as a staff officer and was breveted 
captain, major and lieutenant-colonel for 
gallantry at Monterey, National Bridge and 
Chapultepec. Resigning his commission in 
1 833 he took up farming in California, which 
he followed until 1 861. During this time 
he acted as superintendent of military roads 
in Oregon. At the outbreak of the Rebel- 
lion Hooker tendered his services to the 
government, and, May 17, 1861, was ap- 
pointed brigadier-general of volunteers. He 
served in the defence of Washington and on 
the lower Potomac until his appointment to 
the command of a division in the Third 
Corps, in March, 1862. For gallant con- 
duct at the siege of Yorktown and in the 
battles of Williamsburg, Fair Oaks, Fra- 
zier's Farm and Malvern Hill he was made 
major-general. At the head of his division 
he participated in the battles of Manassas 
and Chantilly. September 6, 1S62, he was 
placed at the head of the First. Corps, and 
in the battles of South Mountain and An- 
tietam acted with his usual gallantrj', being 
wounded in the latter engagement. On re- 
joining the army in November he was made 
brigadier-general in the regular army. On 



General Burnside attaining the command of 
the Army of the Potomac General Hooker 
was placed in command of the center grand 
division, consisting of the Second and Fifth 
Corps. At the head of these gallant men 
he participated in the battle of Fred- 
ericksburg, December 13, 1862. In Janu- 
ary, 1863, General Hooker assumed com- 
mand of the Army of the Pqtomac, and in 
May following fought the battle of Chan- 
cellorsville. At the time of the invasion of 
Pennsylvania, owing to a dispute with Gen- 
eral Halleck, Hooker requested to be re- 
lieved of his command, and June 28 was 
succeeded by George G. Meade. In Sep- 
tember, 1863, General Hooker was given 
command of the Twentieth Corps and trans- 
ferred to the Arm)' of the Cumberland, and 
distinguished himself at the battles of Look- 
out Mountain, Missionary Ridge, and Ring- 
gold. In the Atlanta campaign he saw 
almost daily service and merited his well- 
known nickname of "Fighting Joe." July 
30, 1S64, at his own request, he was re- 
lieved of his command. He subsequently 
was -in command of several military depart- 
ments in the north, and in October, 1868, 
was retired with the full rank of major-gen- 
eral. He died October 31, 1879. 



JAY GOULD, one of the greatest finan- 
ciers that the world has ever produced, 
was born May 27, 1836, at Roxbury, Dela- 
ware county, New York. He spent his early 
years on his father's farm and at the age of 
fourteen entered Hobart Academy, New 
York, and kept books for the village black- 
smith. He acquired a taste for mathematics 
and surveying and on leaving school found 
employment in making the surveyor's map 
of Ulster county. He surveyed very exten- 
sively in the state and accumulated five thou- 
sand dollars as the fruits of his labor. He 



coMrExnii'M or juoGRAr/n: 



53 



was then stricken with typhoid fever but re- 
covered and made the acquaintance of one 
Zadock Pratt, who sent him into the west- 
ern part of the state to locate a site for a 
tannery. He chose a fine hemlock grove, 
built a sawmill and blacksmith shop and 
was soon doing a large lumber business with 
Mr. Pratt. Mr. Gould soon secured control 
of the entire plant, which he sold out just 
before the panic of 1857 and in this year he 
became the largest stockholderintheStrouds- 
burg, Pennsylvania, bank. Shortly after the 
crisis he bought the bonds of the Rutland 
& Washington Railroad at ten cents on the 
dollar, and put all his money into railroad 
securities. For a long time he conducted 
this road which he consolidated with the 
Rensselaer & Saratoga Railroad. In 1859 
he removed to New York and became a 
heavy investor in Erie Railroad stocks, en- 
tered that company and was president until 
its reorganization in 1872. In December, 
1880, Mr. Gould was in control of ten thou- 
sand miles of railroad. In 1887 he pur- 
chased the controlling interest in the St. 
Louis & San Francisco Railroad Co., and 
was a joint owner with the Atchison, Topeka 
& Santa Fe Railroad Co. of the western 
portion of the Southern Pacific line. Other 
lines soon came under his control, aggregat- 
ing thousand of miles, and he soon was rec- 
ognized as one of the world's greatest rail- 
road magnates. He continued to hold his 
place as one of the master financiers of the 
century until the time of his death which 
occurred December 2, 1892. 



THOMAS HART BENTON, a very 
prominent United States senator and 
statesman, was born at Hillsborough, North 
Carolina, March 14, 1782. He removed to 
Tennessee in early life, studied law, and be- 
gan to practice at Nashville about iSiO. 



During the war of 1S12-1815 he served as 
colonel of a Tennessee regiment under Gen- 
eral Andrew Jackson. In 181 5 he removed 
to St. Louis, Missouri, and in 1820 was 
chosen United States senator for that state. 
Having been re-elected in 1826, he sup- 
ported President Jackson in his opposition 
to the United States bank and advocated a 
gold and silver currency, thus gaining the 
name of " Old Bullion," by which he was 
familiarly known. For many j-eiirs he was 
the most prominent man in Missouri, and 
took rank among the greatest statesmen of 
his day. He was a member of the senate 
for thirty years and opposed the extreme 
states' rights policy of John C. Calhoun. 
In 1852 he was elected to the house of rep- 
resentatives in which he opposed the repeal 
of the Missouri compromise. He was op- 
posed by a powerful party of States' Rights 
Democrats in Missouri, who defeated him as a 
candidate for governor of that state in 1856. 
Colonel Benton published a considerable 
work in two volumes in 1854-56, entitled 
" Thirty Years' View, or a History of the 
Working of the American Government for 
Thirty Years, 1820-50." He died April 10, 
1858. 

STEPHEN ARNOLD DOUGLAS.— One 
of the most prominent figures in politic- 
al circles during the intensely e.xciting days 
that preceded the war, and a leader of the 
Union branch of the Democratic party was 
the gentleman whose name heads this 
sketch. 

He was born at Brandon, Rutland coun- 
ty, Vermont, April 23, 1813, of poor but 
respectable parentage. His father, a prac- 
ticing physician, died while our subject was 
but an infant, and his mother, with two 
small children and but small means, could 
give him but the rudiments of an education. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



At the age of fifteen young Douglas engaged 
at work in the cabinet making business to 
raise funds to carry him through college. 
After a few years of labor he was enabled to 
pursue an academical course, first at Bran- 
don, and later at Canandaigua,_ New York. 
In the latter place he remained until 1833, 
taking up the study of law. Before he was 
twenty, however, his funds running low, he 
abandoned all further attempts at educa- 
tion, determining to enter at once the battle 
of life. After some wanderings through the 
western states he took up his residence at 
Jacksonville, Illinois, where, after teaching 
school for three months, he was admitted to 
the bar, and opened an office in 1834. 
Within a year from that time, so rapidly had 
he risen in his profession, he was chosen 
attorney general of the state, and warmly 
espoused the principles of the Democratic 
part}'. He soon became one of the most 
popular orators in Illinois. It was at this 
time he gained the name of the "Little 
Giant." In 1S35 he resigned the position 
of attorney general having been elected to 
the legislature. In 1841 he was chosen 
judge of the supreme court of Illinois which 
he resigned two years later to take a seat in 
congress. It was during this period of his 
life, while a member of the lower house, 
that he established his reputation and took 
the side of those who contended that con- 
gress had no constitutional right to restrict 
the extension of slavery further than the 
agreement between the states made in 1820. 
This, in spite of his being opposed to slav- 
ery, and only on grounds which he believed 
to be right, favored what was called the 
Missouri compromise. In 1847 Mr. Doug- 
las vi'as chosen United States senator for 
si.x years, and greatly distinguished himself. 
In 1852 he was re-elected to the sameoffice. 
During this latter term, under his leader- 



; ship, the " Kansas-Nebraska bill " was car- 
ried in the senate. In 1858, nothwith- 
standing the fierce contest made by his able 
competitor for the position, Abraham Lin- 
coln, and with the administration of Bu- 
chanan arrayed against him, Mr. Douglas 
was re-elected senator. After the trouble 
in the Charleston convention, when by the 
withdrawal of several state delegates with- 
out a nomination, the Union Democrats, 
in convention at Baltimore, in i860, nomi- 
nated Mr. Douglas as their candidate for 
presidency. The results of this election are 
well known and the great events of 1S61 
coming on, Mr. Douglas was spared their 
full development, dying at Chicago, Illinois, 
June 3, -1861, after a short illness. His 
last words to his children were, " to obey 
the laws and support the constitution of the 
United States." 



JAMES MONROE, fifth president of the 
United States, was born in Westmore- 
land county, Virginia, April 28, 1758. At 
the age of sixteen he entered William and 
Mary College, but two years later the 
Declaration of Independence having been 
adopted, he left college and hastened to New 
York where he joined Washington's army as 
a military cadet. 

At the battle of Trenton Monroe per- 
formed gallant service and received a wound 
in the shoulder, and was promoted to a 
captaincy. He acted as aide to Lord Ster- 
ling at the battles of Brand} wine, German- 
town and Monmouth. Washington then 
sent him to Virginia to raise a new regiment 
of which he was to be colonel. The ex- 
hausted condition of Virginia made this im- 

' possible, but he received his commission. 

j He next entered the law office of Thomas 
Jefferson to study law, as there was no open- 
ing for him as an officer in the army. In 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



55 



1782 he was elected to the Virginia assem- 
bly, and the next year he was elected to the 
Continental congress. Realizing the inade- 
quacy of the old articles of confederation, 
he advocated the calling of a convention to 
consider their revision, and introduced in 
congress a resolution empowering congress 
to regulate trade, lay import duties, etc. 
This resolution was referred to a committee, 
of which he was chairman, and the report 
led to the Annapolis convention, which 
called a general convention to meet at Phila- 
delphia in 17S7, when the constitution was 
drafted. Mr. Monroe began the practice of 
law at Fredericksburg, Virginia, and was 
soon after elected to the legislature, and ap- 
pointed as one of the committee to pass 
upon the adoption of the constitution. He 
opposed it, as giving too much power to the 
central government. He was elected to the 
United States senate in 1789, where he 
allied himself with the Anti-Federalists or 
"Republicans," as they were sometimes 
called. Although his views as to neutrality 
between France and England were directly 
opposed to those of the president, yet Wash- 
ington appointed him minister to France. 
His popularity in France was so great that 
the antagonism of England and her friends 
in this country brought about his recall. He 
then became governor of Virginia. He was 
sent as envoy to France in 1802; minister 
to England in 1803; and envoy to Spain in 
1805. The next year he returned to his 
estate in Virginia, and with an ample in- 
heritance enjoyed a few years of repose. He 
was again called to be governor of Virginia, 
and was then appointed secretary of state 
by President Madison. The war with Eng- 
land soon resulted, and when the capital 
was burned by the British, Mr. Monroe be- 
came secretary of war also, and planned the 
measures for the defense of New Orleans. 



The treasury being exhausted and credit 
gone, he pledged his own estate, and thereby 
made possible the victory of Jackson at New 
Orleans. 

In 1 81 7 Mr. Monroe became president 
of the United States, having been a candi- 
date of the "Republican" party, which at 
that time had begun to be called the ' ' Demo- 
cratic " party. In I S20 he was re-elected, 
having two hundred and thirty-one electoral 
votes out of two hundred and thirty-two. 
His administration is known as the "Era of 
good-feeling," and party lines were almost 
wiped out. The slavery question began to 
assume importance at this time, and the 
Missouri Compromise was passed. The 
famous "Monroe Doctrine" originated in a 
great state paper of President Monroe upon 
the rumored interference of the Holy Alli- 
ance to prevent the formation of free repub- 
lics in South America. President Monroe 
acknowledged their independence, and pro- 
mulgated his great "Doctrine," which has 
been held in reverence since. Mr. Monroe's 
death occurred in New York on July 4, 1831. 



THOMAS ALVA EDISON, the master 
wizard of electrical science and whose 
name is synonymous with the subjugation 
of electricity to the service of man, was 
born in 1847 at Milan, Ohio, and it was at 
Port Huron, Michigan, whither his parents 
had moved in 1854, that his self-education 
began — for he never attended school for 
more than two months. He eagerly de- 
voured every book he could lay his hands on 
and is said to have read through an encyclo- 
pedia without missing a word. At thirteen he 
began his working life as a trainboy upon the 
Grand Trunk Railway between Port Huron 
and Detroit. Much of his time was now 
spent in Detroit, where he found increased 
facilities for reading at the public libraries. 



56 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPlir. 



He was not content to be a newsboy, so he 
got together three hundred pounds of type 
and started the issue of the " Grand Trunk 
Herald." It was only a small amateur 
weekly, printed on one side, the impression 
being made from the type by hand. Chemi- 
cal research was his next undertaking and 
a laboratory was added to his movable pub- 
lishing house, which, by the way, was an 
old freight car. One day, however, as he 
Was experimenting with some phosphorus, 
it ignited and the irate conductor threw the 
young seeker after the truth, chemicals and 
all, from the train. His office and laboratory 
were then removed to the cellar of his fa- 
ther's house. As he grew to manhood he 
decided to become an operator. He won 
his opportunity by saving the life of a child, 
whose father was an old operator, and out of 
gratitude he gave Mr. Edison lessons in teleg- 
raphy. Five months later he was compe- 
tent to fill a position in the railroad office 
at Port Huron. Hence he peregrinated to 
Stratford, Ontario, and thence successively 
to Adrian, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Cin- 
cmnati, Memphis, Louisville and Boston, 
gradually becoming an expert operator and 
gaming experience that enabled him to 
evolve many ingenious ideas for the im- 
provement of telegraphic appliances. At 
Memphis he constructed an automatic re- 
peater, which enabled Louisville and New 
Orleans to communicate direct, and received 
nothing more than the thanks of his em- 
ployers. Mr. Edison came to New York in 
1870 in search of an opening more suitable 
to his capabilities and ambitions. He hap- 
pened to be in the office of the Laws Gold 
Reporting Company when one of the in- 
struments got out of order, and even the 
inventor of the system could not make it 
work. Edison requested to be allowed to 
attempt the task, and in a few minutes he 



had overcome the difficulty and secured an 
advantageous engagement. For several 
} ears he had a contract with the Western 
Union and the Gold Stock companies, 
whereby he received a large salary, besides 
a special price for all telegraphic improve- 
ments he could suggest. Later, as the 
head of the Edison General Electric com- 
pany, with its numerous subordinate organ- 
izations and connections all over the civil- 
ized world, he became several times a 
millionaire. Mr. Edison invented the pho- 
nograph and kinetograph which bear his 
name, the carbon telephone, the tasimeter, 
and the duplex and quadruplex systems of 
telegraphy. 

JAMES LONGSTREET, one of the most 
conspicuous of the Confederate generals 
during the Civil war, was born in 1820, in 
South Carolina, but was early taken by his 
parents to Alabama where he grew to man- 
hood and received his early education. He 
graduated at the United States military 
academy in 1842, entering the army as 
lieutenant and spent a few years in the fron- 
tier service. When the Mexican war broke 
out he was called to the front and partici- 
pated in all the principal battles of that war 
up to the storming of Chapultepec, where 
he received severe wounds. For gallant 
conduct at Contreras, Cherubusco, and Mo- 
lino del Rey he received the brevets of cap- 
tain and major. After the close of the 
Mexican war Longstreet served as adjutant 
and captain on frontier service in Texas un- 
til 1858 when he was transferred to the staff 
as paymaster with rank of major. In June, 
1 86 1, he resigned to join the Confederacy 
and immediately went to the front, com- 
manding a brigade at Bull Run the follow- 
ing month. Promoted to be major-general 
in 1862 he thereafter bore a conspicuous 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPH7'. 



57 



part and rendered valuable service to the 
Confederate cause. He participated in 
many of the most severe battles of the Civil 
war including Bull Run (first and second), 
Seven Pines, Gainer,' Mill, Fraziers Farm, 
Malvern Hill, Antietam, Frederickburg, 
Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Chickamauga, 
the Wilderness, Petersburg and most of the 
fighting about Richmond. 

When the war closed General Long- 
street accepted the result, renewed his alle- 
giance to the government, and thereafter 
labored earnestly to obliterate all traces of 
war and promote an era of good feeling be- 
tween all sections of the country. He took 
up his residence in New Orleans, and took 
an active interest and prominent part in 
public affairs, served as surveyor of that 
port for several years; was commissioner of 
engineers for Louisiana, served four years 
as school commissioner, etc. In 1875 he 
was appointed supervisor of internal revenue 
and settled in Georgia. After that time he 
served four years as United States minister 
to Turkey, and also for a number of years 
was United States marshal of Georgia, be- 
sides having held other important official 
positions. 

JOHN RUTLEDGE, the second chief- 
justice of the United States, was born 
at Charleston, South Carolina, in 1739. 
He was a son of John Rutledge, who had 
left Ireland for America about five years 
prior to the birth of our subject, and a 
brother of Edward Rutledge, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence. John Rut- 
ledge received his legal education at the 
Temple, London, after which he returned 
to Charleston and soon won distinction at 
the bar. He was elected to the old Colonial 
congress in 1765 to protest against the 
"Stamp Act," and was a member of the 



South Carolina convention of 1774, and of 
the Continental congress of that and the 
succeeding year. In 1776 he was chairman 
of the committee that draughted the con- 
stitution of his state, and was president of 
the congress of that state. He was not 
pleased with the state constitution, how- 
ever, and resigned. In 1779 he was again 
chosen governor of the state, and granted 
extraordinary powers, and he at once took 
the field to repel the British. He joined 
the army of General Gates in 1782, and the 
same year was elected to congress. He 
was a member of the constitutional con- 
vention which framed our present constitu- 
tion. In 1 789 he was appointed an associate 
justice of the first supreme court of the 
United States. He resigned to accept the 
position of chief- justice of his own state. 
Upon the resignation of Judge Jay^ he was 
appointed chief-justice of the United States 
in 1795. The appointment was never con- 
firmed, for, after presiding at one session, 
his mind became deranged, and he was suc- 
ceeded by Judge Ellsworth. He died at 
Charleston, July 23, 1800. 



RALPH WALDO EMERSON was one 
of the most noted literary men of his 
time. He was born in Boston, Massachu- 
setts, May 25, 1803. Hehada minister for 
an ancestor, either on the paternal or ma- 
ternal side, in every generation for eight 
generations back. His father. Rev. Will- 
iam Emerson, was a native of Concord, 
Massachusetts, born May 6, 1769, graduated 
at Harvard, in 1789, became a Unitarian 
minister; was a fine writer and one of the 
best orators of his day; died in 181 1. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson was fitted for 
college at the public schools of Boston, and 
graduated at Harvard College in 1821, win- 
ning about this time several prizes for es- 



58 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



says. For five years he taught school in 
Boston; in 1826 was licensed to preach, and 
in 1829 was ordained as a colleague to Rev. 
Henry Ware of the Second Unitarian church 
in Boston. In 1832 he resigned, making 
the announcement in a sermon of his un- 
willingness longer to administer the rite of 
the Lord's Supper, after which he spent 
about a year in Europe. Upon his return 
he began his career as a lecturer before the 
Boston Mechanics Institute, his subject be- 
ing "Water." His early lectures on " Italy" 
and "Relation of Man to the Globe " also 
attracted considerable attention; as did also 
his biographical lectures on Michael Angelo, 
Milton, Luther, George Fox, and Edmund 
Burke. After that time he gave many 
courses of lectures in Boston and became 
one of the best known lecturers in America. 
But very few men have rendered such con- 
tinued service in this field. He lectured for 
forty successive seasons before the Salem, 
Massachusetts, Lyceum and also made re- 
peated lecturing tours in this country and in 
England. In 1835 Mr. Emerson took up 
his residence at Concord, Massachusetts, 
where he continued to make his home until 
his death which occurred April 27, 1882. 

Mr. Emerson's literary work covered a 
wide scope. He wrote and published many 
works, essays and poems, which rank high 
among the works of American literary men. 
A few of the many which he produced are 
the following: "Nature;" "The Method 
of Nature;" " Man Thinking;" "The Dial;" 
"Essays;" "Poems;" "English Traits;" 
"The Conduct of Life;" "May-Day and 
other Poems " and " Society and Solitude;" 
besides many others. He was a prominent 
member of the American Academy of Arts 
and Sciences, of the American Philosophical 
Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society 
and other kindred associations. 



ALEXANDER T. STEWART, one of 
the famous merchant princes of New 
York, was born near the city of Belfast, Ire- 
land, in 1803, and before he was eight years 
of age was left an orphan without any near 
relatives, save an aged grandfather. The 
grandfather being a pious Methodist wanted 
to make a minister of young Stewart, and 
accordingly put him in a school with that 
end in view and he graduated at Trinity Col- 
lege, in Dublin. When scarcely twenty 
years of age he came to New York. His 
first employment was that of a teacher, but 
accident soon made him a merchant. En- 
tering into business relations with an ex- 
perienced man of his acquaintance he soon 
found himself with the rent of a store on 
his hands and alone in a new enterprise. 
Mr. Stewart's business grew rapidly in all 
directions, but its founder had executive 
ability sufficient for any and all emergencies, 
and in time his house became one of the 
greatest mercantile establishments of mod- 
ern times, and the name of Stewart famous. 
Mr. Stewart's death occurred April 10, 
1876. 

TAMES FENIMORE COOPER. — In 
<J speaking of this noted American nov- 
elist, William Cullen Bryant said: " He 
wrote for mankind at large, hence it is that 
he has earned a fame wider than any Amer- 
ican author of modern times. The crea- 
tions of his genius shall survive through 
centuries to come, and only perish u'ith our 
language." Another eminent writer (Pres- 
colt) said of Cooper: " In his productions 
every American must take an honest pride; 
for surely no one has succeeded like Cooper 
in the portraiture of American character, or 
has given such glowing and eminently truth- 
ful pictures of American scenery." 

lames Fenimore Cooper v>'as born Sep- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPI/r. 



59 



tember 15, 1789, at Burlington, New Jer- 
sey, and was a son of Judge William Cooper. 
About a year after the birth of our subject 
the family removed to Otsego county, New 
York, and founded the town called " Coop- 
erstown." James Fenimore Cooper spent 
his childhood there and in 1802 entered 
Yale College, and four years later became a 
midshipman in the United States navy. In 
181 1 he was married, quit the seafaring life, 
and began devoting more or less time to lit- 
erary pursuits. His first work was "Pre- 
caution," a novel published in 18 19, and 
three years later he produced "The Spy, a 
Tale of Neutral Ground," which met with 
great favor and was a universal success. 
This was followed by many other works, 
among which may be mentioned the follow- 
ing: ' ' The Pioneers, " ' ' The Pilot, " ' ' Last 
of the Mohicans," "The Prairie," "The 
Red Rover," "The Manikins," "Home- 
ward Bound," "Home as Found," " History 
of the United States Navy," "The Path- 
finder," "Wing and Wing," "Afloat and 
Ashore," "The Chain- Bearer, " "Oak- 
Openings," etc. J. Fenimore Cooper died 
at Cooperstovvn, New York, September 14, 
1851. 



MARSHALL Fl 
chant princes 



ARSHALL FIELD, one of the mer- 
princes of America, ranks among 
the most successful business men of the cen- 
tury. He was born in 1835 at Conway, 
Massachusetts. He spent his early life on 
a farm and secured a fair education in the 
common schools, supplementing this with a 
course at the Conway Academy. His 
natural bent ran in the channels of commer- 
cial life, and at the age of seventeen he was 
given a position in a store at Pittsfie'.d, 
Massachusetts. Mr. Field remained there 
four years and removed to Chicago in 1856. 
He began his career in Chicago as a clerk 



in the wholesale dry goods house of Cooley, 
Wadsworth & Compan\-, which later be- 
came Cooley, Farwell & Company, and still 
later John V. Farwell & Company. He 
remained with them four years and exhibit- 
ed marked ability, in recognition of which 
he was given a partnership. In 1865 Mr. 
Field and L. Z. Leiter, who was also a 
member of the firm, withdrew and formed 
the firm of Field, Palmer & Leiter, the 
third partner being Potter Palmer, and they 
continued in business until 1867, when Mr. 
Palmer retired and the firm became Field, 
Leiter & Company. They ran under the 
latter name until 1881, when Mr. Leiter re- 
tired and the house has since continued un- 
der the name of Marshall Field & Company. 
The phenomenal success accredited to the 
house is largely due to the marked ability 
of Mr. Field, the house had become one of 
the foremost in the west, with an annual 
sale of $8,000,000 in 1870. The total loss 
of the firm during the Chicago fire was 
$3,500,000 of which $2,500,000 was re- 
covered through the insurance companies. 
It rapidly recovered from the effects of this 
and to-day the annual sales amount to over 
$40,000,000. Mr. Field's real estate hold- 
ings amounted to $10,000,000. He was 
one of the heaviest subscribers to the Bap- 
tist University fund although he is a Presby- 
terian, and gave $1,000,000 for the endow- 
ment of the Field Columbian Museum — 
one of the greatest institutions of the kind 
in the world. 

EDGAR WILSON NYE, who won an im- 
mense popularity under the pen name 
of " Bill Nye," was one of the most eccen- 
tric humorists of his day. He was born Au- 
gust 25, 1850, at Shirley, Piscataqua coun- 
ty, Maine, "at a very early age" as he ex- 
presses it. He took an academic course in 



60 



COMTENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT 



River Fails, Wisconsin, from whence, after 
his graduation, he removed to \V3'oming 
Territory. He studied law and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1876. He began when 
quite young to contribute humorous sketches 
to the newspapers, became connected with 
various western journals and achieved a 
brilliant success as a humorist. Mr. Nye 
settled later in New York City where he 
devoted his time to writing funny articles for 
the big newspaper syndicates. He wrote for 
publication in book form the following : 
"Bill Nye and the Boomerang," "The 
Forty Liars," "Baled Hay," "Bill Nye's 
Blossom Rock," "Remarks," etc. His 
death occurred February 21, 1896, at Ashe- 
ville, North Carolina. 



THOMAS DE WITT TALMAGE, one of 
the most celebrated American preach- 
ers, was born January 7, 1832, and was the 
youngest of twelve children. He made his 
preliminary studies at the grammar school 
in New Brunswick, New Jersey. At the age 
of eighteen he joined the church and entered 
the University of the City of New York, and 
graduated in May, 1853. The exercises 
were held in Niblo's Garden and his speech 
aroused the audience to a high pitch of en- 
thusiasm. At the close of his college duties 
he imagined himself interested in the law 
and for three years studied law. Dr. Tal- 
mage then perceived his mistake and pre- 
pared himself for the ministry at the 
Reformed Dutch Church Theological Semi- 
nary at New Brunswick, New Jersey. Just 
after his ordination the young minister re- 
ceived two calls, one from Piermont, New 
York, and the other from Belleville, New 
Jersey. Dr. Talmage accepted the latter 
and for three years filled that charge, when 
he was called to Syracuse, New York. Here 
it was that his sermons first drew large 



crowds of people to his church, and from 
thence dates his popularity. Afterward he 
became the pastor of the Second Reformed 
Dutch church, of Philadelphia, remaining 
seven years, during which period he first 
entered upon the lecture platform and laid 
the foundation for his future reputation. At 
the end of this time he received three calls, 
one from Chicago, one from San Francisco, 
and one from the Central Presbyterian 
church of Brooklyn, which latter at that 
time consisted of only nineteen members 
with a congregation of about thirty-five. 
This church offered him a salary of seven 
thousand dollars and he accepted the call. 
He soon induced the trustees to sell the old 
church and build a new one. They did so 
and erected the Brooklyn Tabernacle, but 
it burned down shortly after it was finished. 
By prompt sympathy and general liberality 
a new church was built and formally opened 
in February, 1874. It contained seats for 
four thousand, six hundred and fifty, but if 
necessary seven thousand could be accom- 
modated. In October, 1878, his salary was 
raised from seven thousand dollars to twelve 
thousand dollars, and in the autumn of 1889 
the second tabernacle was destroyed by fire. 
A third tabernacle was built and it was for- 
mally dedicated on Easter Sunday, 1891. 



JOHN PHILIP SOUSA, conceded as 
<J being one of the greatest band leaders 
in the world, won his fame while leader of 
the United States Marine Band at Washing- 
ton, District of Columbia. He was not 
originally a band player but was a violinist, 
and at the age of seventeen he was conduc- 
tor of an opera company, a profession which 
he followed for several years, until he was 
offered the leadership of the Marine Band 
at Washington. The proposition was re- 
pugnant to him at first but he accepted the 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRATHr 



61 



offer and then ensued ten years of brilliant 
success with that organization. When he 
first took the Marine Band he began to 
gallier the national airs of all the nations 
that have representatives in Washington, 
and compiled a comprehensive volume in- 
cluding nearly all the national songs of the 
different nations. He composed a number 
of marches, waltzes and two-steps, promi- 
nent among which are the "Washington 
Post," "Directorate," "King Cotton," 
" High School Cadets," "Belle of Chica- 
go," "Liberty Bell March," "Manhattan 
Beach," " On Parade March," " Thunderer 
March," "Gladiator March," " El Capitan 
March," etc. He became a very extensive 
•composer of this class of music. 



JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, sixth president 
of the United States, was born in 
Braintree, Massachusetts, July li, 1767, 
the son of John Adams. At the age of 
eleven he was sent to school at Paris, and 
two years later to Leyden, where he entered 
that great university. He returned to the 
United States in 1785, and graduated from 
Harvard in 17S8. He then studied law, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1791. His 
practice brought no income the first two 
) ears, but he won distinction in literary 
fields, and was appointed minister to The 
Hague in 1794. He married in 1797, and 
went as minister to Berlin the same year, 
serving until 1801, when Jefferson became 
president. He was elected to the senate in 
I S03 by the Federalists, but was condemned 
by that party for advocating the Embargo 
Act and other Anti-Federalist measures. He 
was appointed as professor of rhetoric at 
Harvard in 1805, and in 1809 was sent as 
minister to Russia. He assisted in negotiat- 
ing the treaty of peace with England in 
,1814, and became minister to that power 



the next year. He served during Monroe's 
administration two terms as secretary of 
state, during which time party lines were 
obliterated, and in 1824 four candidates for 
president appeared, all of whom were iden- 
tified to some extent with the new " Demo- 
cratic" party. Mr. Adams received 84 elec- 
toral votes, Jackson 99, Crawford 41, and 
Clay 37. As no candidate had a majority 
of all votes, the election went to the house 
of representatives, which elected Mr. Adams. 
As Clay had thrown his influence to Mr. 
Adams, Clay became secretary of state, and 
this caused bitter feeling on the part of the 
Jackson Democrats, who were joined by 
Mr. Crawford and his following, and op- 
posed every measure of the administration. 
In the election of 1828 Jackson was elected 
over Mr. Adams by a great majority. 

Mr. Adams entered the lower house of 
congress in 1830, elected from the district 
in which he was born and continued to rep- 
resent it for seventeen years. He was 
known as " the old man eloquent," and his 
work in congress was independent of party. 
He opposed slavery extension and insisted 
upon presenting to congress, one at a time, 
the hundreds of petitions against the slave 
power. One of these petitions, presented in 
1842, was signed by forty-fi\e citizens of 
Massachusetts, and prayed congress for a 
peaceful dissolution of the Union. His 
enemies seized upon this as an opportunity 
to crush their powerful foe, and in a caucus 
meeting determined upon his expulsion from 
congress. Finding they would not be able 
to command enough votes for this, they de- 
cided upon a course that would bring equal 
disgrace. They formulated a resolution to 
the effect that while he merited expulsion, 
the house would, in great mercy, substitute 
its severest censure. When it was read in the 
house the old man, then in his seventy-fifth 



62 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRArHV. 



3'ear, arose and demanded that the first para- 
graph of the Declaration of Independence 
be read as his defense. It embraced the 
famous sentence, "that whenever any form 
of government becomes destructive to those 
ends, it is the right of the people to alter or 
abolish it, and to institute new government, 
etc., etc." After eleven days of hard fight- 
ing his opponents were defeated. On Febru- 
ary 21, 1848, he rose to address the speaker 
on the Oregon question, when he suddenly 
fell from a stroke of paralysis. He died 
soon after in the rotunda of the capitol, 
where he had been conveyed by his col- 
leagues. 

SUSAN B. ANTHONY was one of the 
most famous women of America. She 
was born at South Adams, Massachusetts, 
February 15, 1820, the daughter of a 
Quaker. She received a good education 
and became a school teacher, following that 
profession for fifteen years in New York. 
Beginning with about 1852 she became the 
active leader of the woman's rights move- 
ment and won a wide reputation for her 
zeal and ability. She also distinguished 
herself for her zeal and eloquence in the 
temperance and anti-slavery causes, and 
became a conspicuous figure during the war. 
After the close of the war she gave most of 
her labors to the cause of woman's suffrage. 



PHILIP D. ARMOUR, one of the most 
conspicuous figures in the mercantile 
history of America, was born May 16, 1832, 
on a farm at Stockbridge, Madison county. 
New Y'ork, and received his early education 
in the common schools of that count}'. He 
was apprenticed to a farmer and worked 
faithfully and well, being ver}' ambitious and 
desiring to start out for himself. At the 
age of twenty he secured a release from his 



indentures and set out overland for the 
gold fields of California. After a great 
deal of hard work he accumulated a little 
money and then came east and settled 
in Milwaukee, \\'isconsin. He went into 
the grain receiving and warehouse busi- 
ness and was fairly successful, and later on 
he formed a partnership with John Plankin- 
ton in the pork packing line, the style of the 
firm being Plankinton & Armour. Mr. Ar- 
mour made his first great "deal " in selling 
pork "short " on the New York market in 
the anticipation of the fall of the Confed- 
erac)', and Mr. Armour is said to have made 
through this deal a million dollars. He then 
established packing houses in Chicago and 
Kansas Citj", and in 1S75 he removed to 
Chicago. He increased his Business by add- 
ing to it the shipment of dressed beef to 
the European markets, and manj' other lines 
of trade and manufacturing, and it rapidly 
assumed vast proportions, employing an 
army of men in different lines of the busi- 
ness. Mr. Armour successfully conducted a 
great many speculative deals in pork and 
grain of immense proportions and also erected 
many large warehouses for the storage of 
grain. He became one of the representative 
business men of Chicago, where he became 
closely identified with all enterprises of a 
public nature, but his fame as a great busi- 
ness man extended to all parts of the world. 
He founded the "Armour Institute " at Chi- 
cago and also contributed largely to benevo- 
lent and charitable institutions. 



ROBERT FULTON.— Although Fulton- 
is best known as the inventor of the 
first successful steamboat, yet his claims to 
distinction do not rest alone upon that, for 
he was an inventor along other lines, a 
painter and an author. He was born at 
Little Britain, Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



66 



vania, in 1765, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. 
At the age of seventeen he removed to Phila- 
delphia, and there and in New York en- 
gaged in miniature painting with success 
both from a pecuniary and artistic point of 
view. With the results of his labors he pur- 
:;hased a farm for the support of his mother. 
He went to London and studied under the 
great painter, Benjamin West, and all 
through life retained his fondness for art 
and gave evidence of much ability in that 
line. While in England he was brought in 
contact with the Duke of Bridgewater, the 
father of the English canal system; Lord 
Stanhope, an eminent mechanician, and 
James Watt, the inventor of the steam en- 
gine. Their influence turned his mind to its 
true field of labor, that of mechanical in- 
vention. Machines for flax spinning, 
marble sawing, rope making, and for remov- 
ing earth from excavations, are among his 
earliest ventures. His "Treatise on the 
Improvement of Canal Navigation, " issued 
in 1796, and a series of essays on canals 
were soon followed by an English patent 
for canal improvements. In 1797 he went 
to Paris, where he resided until 1806, and 
there invented a submarine torpedo boat for 
maritime defense, but which was rejected 
by the governments of France, England and 
the United States. In 1803 he offered to con- 
struct for the Emperor Napoleon a steam- 
boat that would assist in carrying out the 
plan of invading Great Britain then medi- 
tated by that great captain. In pursuance 
he constructed his first steamboat on the 
Seine, but it did not prove a full success 
and the idea was abandoned by the French 
government. By the aid of Livingston, 
then United States minister to France, 
Fulton purchased, in 1806, an engine which 
he brought to this country. After studying 

the defects of his own and other attempts in 
4 



this line he built and launched in 1807 the 
Clermont, the first successful steamboat. 
This craft only attained a speed of five 
miles an hour while going up North river. 
His first patent not fully covering his in- 
vention, Fulton was engaged in many law 
suits for infringement. He constructed 
many steamboats, ferryboats, etc., among 
these being the United States steamer 
" Fulton the First," built in 18 14, the first 
war steamer ever built. This craft never 
attained any great speed owing to some de- 
fects in construction and accidentally blew 
up in 1829. Fulton died in New York, Feb- 
ruary 21, 1815. 



SALMON PORTLAND CHASE, sixth 
chief-justice of the United States, and 
one of the most eminent of American jurists, 
was born in Cornish, New Hampshire, Jan- 
uary 13, 1808. At the age of nine he was 
left in poverty by the death of his father, 
but means were found to educate him. He 
WIS sent to his uncle, a bishop, who con- 
ducted an academy near Columbus, Ohio, 
and here young Chase worked on the farm 
and attended school. At the age of fifteen 
he returned to his native state and entered 
Dartmouth College, from which he gradu- 
ated in 1 826. He then went to Washington, 
and engaged in teaching school, and study- 
ing law under the instruction of William 
Wirt. He was licensed to practice in 1829, 
and went to Cincinnati, where he had a 
hard struggle for several years following. 
He had in the meantime prepared notes on 
the statutes of Ohio, which, when published, 
brought him into prominence locally. He 
was soon after appointed solicitor of the 
United States Bank. In 1837 he appeared 
as counsel for a fugitive slave woman, Ma- 
tilda, and sought by all the powers of hfs. 
learning and eloquence to prevent her owner 



'66 



COMPENDICM Ol' lUOGRArHV. 



from reclaiming her. He acted in many 
other cases, and devolved the trite expres- 
sion, "Slaver}' is sectional, freedom is na- 
tional." He was employed to defend Van 
Zandt before the supreme court of the United 
States in 1846, which was one of the most 
noted cases connected with the great strug- 
gle against slavery. By this time Mr. Chase 
had become the recognized leader of that 
element known as " free-soilers." He was 
elected to the United States senate in 1849, 
and was chosen governor of Ohio in 1855 
and re-elected in 1857. He was chosen to 
the United States senate from Ohio in 1861, 
but was made secretary of the treasury by 
Lincoln and accepted. He inaugurated a 
financial system to replenish the exhausted 
treasury and meet the demands of the great- 
est war in history and at the same time to 
revive the industries of the country. One 
of the measures which afterward called for 
his judicial attention was the issuance of 
currency notes which were made a legal 
tender in payment of debts. When this 
question came before him as chief-justice 
of the United States he reversed his former 
action and declared the measure unconstitu- 
tional. The national banking system, by 
which all notes issued were to be based on 
funded government bonds of equal or greater 
amounts, had its direct origin with Mr. Chase. 
Mr. Chase resigned the treasury port- 
folio in 1864, and was appointed the same 
year as chief-justice of the United States 
supreme court. The great questions that 
came up before him at this crisis in the life 
of the nation were no less than those which 
confronted the first chief-justice at the for- 
mation of our government. Reconstruction, 
private, state and national interests, the 
constitutionality of the acts of congress 
passed in times of great excitement, the 
.construction and interpretation to be placed 



upon the several amendments to the national 
constitution,— these were among the vital 
questions requiring prompt decision. He 
received a paralytic stroke in 1870, which 
impaired his health, thcugh his mental 
powers were not affected. He continued to 
preside at the opening terms for two years 
following and died May 7, 1873. 



HARRfET ELIZABETH BEECHER 
STOWE, a celebrated American writ- 
er, was born June 14, 1812, at Litchfield, 
Connecticut. She was a daughter of Lyman 
Beecher and a sister of Henry Ward Beecher, 
tv.'o noted divines; was carefully educated, 
and taught school for several years at Hart- 
ford, Connecticut. In 1832 Miss Beecher 
married Professor Stowe, then of Lane Semi- 
nary, Cincinnati, Ohio, and afterwards at 
Bovvdoin College and Andover Seminary. 
Mrs. Stowe published in 1849 "The May- 
flower, or sketches of the descendants of the 
Pilgrims," and in 1851 commenced in the 
' ' National Era " of Washington, a serial story 
which was published separately in 1852 under 
the title of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." This 
book attained almost unparalleled success 
both at homeand abroad, and within ten years 
it had been translated in almost every lan- 
guage of the civilized world. Mrs. Stowe pub- 
lished in 1853 a "Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin" 
in which the data that she used was published 
and its truthfulness was corroborated. In 
1853 she accompanied her husband and 
brother to Europe, and on her return pub- 
lished "Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands" 
in 1854. Mrs. Stowe was for some time 
one of the editors of the ' ' Atlantic Monthly " 
and the " Hearth and Home," for which 
she had written a number of articles. 
Among these, also published separately, are 
" Dred, a tale of the Great Dismal Swamp " 
(later published under the title of " Nina 



COMPENDIUM OF BI0GRAPH2'. 



Gordon"); "The Minister's Wooing;" "The 
Pearl of Orr's Island;" "Asjncs of Sorrento;" 
"Oldtown Folks;" "My Wife and I;" "Bible 
Heroines," and "A Dog's Mission." Mrs. 
Stowe's death occurred July i, 1896, at 
Hartford, Connecticut. 



THOMAS JONATHAN JACKSON, bet- 
ter known as "Stonewall" Jackson, 
was one of the most noted of the Confeder- 
ate generals of the Civil war. He was a 
soldier by nature, an incomparable lieuten- 
ant, sure to execute any operation entrusted 
to him with marvellous precision, judgment 
and courage, and all his .individual cam- 
paigns and combats bore the stamp of a 
masterly capacity for war. He was born 
January 21, 1824, at Clarksburg, Harrison 
count}', Wi-'St Virginia. He was early in 
life imbued with the desire to be a soldier 
and it is said walked from the mountains of 
Virginia to Washington, secured the aid of 
his congressman, and was appointed cadet 
at the United States Military Academy at 
West Point from which he was graduated in 

1846. Attached to the army as brevet sec- 
ond lieutenant of the First Artillery, hisiirst 
service was as a subaltern with Magruder's 
battery of light artillery in the Mexican war. 
He participated at the reduction of Vera 
Cruz, and was noticed for gallantry in the 
buttles of Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Moline 
del Key, Chapultepec, and the capture of 
the city of Mexico, receiving the brevets of 
captain for conduct at Contreras and Cher- 
ubnsco and of major at Chapultepec. In 
the meantime he had been advanced by 
regular promotion to be first lieutenant in 

1847. In 1852, the war having closed, he 
resigned and became professor of natural 
and experimental philosophy and artillery 
instructor at the Virginia State Military 
Institute at Lexington, Virginia, where he 



remained until Virginia declared for seces- 
sion, he becoming chiefly noted for intense 
religious sentiment coupled with personal 
eccentricities. Upon the breaking out of 
the war he was made colonel and placed in 
command of a force sent to sieze Harper's 
Ferry, which he accomplished May 3, 1S61. 
Relieved by General J. E. Johnston, May 
23, he took command of the brigade of 
Valley Virginians, whom he moulded into 
that brave corps, baptized at the first 
Manassas, and ever after famous as the 
" Stonewall Brigade." After this "Stone- 
wall " Jackson was made a major-general, 
in 1861, and participated until his death in 
all the famous campaigns about Richmond 
and in Virginia, and was a conspicuous fig- 
ure in the memorable battles of that time. 
May 2, 1863, at Chancellorsville, he \va? 
wounded severely by his own troops, two 
balls shattering his left arm and another 
passing thr.ough the palm of his right hand. 
The left arm was amputated, but pneumonia 
intervened, and, weakened by the great loss 
of blood, he died May 10, 1863. The more 
his operations in the Shenandoah valley in 
1862 are studied the more striking must the 
merits of this great soldier appear. 



JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER. — 
vJ Near to the heart of the people of the 
Anglo-Saxon race will ever lie the verses of 
this, the "Quaker Poet." The author of 
"Barclay of Ury," " Maiid Muller" and 
"Barbara Frietchie," always pure, fervid 
and direct, will be remembered when many 
a more ambitious writer has been forgotten. 
John G. W^hittier was born at Haver- 
hill, Massachusetts, December 7, 1807. of 
Quaker parentage. He had but a common- 
school education and passed his boyhood 
days upon a farm. In early life he learned 
the trade of shoemaker. At the age of 



GS 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



eighteen he began to write verses for the 
Haverhill ''Gazette." He spent two years 
after that at the Haverhill academy, after 
which, in 1829, he became editor of the 
"American ^fanufacturer, " at Boston. In 
1830 he succeeded George D. Prentice as 
editor of the "New England ^^'eekly Re- 
view," but the following year returned to 
Haverhill and engaged in farming. In 1832 
and in 1836 he edited the "Gazette." In 
1835 he was elected a member of the legis- 
lature, serving two years. In 1836 he became 
secretary of the Anti-slavery Society of Phil- 
adelphia. In 1838 and 1839 he edited the 
" Pennsj'lvania Freeman," but in the latter 
year the office was sacked and burned by a 
mob. In 1840 Whittier settled at Ames- 
bury, Massachusetts. In 1847 he became 
corresponding editor of the "National Era," 
an anti-slavery paper published at Washing- 
ton, and contributed to its columns many of 
his anti-slavery and other favorite lyrics. 
Mr. Whittier lived for many years in retire- 
ment of Quaker simplicity, publishing several 
volumes of poetry which have raised him to 
a high place among American authors and 
brought to him the love and admiration of 
his countrymen. In the electoral colleges 
of i860 and 1864 Whittier was a member. 
Much of his time after 1876 was spent at 
Oak Knoll, Danvers, Massachusetts, but 
still retained his residence at Amesbury. 
He never married. His death occurred Sep- 
tember 7, 1892. 

The more prominent prose writings of 
John G. Whittier are as follows: "Legends 
of New England," "Justice and Expediency, 
or Slavery Considered with a View to Its Abo- 
lition," " The Stranger in Lowell," "Super- 
naturalism in New England," " Leaves from 
Margaret Smith's Journal," "Old Portraits 
and Modern Sketches" and " Literary 
■Sketches." 



DAVID DIXON PORTER, illustrious as 
admiral of the United States navy, and 
famous as one of the most able naval offi- 
cers of America, was born in Pennsylvania, 
June 8, 1814. His father was also a naval 
officer of distinction, who left the service of 
the United States to become commander of 
the naval forces of Mexico during the war 
between that country and Spain, and 
through this fact David Dixon Porter was 
appointed a midshipman in. the Mexican 
navy. Two years later David D. Porter 
joined the United States navy as midship- 
man, rose in rank and eighteen years later 
as a lieutenant he is found actively engaged 
in all the operations of our navy along the 
east coast of Mexico. When the Civil war 
broke out Porter, then a commander, was 
dispatched in the Powhattan to the relief of 
Fort Pickens, Florida. This duty accom- 
plished, he fitted out a mortar flotilla for 
the reduction of the forts guarding the ap- 
proaches to New Orleans, which it was con- 
sidered of vital importance for the govern- 
ment to get possession of. After the fall of 
New Orleans the mortar flotilla was actively 
engaged at Vicksburg, and in the fall of 
1862 Porter was made a rear-admiral and 
placed in command of all the naval forces 
on the western rivers above New Orleans. 
The ability of the man was now con- 
spicuously manifested, not only in the bat- 
tles in which he was engaged, but also in 
the creation of a formidable fleet out of 
river steamboats, which he covered with 
such plating as they would bear. In 1S64 
he was transferred to the Atlantic coast to 
command the naval forces destined to oper- 
ate against the defences of Wilmington, 
North Carolina, and on Jan. 15, 1865, the 
fall of Fort Fisher was hailed by the country 
as a glorious termination of his arduous war 
service. In 1866 he was made vice-admiral 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



69 



and appointed superintendent of the Naval 
Academy. On the death of Farragut, in 
1870, he succeeded that able man as ad- 
miral of the navy. His death occurred at 
Washington, February 13, 1891. 



NATHANIEL GREENE was one of the 
best known of the distinguished gen- 
erals who led the Continental soldiery 
against the hosts of Great Britain during 
the Revolutionary war. He was the son 
of Quaker parents, and was born at War- 
wick, Rhode Island, May 27, 1742. In 
youth he acquired a good education, chiefly 
by his own efforts, as he was a tireless 
reader. In 1770 he was elected a member 
of the Assembly of his native state. The 
news of the battle of Lexington stirred 
his blood, and he offered his services to 
the government of the colonies, receiving 
the rank of brigadier-general and the com- 
mand of the troops from Rhode Island. 
He led them to the camp at Cambridge, 
and for thus violating the tenets of their 
faith, he was cast out of the Society of 
Friends, or Quakers. He soon won the es- 
teem of General Washington. In August, 

1776, Congress promoted Greene to the 
rank of major-general, and in the battles of 
Trenton and Princeton he led a division. 
At the battle of Brandy wine, September 1 1, 

1777, he greatly distinguished himself, pro- 
tecting the retreat of the Continentals by 
his firm stand. At the battle of German- 
town, October 4, the same year, he com- 
manded the left wing of the army with 
credit. In March, 1778, he reluctantly ac- 
cepted the office of quartermaster-general, 
but only with the understanding that his 
rank ui the army would, not be affected and 
that in action he should retain his command. 
On the bloody field of Monmouth, June 28, 

1778, he commanded the right wing, as he 



did at the battle of Tiverton Heights. He 
was in command of the army in 1780, dur- 
ing the absence of Washington, and was 
president of the court-martial that tried and 
condemned Major Andre. After General 
Gates' defeat at Camden, North Carolina, in 
the summer of 1780, General Greene was ap- 
pointed to the command of the southern army. 
He sent out a force under General Morgan 
who defeated General Tarleton at Cowpens, 
January 17, 178T. On joining his lieuten- 
ant, in February, he found himself out num- 
bered by the British and retreated in good 
order to Virginia, but being reinforced re- 
turned to North Carolina where he fought 
the battle of Guilford, and a few days later 
compelled the retreat of Lord Cornwallis. 
The British were followed by Greene part 
of the way, when the Am.erican army 
marched into South Carolina. After vary- 
ing success he fought the battle of Eutaw 
Springs, September 8, 1781. Forthelatter 
battle and its glorious consequences, which 
virtually closed the war in the Carolinas, 
Greene received a medal from Congress and 
many valuable grants of land from the 
colonies of North and South Carolina and 
Georgia. On the return of peace, after a 
year spent in Rhode Island, General Greene 
took up his residence on his estate near 
Savannah, Georgia, where he died June 19, 
1786. 



EDGAR ALLEN POE.— Among the 
many great literary men whom this 
country has produced, there is perhaps no 
name more widely known than that of Ed- 
gar Allen Poe. He was born at Boston, 
Massachusetts, February 19, 1809. His 
parents were David and Elizabeth (Arnold) 
Poe, both actors, the mother said to have 
been the natural daughter of Benedict Ar- 
nold. The parents died while Edgar was 



ro 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY 



still a child and he was adopted by John 
Allen, a wealth}' and influential resident of 
Richmond, Virginia. Edgar was sent to 
school at Stoke, Newington, England, 
where he remained until he was thirteen 
3 ears old; was prepared for college by pri- 
vate tutors, and in 1 826 entered the Virginia 
University at Charlottesville. He made 
rapid progress in his studies, and was dis- 
tinguished for his scholarship, but was ex- 
pelled within a year for gambling, after 
which for several years he resided with his 
benefactor at Richmond. He then went to 
Baltimore, and in 1829 published a 71 -page 
pamphlet called "Al Aaraaf, Tamerlane 
and Minor Poems," which, however, at- 
tracted no attention and contained nothing 
of particular merit. In 1S30 he was ad- 
mitted as a cadet at West Point, but was 
expelled about a year later for irregulari- 
ties. Returning .to the home of Mr. Allen 
he remained for some time, and finally 
quarrelled with his benefactor and enlisted 
as a private soldier in the U. S. army, but 
remained only a short time. Soon after 
this, in J833, Poe won several prizes for 
literary work, and as a result secured the 
position of editor of trhe "Southern Liter- 
ary Messenger," at Richmond, Virginia. 
Here he married his cousin, Virginia 
Clemm, who clung to him with fond devo- 
tion through all the many trials that came 
to them until her death in Januar}-, 1848. 
Poe remained with the "Messenger" for 
several years, writing meanwhile many 
tales, reviews, essays and poems. He aft- 
erward earned a precarious living by his 
pen in New York for a time; in 1S39 be- 
came editor of "Burton's Gentleman's 
Magazine" ; in 1840 to 1842 was editor of 
" Graham's Magazine," and drifted around 
from one place to another, returning to 
New York in 1844. In 1S45 his best 



known production, "The Raven," appeared 
in the "Whig Review," and gained him a 
reputation which is now almost world-wide. 
He then acted as editor and contributor on 
various magazines and periodicals until the 
death of his faithful wife in 1848. In the 
summer of 1849 he was engaged to be mar- 
ried to a lady of fortune in Richmond, Vir- 
ginia, and the day set for the wedding. 
He started for New York to make prepara- 
tions for the event, but, it is said, began 
drinking, was attacked with dilirium tre- 
mens in Baltimore and was removed to a 
hospital, where he died, October 7, 1849. 
The works of Edgar Allen Poe have been 
repeatedly published since his death, both 
in Europe and America, and have attained 
an immense popularity. 



HORATIO GATES, one of the prom- 
inent figures in the American war for 
Independence, was not a native of the col- 
onies but was born in England in 1728. In 
early life he entered the British army and 
attained the rank of major. At the capture 
of Marti nico he was aide to General Monk- 
ton and after the peace of Aix la Chapelle, 
in 1748, he was among the first troops that 
landed at Halifax. He was with Braddock 
at his defeat in 1755, and was there severe- 
ly wounded. At the conclusion of the 
French and Indian war Gates purchased an 
estate in Virginia, and, resigning from the 
British army, settled down to life as a 
planter. On the breaking out of the Rev- 
olutionary war he entered the service of tho 
colonies and was made adjutant-general of 
the Continental forces with the rank o! 
brigadier-general. He accompanied V.'ash- 
ington when he assumed the command ol 
the army. In June, 1776, he was appoint- 
ed to the command of the army of Canada, 
j but was superseded in May of the following 



co^rPEXDlu^^ of BiOGRAPiir. 



71 



year by General Schuyler. In August, 
177/1 however, the command of that army 
was restored to General Gates and Septem- 
ber 19 he fought the battle of Bemis 
Heights. October 7, the same year, he 
won the battle of Stillwater, or Saratoga, 
and October 17 received the surrender of 
General Burgoyne and his army, the pivotal 
point of the war. This gave him a brilliant 
reputation. June 13, 17S0, General Gates 
was appointed to the command of the 
southern military division, and August 16 of 
that year suffered defeat at the hands of 
Lord Cornwallis. at Camden, North Car- 
olina. In December following he was 
superseded in the command by General 
Nathaniel Greene. 

On the signing of the peace treaty Gen- 
eral Gates retired to his plantation in 
Berkeley county, Virginia, where he lived 
until 1790, when, emancipating all his 
slaves, he removed to New York City, where 
he resided until his death, April 10, 1806. 



LYMAN J. GAGE.— When President Mc- 
Kinley selected Lyman J. Gage as sec- 
retary of the treasury he chose one of the 
most eminent financiers of the century. Mr. 
Gage was born June 28, 1836, at De Ruy- 
ter, Madison county. New York, and was of 
English descent. He went to Rome, New 
York, with his parents when he was ten 
years old, and received his early education 
in the Rome Academy. Mr. Gage gradu- 
ated from the same, and his first position 
was that of a clerk in the post office. When 
he was fifteen years of age he was detailed 
as mail agent on the Rome & Watertown 
R. R. until the postmaster-general appointed 
regular agents for the route. In 1854, when 
he was in his eighteenth year, he entered 
the Oneida Central Bank at Rome as a 
junior clerk at a salary of one hundred dol- 



lars per year. Being unable at the end of 

one 3ear and a half's service to obtain an 
increase in salary he determined to seek a 
wider field of labor. Mr. Gage set out in 
the fall of 1 85 5 and arrived in Chicago, 
Illinois, on October 3, and soon obtained a 
situation in Nathan Cobb's lumber yard and 
planing mill. He remained there three years 
as a bookkeeper, teamster, etc., and left on 
account of change in the management. But 
not being able to find anything else to do he 
accepted the position of night watchman in 
the place for a period of six weeks. He 
then became a bookkeeper for the Mer- 
chants Saving, Loan and Trust Company at 
a salary of five hundred dollars per year. 
He rapidly advanced in the service of this 
company and in 1868 he was made cashier. 
Mr. Gage \vas next offered the position of 
cashier of the First National Bank and ac- 
cepted the offer. He became the president 
of the First National Bank of Chicago Jan- 
uary 24, 1 89 1 , and in 1 897 he was appointed 
secretary of the treasur}'. His ability as a 
financier and the prominent part he took in 
the discussion of financial affairs while presi- 
dent of the great Chicago bank gave him a 
national reputation. 



ANDREW JACKSON, the seventh pres- 
ident of the United States, was born 
at the Waxhaw settlement, Union county, 
North Carolina, March 15, 1767. His 
parents were Scotch-Irish, natives of Carr- 
ickfergus, who came to this country in 1665 
and settled on Twelve-Mile creek, a trib- 
utary of the Catawba. His father, who 
was a poor farm laborer, died shortly be- 
fore Andrew's birth, when the mother re- 
moved to Waxhaw, where some relatives 
lived. Andrew's education was very limited, 
he showing no aptitude for study. In 1780 
when but thirteen years of age, he and his 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAriir 



brother Robert volunteered to serve in the 
American partisan troops under General 
Sumter, and witnessed the defeat at Hang- 
ing Rock. The following year the boys 
were both taken prisoners by the enemy 
and endured brutal treatment from the 
British officers while confined at Camden. 
They both took the small pox, when the 
mother procured their exchange but Robert 
died shortly after. The mother died in 
Charleston of ship fever, the same year. 

Young Jackson, now in destitute cir- 
cumstances, worked for about six months in 
a saddler's shop, and then turned school 
master, although but little fitted for the 
position. He now began to think of a pro- 
fession and at Salisbury, North Carolina, 
entered upon the study of law, but from all 
accounts gave but little attention to his 
books, being one of the most roistering, 
rollicking fellows in that town, indulging in 
many of the vices of his time. In 17S6 he 
was admitted to the bar and in 1788 re- 
moved to Nashville, then in North Carolina, 
with the appointment of public prosecutor, 
then an office of little honor or emolument, 
l)ut requiring much nerve, for which young 
Jackson was already noted. Two years 
later, when Tennessee became a territory 
he was appointed by Washington to the 
position of United States attorney for that 
district. In 1791 he married Mrs. Rachel 
Robards, a daughter of Colonel John Don- 
elson, who was supposed at the time to 
have been divorced from her former hus- 
band that year by act of legislature of Vir- 
ginia, but two years later, on finding that 
this divorce was not legal, and a new bill of 
separation being granted by the courts of 
Kentucky, they were remarried in 1793. 
This was used as a handle by his oppo- 
nents in the political campaign afterwards. 
Jackson was untiring in his efforts as United 



States attorney and obtained much influence. 
He was chosen a member of the Constitu- 
tional Convention of 1796, when Tennessee 
became a state and was its first represent- 
ative in congress. In 1797 he was chosen 
United States senator, but resigned the fol- 
lowing year to accept a seat on the supreme 
court of Tennessee which he held until 
1804. He was elected major-general of 
the militia of that state in iSoi. In 1804, 
being unsuccessful in obtaining the govern- 
orship of Louisiana, the new territory, he 
retired from public life to the Hermitage, 
his plantation. On the outbreak of the 
war with Great Britain in 181 2 he tendered 
his services to the government and went to 
New Orleans with the Tennessee troops in 
January, 181 3. In March of that year he 
was ordered to disband his troops, but later 
marched against the Cherokee Indians, de- 
feating them at Talladega, Emuckfaw 
and Tallapoosa. Having now a national 
reputation, he was appointed major-general 
in the United States army and was sent 
against the British in Florida. He con- 
ducted the defence of Mobile and seized 
Pensacola. He then went with his troops 
to New Orleans, Louisiana, where he gained 
the famous victory of January 8, 18 15. In 
18 17-18 he conducted a war against the 
Seminoles, and in 1821 was made governor 
of the new territory of Florida. In 1823 
he was elected United States senator, but 
in 1824 WdS the contestant with J. Q. Adams 
for the presidency. Four years later he 
was elected president, and served two terms. 
In 1832 he took vigorous action against the 
nullifiers of South Carolina, and the next 
year remo\ed the public money from the 
United States bank. During his second 
term the national debt was extinguished. At 
the close of his administration he retired to 
the Hermitage, where he died June 8, 1845. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



73 



ANDREW CARNEGIE, the largest manu- 
facturer of pig-iron, steel rails and 
coke in the world, well deserves a place 
among America's celebrated men. He was 
born November 25, 1835, at Dunfermline, 
Scotland, and emigrated to the United States 
with his father in 1845, settling in Pittsburg. 
Two years later Mr. Carnegie began his 
business career by attending a small station- 
ary engine. This work did not suit him and 
he became a telegraph messenger with the 
Atlantic and Ohio Co., and later he became 
an operator, and was one of the first to read 
telegraphic signals by sound. Mr. Carnegie 
was afterward sent to the Pittsburg office 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad Co., as clerk 
to the superintendent and manager of the 
telegraph lines. While in this position he 
made the acquaintance of Mr. Woodruff, the 
inventor of the sleeping-car. Mr. Carnegie 
immediately became interested and was one 
of the organizers of the company for its con- 
struction after the railroad had adopted it, 
and the success of this venture gave him the 
nucleus of his wealth. He was promoted 
to the superintendency of the Pittsburg 
division of the Pennsylvania Railroad and 
about this time was one of the syndicate 
that purchased the Storey farm on Oil Creek 
which cost forty thousand dollars and in one 
year it yielded over one million dollars in 
cash dividends. Mr. Carnegie later was as- 
sociated with others in establishing a rolling- 
mill, and from this has grown the most ex- 
tensive and complete system of iron and 
steel industries ever controlled by one indi- 
vidual, embracing the Edgar Thomson 
Steel Works; Pittsburg Bessemer Steel 
Works; Lucy Furnaces; Union Iron Mills; 
Union Mill; Keystone Bridge Works; Hart- 
man Steel Works; Prick Coke Co.; Scotia 
Ore Mines. Besides directing his immense 
iron industries he owned eighteen English 



newspapers which he ran in the interest of 
the Radicals. He has also devoted large 
sums of money to benevolent and educational 
purposes. In 1879 he erected commodious 
swimming baths for the people of Dunferm- 
line, Scotland, and in the following year 
gave forty thousand dollars for a free library. 
Mr. Carnegie gave fifty thousand dollars to 
Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1884 
to found what is now called "Carnegie Lab- 
oratory," and in 1885 gave five hundred 
thousand dollars to Pittsburg for a public 
library. He also gave two hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars for a music hall and library 
in Allegheny City in 1886, and two hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars to Edinburgh, Scot- 
land, for a free library. He also established 
free libraries at Braddock, Pennsylvania, 
and other places for the benefit of his em- 
ployes. He also published the following 
works, "An American Four-in-hand in 
Britain;" " Round the World;" "Trium- 
phant Democracy; or Fifty Years' March of 
the Republic." 



GEORGE H. THOMAS, the " Rock of 
Chickamauga," one of the best known 
commanders during the late Civil war, was 
born in Southampton county, Virginia, July 
31, 1 8 16, his parents being of Welsh and 
French origin respectively. In 1836 young 
Thomas was appointed a cadet at the Mili- 
tary Academy, at West Point, from which 
he graduated in 1840, and was promoted to 
the office of second lieutenant in the Third 
Artillery. Shortly after, with his company, 
he went to Florida, where he served for two 
years against the Seminole Indians. In 
1 84 1 he was brevetted first lieutenant for 
gallant conduct. He remained in garrison 
in the south and southwest until 1845, at 
which date with the regiment he joined the 
army under General Taylor, and participat' 



74 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



ed in the defense of Fort Brown, the storm- 
ing of Monterey and the battle of Buena 
Vista. After the latter eve.it he remained 
in garrison, now brevetted major, until the 
close of the Mexican war. After a year 
spent in Florida, Captain Tl^iomas was or- 
dered to West Point, where he served as in- 
structor until 1S54. He then was trans- 
ferred to California. In May, 1855, Thom- 
as was appointed major of the Second Cav- 
alry, with whom he spent five years inTe.xas. 
Although a southern man, and surrounded 
by brother officers who all were afterwards 
in the Confederate service. Major Thomas 
never swerved from his allegiance to the 
government. A. S. Johnston was the col- 
onel of the regiment, R. E. Lee the lieuten- 
ant-colonel, and W. J. Hardee, senior ma- 
jor, while among the younger officers were 
Hood, Fitz Hugh Lee, Van Dorn and Kirby 
Smith. When these officers left the regi- 
ment to take up arms for the Confederate 
cause he remained with it, and April 17th, 
1 86 1, crossed the Potomac into his native 
state, at its head. After taking an active part 
in the opening scenes of the war on the Poto- 
mac and Shenandoah, in August, 1 86 1, he 
was promoted to be brigadier-general and 
transferred to the Army of the Cumberland. 
January 19-20, 1S62, Thomas defeated 
Crittenden at Mill Springs, and this brought 
him into notice and laid the foundation of 
his fame. He continued in command of his 
division until September 20, 1862, except 
during the Corinth campaign when he com- 
manded the right wing of the Army of the 
Tennessee. He was in command of the 
latter at the battle of Perryville, also, Octo- 
ber 8, 1862. 

On the division of the Army of the Cum- 
berland into corps, January 9, 1863, Gen- 
eral Thomas was assigned to the command 
of the Fourteenth, and at the battle of Chick- 



amauga, after the retreat of Rosecrans,, 
firmly held his own against the hosts of Gen- 
eral Bragg. A history of his services from 
that on would be a histor}' of the war in the 
southwest. On September 27, 1S64, Gen- 
eral Thomas was given command in Ten- 
nessee, and after organizing his army, de- 
feated General Hood in the battle of Nash- 
ville, December 15 and 16, 1864. Much 
complaint was made before this on account 
of what they termed Thomas' slowness, and 
he was about to be superseded because he 
would not strike until he got ready, but 
when the blow was struck General Grant 
was the first to place on record this vindica- 
tion of Thomas' judgment. He received a 
vote of thanks from Congress, and from the 
legislature of Tennessee a gold medal. Af- 
ter the close of the war General Thom.as 
had command of several of the military di- 
visions, and died at San Francisco, Cali- 
fornia, March 28, 1870. 



GEORGE BANCROFT, one of the most 
eminent American historians, was a 
native of Massachusetts, born at Worcester, 
October 3, 1800, and a son of Aaron 
Bancroft, D. D. The father, Aaron Ban- 
croft, was born at Reading, Massachusetts, 
November 10, 1755. He graduated at 
Harvard in 1778, became a minister, and for 
half a century was rated as one of the ablest 
preachers in New England. He was also a 
prolific writer and published a number of 
works among which was ' ' Life of George 
Washington." Aaron Bancroft died August 
19, 1S39. 

The subject of our present biography, 
George Bancroft, graduated at Harvard in 
1817, and the following year entered the 
University of Gottingen, where he studied 
history, and philology under the most emi- 
nent teachers, and in 1820 received the de- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



75 



fjree of doctor of philosophy at Gottingen. 
Upon his return home he pubhshed a vohiine 
of poems, and later a translation of Heeren's 
" Reflections on the Pohtics of Ancient 
Greece." In 1834 he produced the first 
volume of his " History of the United 
States," this being followed by other vol- 
umes at different intervals later. This was 
his greatest work and ranks as the highest 
authority, taking its place among the great- 
est of American productions. 

George Bancroft was appointed secretary 
of the navy by President Polk in 1845, but 
resigned in 1846 and became minister pleni- 
potentiary to England. In 1849 he retired 
from public life and took up his residence at 
Washington, D. C. In 1867 he was ap- 
pointed United States minister to the court of 
Berlin and negotiated thetreatybywliichGer- 
mans coming to the United States were re- 
leased from their allegiance to the govern- 
ment of their native land. In 1871 he was 
minister plenipotentiary to the German em- 
pire and served until 1874. The death of 
George Bancroft occurred January 17, 1891. 



GEORGE GORDON MEADE, a fa- 
mous Union general, was born at 
Cadiz, Spain, December 30, 18 15, his father 
being United States naval agent at that 
port. After receiving a good education he 
entered the West Point Military Academy 
in 1 83 1. From here he was graduated 
June 30, I S3 5, and received the rank of 
second lieutenant of artillery. He par- 
ticipated in the Seminole war, but resigned 
from the army in October, 1836. He en- 
tered upon the profession of civil engineer, 
which he followed for several years, part of 
the time in the service of the government in 
making surveys of the mouth of the Missis- 
sippi river. His report and results of some 
experiments made by him in this service 



gained Meade much credit. He alsu was 
employed in surveying the boundary luie of 
Texas and the northeastern boundary line 
between the United States and Canada. 
In 1842 he was reappointed in the army to 
the position of second lieutenant of engineers. 
During the Mexican war he served with dis- 
tinction on the staff of General Taylor in 
the battles of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma 
and the storming of Monterey. He received 
his brevet of first lieutenant for the latter 
action. In 185 1 he was made full first 
lieutenant in his corps; a captain in 1856, 
and major soon after. At the close of the 
war with Mexico he was employed in light- 
house construction and in geodetic surveys 
until the breaking out of the Rebellion, in 
which he gained great reputation. In 
August, 1 86 1, he was made brigadier-general 
of volunteers and placed in command of the 
second brigade of the Pennsylvania Reserves, 
a division of the First Corps in the Army of 
the Potomac. In the campaign of 1862, 
under McClellan, Meade took an active 
part, being present at the battles of Mechan- 
icsville, Gaines' Mill and Glendale, in the 
latter of which he was severely wounded. 
On rejoining his command he was given a 
division and distinguished himself at its head 
in the battles of South Mountain and Antie- 
tam. During the latter, on the wounding 
of General Hooker, Meade was placed in 
command of the corps and was himself 
slightly wounded. For services he was 
promoted, November, 1862, to the rank 
of major-general of volunteers. On the 
recovery of General Hooker General Meade 
returned to his division and in December, 
1862, at Fredericksburg, led an attack 
which penetrated Lee's right line and swept 
to his rear. Being outnumbered and un- 
supported, he finally was driven back. The 
same month Meade was assigned to the 



76 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



command of the Fifth Corps, and at Chan- 
cellorsville in May, 1863, his sagacity and 
ability so struck General Hooker that when 
the latter asked to be relieved of the com- 
mand, in June of the same year, he nomi- 
nated Meade as his successor. June 28, 
1863, President Lincoln commissioned Gen- 
eral Meade commander-in-chief of the Army 
of the Potomac, then scattered and moving 
hastily through Pennsylvania to the great 
and decisive battlefield at Gettysburg, at 
which he was in full command. With the 
victory on those July days the name of 
Meade will ever be associated. From that 
time until the close of the war he com- 
manded the Army of the Potomac. In 
1864 General Grant, being placed at the 
head of all the armies, took up his quarters 
with the Army of the Potomac. From that 
time until the surrender of Lee at Appo- 
matox Meade's ability shone conspicuously, 
and his tact in the delicate position in lead- 
ing his army under the eye of his superior 
officer commanded the respect and esteem 
of General Grant. For services Meade was 
promoted to the rank of major-general, and 
on the close of hostilities, in July, 1865, 
was assigned to the command of the military 
division of the Atlantic, with headquarters 
at Philadelphia. This post he held, with 
the exception of a short period on detached 
duty in Georgia, until his death, which took 
place November 6, 1872. 



DAVID CROCKETT was a noted hunter 
and scout, and also one of the earliest 
of American humorists. He was born kxx- 
gust 17, 1786, in Tennessee, and was one 
of the most prominent men of his locality, 
serving as representative in congress from 
1827 until 1 83 1. He attracted consider- 
able notice while a member of congress and 
was closely associated with General Jack- 



son, of whom he was a personal friend. Ke 
went to Texas and enlisted in the Texan 
army at the time of the revolt of Texas 
against Mexico and gained a wide reputa- 
tion as a scout. He was one of the famous 
one hundred and forty men under Colonel 
W. B. Travis who were besieged in Fort 
Alamo, near San Antonio, Texas, by Gen- 
eral Santa Anna with some five thousand 
Mexicans on February 23, 1S36. The fort 
was defended for ten days, frequent assaults 
being repelled with great slaughter, over 
one thousand Mexicans being killed or 
wounded, while not a man in the fort was 
injured. Finally, on March 6, three as- 
saults were made, and in the hand-to-hand 
fight that followed the last, the Texans were 
wofully outnumbered and overpowered. 
They fought desperately with clubbed mus- 
kets till only six were left alive, including 
W. B. Travis, David Crockett and James 
Bowie. These surrendered under promise 
of protection; but when they were brought 
before Santa Anna he ordered them all to 
be cut to pieces. 



HENRY WATTERSON, one of the most 
conspicuous figures in the history of 
American journalism, was born at Wash- 
ington, District of Columbia, February 16, 
1840. His boyhood days were mostly spent 
in the city of his birth, where his father, 
Harvey M. Watterson, was editor of the 
"Union," a well known journal. 

Owing to a weakness of the eyes, which 
interfered with a systematic course of study, 
young Watterson was educated almost en- 
tirely at home. A successful college career 
was out of the question, but he acquired a 
good knowledge of music, literature and art 
from private tutors, but the most valuable 
part of the training he received was by as- 
sociating with his father and the throng of 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



•it 



public men whom he met in Washington 
in the stirring days immediately preceding 
the Civil war. He began his journalistic 
career at an early age as dramatic and 
musical critic, and in 1858, became editor 
of the "Democratic Review" and at the 
same time contributed to the "States," 
a journal of liberal opinions published in 
Washington. In this he remained until 
the breaking out of the war, when the 
"States," opposing the administration, was 
suppressed, and young Watterson removed 
to Tennessee. He next appears as editor 
of the Nashville "Republican Banner," the 
most influential paper in the state at that 
time. After the occupation of Nashville by 
the Federal troops, Watterson served as a 
volunteer staff officer in the Confederate 
service until the close of the war, with the 
exception of a year spent in editing the 
Chattanooga "Rebel." On the close of 
the war he returned to Nashville and re- 
sumed his connection with the "Banner." 
After a trip to Europe he assumed control 
of the Louisville "Journal," which he soon 
combined with the "Courier" and the 
"Democrat" of that place, founding the 
well-known "Courier-Journal," the first 
number of which appeared November 8, 
1868. Mr. Watterson also represented his 
district in congress for several years. 



PATRICK SARSFIELD GILMORE. 
one of the most successful and widely 
known bandmasters and musicians of the 
last half century in America, was born in 
Ballygar, Ireland, on Christmas day, 1829. 
He attended a public school until appren- 
ticed to a wholesale merchant at Athlone, 
of the brass band of which town he soon 
became a member. His passion for music 
conflicting with the duties of a mercantile 
life, his position as clerk was exchanged for 



that of musical instructor to the young sons 
of his employer. At the age of nineteen he 
sailed for America and two days after his 
arrival in Boston was put in charge of the 
band instrument department of a prominent 
music house. In the interests of the pub- 
lications of this house he organized a minstrel 
company known as "Ordway's Eolians," 
with which he first achieved success as a 
cornet soloist. Later on he was called the 
best E-flat cornetist in the United States. 
He became leader, successively, of the Suf- 
folk, Boston Brigade and Salem bands. 
During his connection with the latter he 
inaugurated the famous Fourth of July con- 
certs on Boston Common, since adopted as 
a regular programme for the celebration of 
Independence Day. In 1858 Mr. Gilmore 
founded the organization famous thereafter 
as Gilmore's Band. At the outbreak of the 
Civil war this band was attached to the 
Twenty-Fourth .Massachusetts Infantry. 
Later, when the economical policy of dis- 
pensing with music had proved a mistake, 
Gilmore was entrusted with the re-organiza- 
tion of state military bands, and upon his 
arrival at New Orleans with his own band 
was made bandmaster-general by General 
Banks. On the inauguration of Governor 
Hahn, later on, in Lafayette square, New 
Orleans, ten thousand children, mostly of 
Confederate parents, rose to the baton of 
Gilmore and, accompanied by six hundred 
instruments, thirty-six guns and the united 
fire of three regiments of infantry, sang the 
Star-Spangled Banner, America and other 
patriotic Union airs. In June, 1867, Mr. 
Gilmore conceived a national musical festi- 
val, which was denounced as a chimerics I 
undertaking, but he succeeded and June 15, 
1869, stepped upon the stage of the Boston 
Colosseum, a vast structure erected for the 
occasion, and in the presence of over fifty 



78 



COMPEXDIL'M OF BIOGRAniT. 



thousand people lifted his baton' over an 
orchestra of one thousand and a chorus of 
ten thousand. On the 17th of June, 1872, 
he opened a still greater festival in Boston, 
when, in addition to an orchestra of two 
thousand and a chorus of twenty thousand, 
were present the Band of the Grenadier 
Guards, of London, of the Garde Repub- 
licaine, of Paris, of Kaiser Franz, of Berlin, 
and one from Dublin, Ireland, together with 
Jo'hann Strauss, Franz Abt and many other 
soloists, vocal and instrumental. Gilmore's 
death occurred September 24, 1892. 

MARTIN VAN BUREN was the eighth 
president of the United States, 1837 
to 1 84 1. He was of Dutch extraction, and 
his ancestors were among the earliest set- 
tlers on the banks of the Hudson. He was 
born December 5, 1782, at Kinderhook, 
New York. Mr. Van Buren took up the 
study of law at tho age of fourteen and took 
an active part in political matters before he 
had attained his majority. He commenced 
the practice of law in 1803 at his native 
town, and in 1809 he removed to Hudson, 
Columbia county. New York, where he 
spent seven years gaining strength and wis- 
dom from his contentions at the bar with 
some of the ablest men of the profession. 
Mr. Van Buren was elected to the state 
senate, and from 18 15 until 18 19 he was at- 
torney-general of the state. He was re- 
elected to the senate in 1816, and in 1818 
he was one of the famous clique of politi- 
cians known as the "Albany regency." 
Mr. Van Buren was a member of the con- 
vention for the revision of the state consti- 
tution, in 1821. In the same year he was 
elected to the United States senate and 
served his term in a manner that caused his 
re-election to that body in 1827, but re- 
signed the following year as he had been 



elected governor of New York. Mr. Van 
Buren was appointed by President Jackson as 
secretary of state in March, 1S29, but resigned 
in 1 83 1, and during the recess of congress 
he was appointed minister to England. 
The senate, however, when it convened in 
December refused to ratify the appointment. 
In May, 1832, he was nominated by the 
Democrats as their candidate for vice-presi- 
dent on the ticket with Andrew Jackson, 
and he was elected in the following Novem- 
ber. He received the nomination to suc- 
ceed President Jackson in 1836, as the 
Democratic candidate, and in the electoral 
college he received one hundred and seventy 
votes out of two hundred and eighty-three, 
and was inaugurated March 4, 1837. His 
administration was begun at a time of great 
business depression, and unparalled financial 
distress, which caused the suspension of 
specie payments by the banks. Nearly 
every bank in the country was forced to 
suspend specie payment, and no less thaa 
two hundred and fifty-four business houses 
failed in New York in one week. The 
President urged the adoption of the inde- 
pendent treasury idea, which passed through 
the senate twice but each time it was de- 
feated in the house. However the measure 
ultimately became a law near the close of 
President Van Buren's term of office. An- 
other important measure that was passed 
was the pre-emption law that gave the act- 
ual settlers preference in the purchase of 
public lands. The question of slavery had 
begun to assume great preponderance dur- 
ing this administration, and a great conflict 
was tided over by the passage of a resolu- 
tion that prohibited petitions or papers that 
in any way related to slavery to be acted 
upon. In the Democratic convention of 
1840 President Van Buren secured the 
nomination for re-election on that ticket 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRArHT. 



without opposition, but in the election he 
only .received the votes of seven states, his 
opponent, W. H. Harrison, being elected 
president. In 1848 Mr. Van Buren was 
the candidate of the " Free-Soilers," but 
was unsuccessful. After this he retired 
from public life and spent the remainder of 
his life on his estate at Kinderhook, where 
he died July 24, 1862. 



WINP'IELD SCOTT, a distinguished 
American general, was born June 13, 
1786, near Petersburg, Dinwiddie county, 
Virginia, and was educated at the William 
and Mary College. He studied law and was 
admitted to the bar, and in 1808 he accepted 
an appointment as captain of light artillery, 
and was ordered to New Orleans. In June, 

1 81 2, he was promoted to be lieutenant- 
colonel, and on application was sent to the 
frontier, and reported to General Smyth, 
near Buffalo. He was made adjutant-gen- 
eral with the rank of a colonel, in March, 

1 8 1 3, and the same month attained the colo- 
nelcy of his regiment. He participated in 
the principal battles of the war and was 
wounded many times, and at the close of 
the war he was voted a gold medal by con- 
gress for his services. He was a writer of 
considerable merit on military topics, and 
he gave to the military science, "General 
Regulations of the Army " and " System of 
Infantry and Rifle Practice." He took a 
prominent part in the Black Hawk war, 
and at the beginning of the Mexican war he 
was appointed to take the command of the 
army. Gen. Scott immediately assembled 
his troops at Lobos Island from which he 
moved by transports to Vera Cruz, which 
he took March 29, 1847, and rapidly fol- 
lowed up his first success. He fought the 
battles of Cerro Gordo and Jalapa, both of 
which he won, and proceeded to Pueblo 



where he was preceded by Worth's division 
which had taken the town and waited for the 
coming of Scott. The army was forced to 
wait here for supplies, and August 7th, 
General Scott started on his victorious 
march to the city of Mexico v/ith ten thou- 
sand, seven hundred and thirty-eight men. 
The battles of Contreras, Cherubusco and 
San Antonio were fought August 19-20, 
and on the 24th an armistice was agreed 
upon, but as the commissioners could not 
agree on the terms of settlement, the fight- 
ing was renewed at Molino Del Rey, and 
the Heights of Chapultepec were carried 
by the victorious army of General Scott. 
He gave the enemy no respite, however, 
and vigorously followed up his advantages. 
On September 14, he entered the City of 
Mexico and dictated the terms of surrender 
in the very heart of the Mexican Republic. 
General Scott was offered the presidency of 
the Mexican Republic, but declined. Con- 
gress extended him a vote of thanks and 
ordered a gold medal be struck in honor of 
his generalship and bravery. He was can- 
didate for the presidency on the Whig plat- 
form but was defeated. He was honored by 
having the title of lieutenant-general con- 
ferred upon him in 1855. At the beginning of 
the Civil war he was too infirm to take charge 
of the army, but did signal service in be- 
half of the government. He retired from 
the service November i, 1861, and in 1864 
he published his "Autobiography." Gen- 
eral Scott died at West Point, May 29, 1866 



EDWARD EVERETT HALE for manj 
years occupied a high place among the 
most honored of America's citizens. As 
a preacher he ranks among the foremost 
in the New England states, but to the gen ■ 
eral public he is best known through his 
writings. Born in Boston, Mass., April 3, 



80 



COMPEXDIL'M OF BIOGRAPHT. 



1822, a descendant of one of the most 
prominent New England families, he enjoyed 
in his youth many of the advantages denied 
the majority of boys. He received his pre- 
paratory schooling at the Boston Latin 
School, after which he finished his studies at 
Harvard where he was graduated with high 
honors in 1839. Having studied theology 
at home, Mr. Hale embraced the ministry 
and in 1846 became pastor of a Unitarian 
church in Worcester, Massachusetts, a post 
which he occupied about ten years. He 
then, in 1856, became pastor of the South 
Congregational church in Boston, over which 
he presided many years. 

Mr. Hale also found time to write a 
great many literary works of a high class. 
,\mong many other well-known productions 
ni his are " The Rosary," " Margaret Per- 
;ival in America." "Sketches of Christian 
iistory," "Kansas and Nebraska," "Let- 
ters on Irish Emigration," " Ninety Days' 
Worth of Europe," " If, Yes, and Perhaps," 
■Tngham Papers," "Reformation," "Level 
8est and Other Stories, " ' ' Ups and Downs, " 
"Christmas Eve and Christmas Day," " In 
His Name," "Our New Crusade," "Work- 
ingmen's Homes," " Boys' Heroes," etc., 
etc., besides many others which might be 
mentioned. One of his works, "In His 
Name," has earned itself enduring fame by 
the good deeds it has called forth. The 
numerous associations known as ' 'The King's 
Daughters," which has accomplished much 
good, owe their existence to the story men- 
tioned. 



D.WTD GLASCOE FARRAGUT stands 
pre-eminent as one of the greatest na- 
val officers of the world. He was born at 
Campbell's Station, East Tennessee, July 
5, 1 801, and entered the navy of the United 
States as a midshipman. He had the good 



fortune to serve under Captain David Por- 
ter, who commanded the " Essex," and by 
whom he was taught the ideas of devotion 
to duty from which he never swerved dur- 
ing all his careeir. In 1S23 Mr. Farragut 
took part in a severe fight, the result of 
which was the suppression of piracy in the 
West Indies. He then entered upon the 
regular duties of his profession which was 
only broken into by a year's residence with 
Charles Folsom, our consul at Tunis, who 
was afterwards a distinguished professor at 
Harvard. Mr. Farragut was one of the best 
linguists in the navy. He had risen through 
the different grades of the service until the 
war of 1861-65 found him a captain resid- 
ing at Norfolk, Virginia. He removed with 
his family to Hastings, on the Hudson, and 
hastened to offer his services to the Federal 
government, and as the capture of New 
Orleans had been resolved upon, Farragut 
was chosen to command the expedition. 
His force consisted of the West Gulf block- 
ading squadron and Porter's mortar flotilla. 
In January, 1862, he hoisted his pennant at 
the mizzen peak of the ' ' Hartford " at 
Hampton roads, set sail from thence on the 
3rd of February and reached Ship Island on 
the 20th of the same month. A council of 
war was held on the 20th of April, in which 
it was decided that whatever was to be done 
must be done quickly. The signal was made 
from the flagship and accordingly the fleet 
weighed anchor at 1:55 on the morning of 
April 24th, and at 3:30 the whole force was 
under way. The history of this brilliant strug- 
gle is well known, and the glory of it made Far- 
ragut a hero and also made him rear admir- 
al. In the summer of 1 862 he ran the batteries 
at Vicksburg, and on March 14. 1863, he- 
passed through the fearful and destructive 
fire from Port Hudson, and opened up com- 
munication with Flag-officer Porter, who- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



%^ 



had control of the upper Mississippi. On 
May 24th he commenced active operations 
against that fort in conjunction with the army 
and it fell on July 9th. Mr. Farragut filled 
the measure of his fame on the 5th of Au- 
gust, 1864, by his great victory, the capture 
of Mobile Bay and the destruction of the 
Confederate fleet, including the formidable 
ram Tennessee. For this victory the rank 
of admiral was given to Mr. Farragut. He 
died at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Au- 
gust 4, 1870. 

GEORGE W. CHILDS, a philanthropist 
whose remarkable personality stood 
for the best and highest type of American 
citizenship, and whose whole life was an 
object lesson in noble living, was born in 
1829 at Baltimore, Maryland, of humble 
parents, and spent his early life in unremit- 
ting toil. He was a self-made man in the 
fullest sense of the word, and gained his 
great wealth by his own efforts. He was a 
man of very great influence, and this, in 
conjunction with his wealth, would have 
been, in the hands of other men, a means of 
getting them political preferment, but Mr. 
Childs steadily declined any suggestions that 
would bring him to figure prominently in 
public affairs. He did not choose to found 
a financial dynasty, but devoted all his 
powers to the helping of others, with the 
most enlightened beneficence and broadest 
sympathy. Mr. Childs once remarked that 
his greatest pleasure in life was in doing 
good to others. He always despised mean- 
ness, and one of his objects of life was to 
prove that a man could be liberal and suc- 
cessful at the same time. Upon these lines 
Mr. Childs made a name for himself as the 
director of one of the representative news- 
papers of America, "The Philadelphia Pub- 
lic Ledger," which was owned jointly by 
5 



himself and the Drexel estate, and which he 
edited for thirty years. He acquired con- 
trol of the paper at a time when it was be- 
ing published at a heavy loss, set it upon a 
firm basis of prosperity, and he made it 
more than a money-making machine — he 
made it respected as an e.xponent of the 
best side of journalism, and it stands as a 
monument to his sound judgment and up- 
right business principles. Mr. Childs' char- 
itable repute brought him many applications 
for assistance, and he never refused to help 
an-y one that was deserving of aid; and not 
only did he help those who asked, but he 
would by careful inquiry find those who 
needed aid but were too proud to solicit it. 
He was a considerable employer of labor 
and his liberality was almost unparalleled. 
The death of this great and good man oc- 
curred February 3d, 1894. 



PATRICK HENRY won his way to un- 
dying fame in the annals of the early 
history of the United States by introducing 
into the house of burgesses his famous reso- 
lution against the Stamp Act, which he car- 
ried through, after a stormy debate, by a 
majority of one. At this time he exclaimed 
" Caesar had his Brutus, Charles I his Crom- 
well and George HI " (here he was inter- 
rupted by cries of " treason ") " may profit 
by their example. If this be treason make 
the most of it." 

Patrick Henry was born at StudleJ^ 
Hanover county, Virginia, May 29, 1736, 
and was a son of Colonel John Henry, a 
magistrate and school teacher of Aberdeen, 
Scotland, and a nephew of Robertson, the 
historian. He received his education from 
his father, and was married at the age of 
eighteen. He was twice bankrupted before 
he had reached his twenty-fourth year, when 
after six weeks of study he was admitted to 



84 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



the bar. He worked for three years with- 
out a case and finally was applauded for his 
plea for the people's rights and gained im- 
mense popularity. After his famous Stamp 
Act resolution he was the leader of the pa- 
triots in Virginia. In 1769 he was admitted 
to practice in the general courts and speed- 
ily won a fortune by his distinguished ability 
as a speaker. He was the first speaker of 
the General Congress at Philadelphia in 
1774. He was for a time a colonel of 
militiain 1775, and from 1776 to 1779 and 
1 78 1 to 1786 he was governor of Virginia. 
For a number of years he retired from pub- 
lic life and was tendered and declined a 
number of important political offices, and in 
March, 1789, he was elected state senator 
but aid not take his seat on account of his 
death which occurred at Red Hill, Charlotte 
county, Virginia, June 6, 1799. 



BENEDICT ARNOLD, an American 
general and traitor of the Revolution- 
ary war, is one of the noted characters in 
American history. He was born in Nor- 
wich, Connecticut, January 3, 1740. He 
ran away and enlisted in the army when 
young, but deserted in a short time. He 
then became a merchant at New Haven, 
Connecticut, but failed. In 1775 he was 
commissioned colonel in the Massachusetts 
militia, and in the autumn of that year was 
placed in command of one thousand men 
for the invasion of Canada. He marched 
his army through the forests of Maine and 
joined General Montgomery before Quebec. 
Their combined forces attacked that city on 
December 31, 1775, and Montgomery was 
killed, and Arnold, severely wounded, was 
compelled to retreat and endure a rigorous 
winter a few miles from the city, where they 
were at the mercy of the Canadian troops 
had they cared to attack them. On his re- 



turn he was raised to the rank of brigadier- 
general. He was given command of a small 
flotilla on Lake Champlain, with which he 
encountered an immense force, and though 
defeated, performed many deeds of valor. 
He resented the action of congress in pro- 
moting a number of his fellow officers and 
neglecting himself. In 1777 he was made 
major-general, and under General Gates at 
Bemis Heights fought valiantly. For some 
reason General Gates found fault with his 
conduct and ordered him under arrest, and 
he was kept in his tent until the battle of 
Stillwater was waxing hot, when Arnold 
mounted his horse and rode to the front of 
his old troop, gave command to charge, and 
rode like a mad man into the thickest of 
the fight and was not overtaken by Gates' 
courier until he had routed the enemy and 
fell wounded. Upon his recovery he was 
made general, and was placed in command 
at Philadelphia. Here he married, and his 
acts of rapacity soon resulted in a court- 
martial. He was sentenced to be repri- 
manded by the commander-in-chief, and 
though Washington performed this duty 
with utmost delicacy and consideration, it 
was never forgiven. Arnold obtained com- 
mand at West Point, the most important 
post held by the Americans, in 1780, and 
immediately offered to surrender it to Sir 
Henry Clinton, British commander at New 
York. Major Andre was sent to arrange 
details with Arnold, but on his return trip 
to New York he was captured by Americans, 
the plot was detected, and Andre suffered 
the death penalty as a spy. Arnold es- 
caped, and was paid about $40,000 by the 
British for his treason and was made briga- 
dier-general. He afterward commanded an 
expedition that plundered a portion of Vir- 
ginia, and another that burned New Lon- 
don, Connecticut, and captured Fort Trum- 



COMPEXDIUM OF BlOGRArjIV 



85- 



ball, the commandant of which Arnold mur- 
dered with the sword he had just surren- 
dertd. He passed the latter part of his life 
in England, universally despised, and died 
in London June 14, 1801. 



ROi3ERT G. INGERSOLL, one of the 
most brilliant orators that America has 
produced, also a lawyer of considerable 
merit, won most of his fame as a lecturer. 
Mr. Ingersoll was born August 24, 1833, 
at Dryden, Gates county, New York, and 
received his education in the common schools. 
He went west at the age of twelve, and for 
a siiort time he attended an academy in 
Tennessee, and also taught school in that 
state. He began the practice of law in the 
southern part of Illinois in 1854. Colonel 
Ingersoll's principal fame was made in 
the lecture room by his lectures in which he 
ridiculed religious faith and creeds and criti- 
cised the Bible and the Christian religion. 
He was the orator of the day in the Decora- 
tion Day celebration in the city of New York 
in 1 882 and his oration was widely com- 
mended. He first attracted political notice 
in the convention at Cincinnati in 1876 by 
his brilliant eulogy on James G. Blaine. He 
practiced law in Peoria, Illinois, for a num- 
ber of }ears, but later located in the city of 
New York. He published the follow- 
ing: "The Gods and other Lectures;" "The 
Ghosts;" "Some Mistakes of Moses;" 
"What Shall I Do To Be Saved;" "Inter- 
views on Talmage and Presbyterian Cate- 
chism ;" The "North American Review 
Controversy;" "Prose Poems;" " A Vision 
of War;" etc. 



JOSEPH ECCLESTON JOHNSTON, 
<J a noted general in the Confederate army, 
was born in Prince Edward county, Virginia, 
in 1S07. He graduated from West Point 



and entered the army in 1S29. For a num- 
ber of years his chief service was garrison 
duty. He saw active service, however, in 
the Seminole war in Florida, part of (he 
time as a staff officer of General Scott. He 
resigned his commission in 1837, but re- 
turned to the army a year later, and was 
brevetted captain for gallant services in 
Florida. He was made first lieutenant of 
topographical engineers, and was engaged 
in river and harbor improvements and also 
in the survej' of the Te.xas boundary and 
the northern boundary of the United 
States until the beginning of the war 
with Me.xico. He was at the siege of Vera 
Cruz, and at the battle of Cerro Gordo was 
wounded while reconnoitering the enemy's 
position, after which he was brevetted major 
and colonel. He was in all the battles about 
the city of Me.xico, and was again wounded 
in the final assault upon that city. After 
the Mexican war closed he returned to duty 
as captain of topographical engineers, but 
in 1855 he was made lieutenant-colonel of 
cavalry and did frontier duty, and was ap- 
pointed inspector-general of the expedition 
to Utah. In i860 he was appointed quar- 
termaster-general with rank of brigadier- 
general. At the outbreak of hostilities in 
1 86 1 he resigned his commission and re- 
ceived the appointment of major-general of 
the Confederate arm)'. He held Harper's 
Ferry, and later fought General Patterson 
about Winchester. At the battle of Bull 
Run he declined command in favor of Beau- 
regard, and acted under that general's direc- 
tions. He commanded the Confederates in 
the famous Peninsular campaign, and was 
severely wounded at Fair Oaks and was 
succeeded in command by General Lee. 
Upon his recovery he was made lieutenant- 
general and assigned to the command of the 
southwestern department. He attempted 



86 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHr. 



to raise the siege of Vicksburg, and was 
finally defeated at Jackson, Mississippi. 
Having been made a general he succeeded 
General Bragg in command of the army of 
Tennessee and was ordered to check General 
Sherman's advance upon Atlanta. Not 
daring to risk a battle with the overwhelm- 
ing forces of Sherman, he slowly retreated 
toward Atlanta, and was relieved of com- 
mand b}' President Davis and succeeded by 
General Hood. Hood utterly destroyed his 
own army by three furious attacks upon 
Sherman. Johnston was restored to com- 
mand in the Carolinas, and again faced 
Sherman, but was defeated in several en- 
gagements and continued a slow retreat 
toward Richmond. Hearing of Lee's sur- 
render, he communicated with General 
Sherman, and finally surrendered his armj' 
at Durham, North Carolina, April 26, 1865. 
General Johnston was elected a member 
of the forty-si.xth congress and was ap- 
pointed United States railroad commis- 
sioner in 1885. His death occurred March 
21, 1891. 

SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS, 
known throughout the civilized world 
as "Mark Tw.\in," is recognized as one of 
the greatest humorists America has pro- 
duced. He was born in Monroe county, 
Missouri, November 30, 1835. Hespenthis 
boyhood days in his native state and many 
of his earlier experiences are related in vari- 
ous forms in his later writings. One of his 
early acquaintances, Capt. Isaiah Sellers, 
at an early day furnished river news for the 
New Orleans " Picayune," using the noin- 
dc-plniitc of "Mark Twain." Sellers died 
in 1863 and Clemens took up his iioiii-dc- 
fliinu- and made it famous throughout the 
world b}' his literary work. In 1862 Mr. 
Clemens became a journalist at Virginia, 



Nevada, and afterward followed the same pro- 
fession at San Francisco and Buffalo, New 
York. He accumulated a fortune from the 
sale of his many publications, but in later 
years engaged in business enterprises, partic- 
ularly the manufacture of a typesetting ma- 
chine, which dissipated his fortune and re- 
duced him almost to poverty, but with resolute 
heart he at once again took up his pen and 
engaged in literary work in the effort to 
regain his lost ground. Among the best 
known of his works may be mentioned the fol- 
lowing: ' ' The Jumping Frog, " ' ' Tom Saw- 
j'er," " Roughingit," " Innocents Abroad," 
"Huckleberry Finn," "Gilded Age," 
"Prince and Pauper," "Million Pound 
Bank Note," "A Yankee in King Arthur's 
Court," etc. 

CHRISTOPHER CARSON, better 
known as "Kit Carson;" was an Amer- 
ican trapper and scout who gained a wide 
reputation for his frontier work. He was a 
native of Kentucky, born December 24th, 
1809. He grew to manhood there, devel- 
oping a natural inclination for adventure in 
the pioneer experiences in his native state. 
When yet a young man he became quite 
well known on the frontier. He served as 
a guide to Gen. Fremont in his Rocky 
Mountain explorations and enlisted in the 
army. He was an officer in the United 
States service in both the Mexican war and 
the great Civil war, and in the latter received 
a brevet of brigadier-general for meritorious 
service. His death occurred May 23, 
1868. 

JOHN SHERMAN.— Statesman, politi- 
cian, cabinet officer and senator, the name 
of the gentleman who heads this sketch is al- 
most a household word throughout this 
country. Identified with some of the most 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



87 



important measures adopted by our Govern- 
irient since the close of the Civil war, he may 
well be called one of the leading men of his 
day. 

John Sherman was born at Lancaster, 
Fairfield county, Ohio, May loth, 1823, 
the son of Charles R. Sherman, an emi- 
nent lawyer and judge of the supreme court 
of Ohio and who died in 1829. The subject 
of this article received an academic educa- 
tion and was admitted to the bar in 1S44. 
In the Whig conventions of 1844 and 1848 
he sat as a delegate. He was a member of 
the National house of representatives, 
from 1S55 to 1861. In i860 he was re- 
elected to the same position but was chosen 
United States senator before he took his 
scat in the lower house. He was re-elected 
senator in 1866 and 1872 and was long 
chairman of the committee on finance and 
on agriculture. He took a prominent part 
in debates on finance and on the conduct of 
the war, and was one of the authors of the 
reconstruction measures in 1866 and 1867, 
and was appointed secretary of the treas- 
ury March 7th, 1877. 

Mr. Sherman was re-elected United States 
senator from Ohio January i8th, 1881, and 
again in 1886 and 1892, during which time 
he was regarded as one of the most promi- 
nent leaders of the Republican party, both 
in the senate and in the country. He was 
several times the favorite of his state for the 
nomination for president. 

On the formation of his cabinet in March, 
1897, President Mclvinley tendered the posi- 
tion of secretary of state to Mr. Sherman, 
which was accepted. 



WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, ninth 
president of the United States, was 
born in Charles county, \'irginia, February 
9, 1773, the son of Governor Benjamin 



Harrison. He took a course in Hampden- 
Sidney College with a view to the practice 
of medicine, and then went to Philadelphia 
to study under Dr. Rush, but in 1791 he 
entered the army, and obtained the commis- 
sion of ensign, was soon promoted to the 
lieutenancy, and was with General Wayne 
in his war against the Indians. For his 
valuable service he was promoted to the 
rank of captain and given command of Fort 
Washington, now Cincinnati. He was ap- 
pointed secretary of the Northwest Territory 
in 1797, and in 1799 became its representa- 
tive in congress. In 1801 he was appointed 
governor of Indiana Territory, and held the 
position for twelve years, during which time 
he negotiated important treaties with the In- 
dians, causing them to relinquish millions of 
iicres of land, and also won the battle of 
Tippecanoe in 181 1. He succeeded in 
obtaining a change in the law which did not 
permit purchase of public lands in less tracts 
than four thousand acres, reducing the limit 
to three hundred and twenty acres. He 
became major-general of Kentucky militia 
and brigadier-general in the United States 
army in 1812, and won great renown in 
the defense of Fort Meigs, and his victory 
over the British and Indians under Proctor 
and Tecumseh at the Thames river, October 

5. 1813- 

In 1 8 16 General Harrison was elected to 
congress from Ohio, and during the canvass 
was accused of corrupt methods in regard to 
the commissariat of the army. He demanded 
an investigation after the election and was 
exonerated. In 1819 he was elected to 
the Ohio state senate, and in 1824 he gave 
his vote as a presidential elector to Henry 
Clay. He became a member of the United 
States senate the same year. During the 
last year of Adams' administration he was 
sent as minister to Colombia, but was re- 



88 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



called by President Jackson the following' 
year. He then retired to his estate at North 
Bend, Ohio, a few miles below Cincinnati. In 
1836 he was a candidate for the presidency, 
but as there were three other candidates 
the votes were divided, he receiving seventy- 
three electoral votes, a majority going to 
Mr. Van Buren, the Democratic candidate. 
Four years later General Harrison was again 
nominated by the Whigs, and elected by a 
tremendous majority. The campaign was 
noted for its no\el features, many of which 
have found a permanent place in subsequent 
campaigns. Those peculiar to that cam- 
paign, however, were the " log-cabin " and 
" hard cider" watchwords, which produced 
great enthusiasm among his followers. One 
month after his inauguration he died from 
an attack of pleurisy, April 4, 1841. 



CHARLES A. DANA, the well-known 
and widely-read journalist of New York 
City, a native of Hinsdale, New Hampshire, 
was born August 8, 18 19. He received 
the elements of a good education in his 
youth and studied for two years at Harvard 
University. Owing to some disease of the 
eyes he was unable to complete his course 
and graduate, but was granted the degree of 
A. M. notwithstanding. For some time he 
was editor of the " Harbinger," and was a 
regular contributor to the Boston " Chrono- 
type." In 1847 he became connected with 
the New York " Tribune, "and continued on 
the staff of that journal until 1858. In the 
latter year he edited and compiled "The 
Household Book of Poetry," and later, in 
connection with George Ripley, edited the 
"New American Cyclopaedia." 

Mr. Dana, on severing his connection 
with the " Tribune " in 1867, became editor 
of the New York "Sun," a paper with 
which he was identified for many years, and 



which he made one of the leaders of thought 
in the eastern part of the United States. 
He wielded a forceful pen and fearlessly 
attacked whatever was corrupt and unworthy 
in politics, state or national. The same 
year, 1867, Mr. Dana organized the New 
York " Sun " Company. 

During the troublous days of the war, 
when the fate of the Nation depended upon 
the armies in the field, Mr. Dana accepted 
the arduous and responsible position of 
assistant secretary of war, and held the 
position during the greater part of 1863 
and 1864. He died October 17, 1897. 



ASA GRAY was recognized throughout the 
scientific world as one of the ablest 
and most eminent of botanists. He was 
born at Paris, Oneida county, New York, 
November 18, 1810. He received his medi- 
cal degree at the Fairfield College of Physi- 
cians and Surgeons, in Herkimer county. 
New York, and studied botany with the late 
Professor Torrey, of New York. He was 
appointed botanist to the Wilkes expedition 
in 1834, but declined the offer and became 
professor of natural history in Harvard Uni- 
versity in 1842. He retired from the active 
duties of this post in 1873, and in 1874 he 
was the regent of the Smithsonian Institu- 
tion at Washington, District of Columbia. 
Dr. Gray wrote several books on the sub- 
ject of the many sciences of which he v.'as 
master. In 1S36 he published his " Ele- 
ments of Botany," " Manual of Botany" in 
1848; the unfinished "Flora of North 
America," by himself and Dr. Torrey, the 
publication of v/hich commenced in 1838. 
There is another of his unfinished works 
called "Genera Boreali-Americana, " pub- 
lished in 184S, and the "Botany of the 
United States Pacific E.xploring E.xpedition 
in 1S54." He wrote many elaborate papers 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPIIT. 



89 



on the botany of the west and southwest 
that were published in the Smithsonian Con- 
tributions, Memoirs, etc., of the American 
Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which in- 
stitution he was president for ten years. 
He was also the author of many of the 
government reports. ' ' How Plants Grow, " 
" Lessons in Botany," " Structural and Sys- 
tematic Botany," are also works from his 
ready pen. 

Dr. Gray published in 1861 his "Free 
Examination of Darwin's Treatise " and his 
" Darwiniana," in 1876. Mr. Gray was 
elected July 29, 1878, to a membership in 
the Institute of France, Academy of Sciences. 
His death occurred at Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts, January 30, 1889. 



WILLIAM MAXWELL EVARTS was 
one of the greatest leaders of the 
American bar. He was born in Boston, 
Massachusetts, February 6, 18 18, and grad- 
uated from Yale College in 1837. He took 
up the study of law, which he practiced in 
the city of New York and won great renown 
as an orator and advocate. He affiliated 
with the Republican party, which he joined 
soon after its organization. He was the 
leading counsel employed for the defense of 
President Johnson in his trial for impeach- 
ment before the senate in April and May of 
1868. 

In July, 1868, Mr. Evarts was appointed 
attorney-general of the United States, and 
served until March 4, 1869. He was one 
of the three lawyers who were selected by 
President Grant in 1871 to defend the inter- 
ests of the citizens of the United States be- 
fore the tribunal of arbitration which met 
at Geneva in Switzerland to settle the con- 
troversy over the " Alabama Claims." 

He was one of the most eloquent advo- 
cates in the United States, and many of his 



public addresses have been preserved and 
published. He was appointed secretary of 
state March 7, 1877, by President Hayes, 
and served during the Hayes administration. 
He was elected senator from the state of 
New York January 21, 1885, and at once 
took rank among the ablest statesmen in 
Congress, and the prominent part he took 
in the discussion of public questions gave 
him a national reputation. 



JOHN WANAMAKER.— The life of this 
<J great merchant demonstrates the fact 
that the great secret of rising from the ranks 
is, to-day, as in the past ages, not so much the 
ability to make money, as to save it, or ia 
other words, the ability to live well within 
one's income. Mr. Wanamaker was born in 
Philadelphia in 1838. He started out in 
life working in a brickyard for a mere pit- 
tance, and left that position to work in a 
book store as a clerk, where he earned 
the sum of $5.00 per month, and later oa 
was in the etnploy of a. clothier where he 
received twenty-five cents a week more. 
He was only fifteen years of age at that, 
time, but was a " money-getter " by instinct, 
and laid by a small sum for a possible rainy 
day. By strict attention to business, com- 
bined with natural ability, he was promoted 
many times, and at the age of twenty he 
had saved $2,000. After several months 
vacation in the south, he returned to Phila- 
delphia and became a master brick mason, 
but this was too tiresome to the young man, 
and he opened up the ' ' Oak Hall " clothing 
store in April, 1861, at Philadelphia. The 
capital of the firm was rather limited, but 
finally, after many discouragements, they 
laid the foundations of one of the largest 
business houses in the world. The estab- 
lishment covers at the present writing some 
fourteen acres of fioor space, and furnishes 



90 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHy 



employment for five thousand persons. Mr. 
Wanamaker was also a great church worker, 
and built a church that cost him $60,000, 
and he was superintendent of the Sunday- 
school, which had a membership of over 
three thousand children. He steadily re- 
fused to run for mayor or congress and the 
only public office that he ever held was that 
of postmaster-general, under the Harrison 
administration, and here he exhibited his 
extraordinary aptitude for comprehending 
the details of public business. 



D.WID BENNETT HfLL, a Demo- 
cratic politician who gained a na- 
tional reputation, was born August 29, 
1843, at Havana, New York. He was 
educated at the academy of his native town, 
and removed to Elmira, New York, in 1862, 
\\ here he studied law. He was admitted to 
the bar in 1864, in which year he was ap- 
pointed city attorney. Mr. Hill soon gained 
a considerable practice, becoming prominent 
in his profession. He developed a taste for 
pohtics in which he began to take an active 
part in the different campaigns and became 
the recognized leader of the local Democ- 
racy. In 1870 he was elected a member of 
the assembly and was re-elected in 1872. 
While a member of this assembly he formed 
the acquaintance of Samuel J. Tilden, after- 
ward governor of the state, who appointed 
Mr. Hill, W. M. Evarts and Judge Hand 
as a committee to provide a uniform charter 
for the different cities of the state. The 
pressure of professional engagements com- 
pelled him to decline to serve. In 1877 
Mr. Hill was made chairman of the Demo- 
cratic state convention at Albany, his elec- 
tion being due to the Tilden wing of the 
party, and he held the same position again 
in 1 88 1. He served one term as alderman 
in Ehnira, at the expiration of which term, 



in 1882, he was elected mayor of Elmira, 
and in September of the same year was 
nominated for lieutenant-governor on the 
Democratic state ticket. He was success- 
ful in the campaign and two years later, 
when Grover Cleveland was elected to the 
presidency, Mr. Hill succeeded to the gov- 
ernorship for the unexpired term. In 18S5 
he was elected governor for a full term of 
three years, at the end of which he was re- 
elected, his term expiring in 1891, in which 
year he was elected United States senator. 
In the senate he became a conspicuous 
figure, and gained a national reputation. 



ALLEN G. THURMAN.—" The noblest 
Roman of them all " was the title by 
which Mr. Thurman was called by his com- 
patriots of the Democracy. He was the 
greatest leader of the Democratic party in 
his day and held the esteem of all the 
people, regardless of their political creeds. 
Mr. Thurman was born November 13, 1813, 
at Lynchburg, Virginia, where he remained 
until he had attained the age of six years, 
when he moved to Ohio. He received an 
academic education and after graduating, 
took up the study of law, was admitted to 
the bar in 1835, and achieved a brilliant 
success in that line. In political life he was 
very successful, and his first office was that 
of representative of the state of Ohio in the 
twenty-ninth congress. He was elected 
judge of the supreme court of Ohio in 185 1, 
and was chief justice of the same from 1854 
to 1856. In 1867 he was the choice of the 
Democratic party of his state for governor, 
and was elected to the United States senate 
in 1869 to succeed Benjamin F. Wade, 
and was re-elected to the same position in 
1874. He was a prominent figure in the 
senate, until the expiration of his service in 
188 1. Mr. Thurman was also one of the 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



91 



principal presiderital possibilities in the 
Democratic convention held at St. Louis in 
1876. In 1888 he was the Democratic 
nominee for vice-president on the ticket 
with Grover Cleveland, but was defeated. 
Allen Cranberry Thurman died December 
12, 1895, at Columbus, Ohio. 



CHARLES FARRAR BROWNE, better 
known as " Artemus Ward," was born 
April 26, 1834, in the village of Waterford, 
Maine. He was thirteen years old at the 
time of his father's death, and about a year 
later he was apprenticed to John M. Rix, 
who published the "Coos County Dem- 
ocrat " at Lancaster, New Hampshire. Mr. 
Browne remained with him one year, when, 
hearing that his brother Cyrus was starting 
a paper at Norway, Maine, he left Mr. Rix 
and determined to get work on the new 
paper. He worked for his brother until the 
failure of the newspaper, and then went to 
Augusta, Maine, where he remained a few 
weeks and then removed to Skowhegan, 
and secured a position on the "Clarion." 
But either the climate or the work was not 
satisfactory to him, for one night he silently 
left the town and astonished his good mother 
by appearing unexpectedly at home. Mr. 
Browne then received some letters of recom- 
mendation to Messrs. Snow and Wilder, of 
Boston, at whose office Mrs. Partington's 
(B. P. Shillaber) ' ' Carpet Bag " was printed, 
and he was engaged and remained there for 
three years. He then traveled westward in 
search of employment and got as far as Tif- 
fin, Ohio, where he found emploj'ment in the 
office of the "Advertiser," and remained 
there some months when he proceeded to 
Toledo, Ohio, where he became one of the 
staff of the "Commercial," which position 
he held until 1857. Mr. Browne next went 
io Cleveland, Ohio, and became the local 



editor of the "Plain Dealer," and it was in 
the columns of this paper that he published 
his first articles and signed them "Artemus 
Ward." In i860 he went to New York and 
became the editor of " Vanity Fair," but 
the idea of lecturing here seized him, and he 
was fully determined to make the trial. 
Mr. Browne brought out his lecture, "Babes 
in the Woods "at Clinton Hall, December 
23, 1 86 1, and in 1862 he published his first 
book entitled, " Artemus Ward; His Book." 
He attained great fame as a lecturer and his 
lectures were not confined to America, for 
he went to England in 1866, and became 
exceedingly popular, both as a lecturer and 
a contributor to "Punch." Mr. Browne 
lectured for the last time January 23, 1867. 
He died in Southampton, England, March 
6, 1867. 

THURLOW WEED, a noted journalist 
and politician, was born in Cairo, New 
York, November 15, 1797. He learned the 
printer's trade at the age of twelve years, 
and worked at this calling for several years 
in various villages in centra! New York. He 
served as quartermaster-sergeant during the 
warofi8i2. In 1818 he established the 
"Agriculturist," at Norwich, New York, 
and became editor of the "Anti-Masonic 
Enquirer," at Rochester, in 1826. In the 
same year he was elected to the legislature 
and re-elected in 1830, when he located in 
Albany, New York, and there started the 
" Evening Journal," and conducted it in op- 
position to the Jackson administration and 
the nullification doctrines of Calhoun. He 
became an adroit party manager, and was 
instrumental in promoting the nominations 
of Harrison, Taylor and Scott for the pres- 
idency. In 1856 and in i860 he threw his 
support to W. H. Seward, but when defeat- 
ed in his object, he gave cordial support to 



92 



COMPENDIUM OF BJOGRAPHT. 



Fremont and Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln pre- 
veiled upon him to visit the various capitals 
of Europe, where he proved a valuable aid 
to the administration in moulding the opin- 
ions of the statesmen of that continent 
favorable to the cause of the Union. 

Mr. Weed's connection with the ' ' Even- 
ing Journal " was severed in 1862, when he 
settled in New York, and for a time edited 
the " Commercial Advertiser." In 1868 he 
retired from active life. His " Letters from 
Europe and the West Indies," published in 
1 866, together with some interesting ' ' Rem- 
iniscences, " published in the "Atlantic 
Monthly," in 1870, an autobiography, and 
portions of an extensive correspondence will 
be of great value to writers of the political 
history of the United States. Mr. Weed 
died in New York, November 22, 1882. 



WILLIAM COLLINS WHITNEY, 
one of the prominent Democratic 
politicians of the country and ex-secretary of 
the navy, was born July 5th, 1841, at Con- 
way, Massachusetts, and received his edu- 
cation at Williston Seminary, East Hamp- 
ton, Massachusetts, Later he attended 
Yale College, where he graduated in 1863, 
and entered the Harvard Law School, which 
he left in 1864. Beginning practice in New 
York city, he soon gained a reputation as 
an able lawyef. He made his first appear- 
ance in public affairs in 1871, when he was 
active in organizing a young men's Demo- 
cratic club. In 1872 he was the recognized 
leader of the county Democracy and in 1875 
was appointed corporation counsel for the 
city of New York. He resigned the office, 
1882, to attend to personal interests and on 
March 5, 1885, he was appointed secretary 
of the navy by President Cleveland. Under 
his administration the navy of the United 
States rapidly rose in rank among the navies 



of the world. When he retired from office 
in i88g, the vessels of the United States 
navy designed and contracted for b}' him 
were five double-turreted monitors, two 
new armor-clads, the dynamite cruiser "Ve- 
suvius," and five unarmored steel and iron 
cruisers. 

Mr. Whitney was the leader of the 
Cleveland forces in the national Democratic 
convention of 1S92. 



EDWIN FORREST, the first and great- 
est American tragedian, was born in 
Philadelphia in 1806. His father was a 
tradesman, and some accounts state that he 
had marked out a mercantile career for his 
son, Edwin, while others claim that he had 
intended him for the m.inistry. His wonder- 
ful memory, his powers of mimicry and his 
strong musical voice, however, attracted at- 
tention before he was eleven years old, and 
at that age he made his first appearance on 
the stage. The costume in which he appeared 
was so ridiculous that he left the stage in a 
fit of anger amid a roar of laughter from 
the audience. This did not discourage him, 
however, and at the age of fourteen, after 
some preliminary training in elocution, he 
appeared again, this time as Young Norvel, 
and gave indications of future greatness. 
Up to 1826 he played entirely with strolling 
companies through the south and west, but 
at that time he obtained an engagement at 
the Bowery Theater in New York. From 
that time his fortune was made. His man- 
ager paid him $40 per night, and it is stated 
that he loaned Forrest to other houses from 
time to time at $200 per night. His great 
successes were Virginias, Damon, Othello. 
Coriolanus, William Tell, Spartacus and 
Lear. He made his first appearance in 
London in 1836, and his success was un- 
questioned from the start. In 1845, on his 



COMPENDIUM OF BlOGRAPHT. 



93 



second appearance in London, he became 
involved in a bitter rivalry with the great 
English actor, Macreacy, who had visited 
America two years before. The result was 
that Forrest was hissed from the stage, and 
it was charged that Macready had instigated 
the plot. Forrest's resentment was so bitter 
that he himself openly hissed Macready 
from his box a few nights later. In 1848 
Macready again visited America at a time 
when American admiration and enthusiasm 
for Forrest had reached its height. Macready 
undertook to play at Astor Place Opera 
House in May, 1849, but was hooted off the 
stage. A few nights later Macready made a 
second attempt to play at the same house, 
thistime under police protection. The house 
was filled with Macready 's friends, but the vio- 
olence of the mob outside stopped the play, 
and the actor barely escaped with Iiis life. 
Upon reading the riot act the police and 
troops were assaulted with stones. The 
troops replied, first with blank cartridges, 
and then a volley of lead dispersed the 
mob, leaving thirty men dead or seriously 
wounded. 

After this incident Forrest's popularity 
waned, until in 1855 he retired from the 
stage. He re-appeared in i860, however, 
and probably the most remunerative period 
of his life was between that date and the 
close of the Civil war. His last appearance 
on the stage was at the Globe Theatre, 
Boston, in Richelieu, in April, 1872, his 
death occurring December 12 of that year. 



NOAH PORTER, D. D., LL. D., was 
one of the most noted educators, au- 
thors and scientific writers of the United 
States. He was born December 14, 181 1, 
at Farmington, Connecticut, graduated at 
Yale College in 1S31, and was- master of 
Hopkins Grammar School at New Haven in 



1831-33. During 1833-35 he was a tutor 
at Yale, and at the same time was pursuing 
his theological studies, and became pastor 
of the Congregational church at New Mil- 
ford, Connecticut, in April, 1836. Dr. 
Porter removed to Springfield, Massachu- 
setts, in 1843, and was chosen professor of 
metaphysics and moral philosophy at Yale 
in 1846. He spent a year in Germany in 
the study of modern metaphysics in 1853— 
54, and in 1871 he was elected president of 
Yale College. He resigned the presidency 
in 1885, but still remained professor of met- 
aphysics and moral philosophy. He was 
the author of a number of works, among 
which are the following: "Historical Es- 
say," written in commemoration of the 200th 
aniversary of the settlement of the town of 
Farmington; " Educational System of the 
Jesuits Compared;" "The Human Intel- 
lect," with an introduction upon psychology 
and the soul; " Books and Reading;" 
"American Colleges and the American Pub- 
lic;" " Elementsof Intellectual Philosophy;" 
' ' The Science of Nature versus the Science 
of Man;" "Science and Sentiment;" "Ele- 
ments of Moral Science." Dr. Porter was 
the principal editor of the revised edition of 
Webster's Dictionary in 1864, and con- 
tributed largely to religious reviews and 
periodicals. Dr. Porter's death occurred 
March 4, 1892, at New Haven, Connecticut. 



JOHN TYLER, tenth president of the 
United States, was born in Charles City 
county, Virginia, March 29, 1790, and was 
the son of Judge John Tyler, one of the 
most distinguished men of his day. 

When but twelve years of age young 
John Tyler entered William and Mary Col- 
lege, graduating from there in 1806. He 
took up the study of law and was admitted 
to the bar in 1809, when but nineteen years 



94 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



of age. On attaining his majority in 1811 
he was elected a member of the state legis- 
lature, and for five years held that position 
by the almost unanimous vote of his county. 
He was elected to congress in 1S16, and 
served in that body for four years, after 
which for two years he represented his dis- 
trict again in the legislature of the state. 
While in congress, he opposed the United 
States bank, the protective policy and in- 
ternal improvements by the United States 
government. 1825 saw Mr. Tyler governor 
of Virginia, but in 1827 he was chosen 
member of the United States senate, and 
held that office for nine years. He therein 
opposed the administration of Adams and 
the tariff bill of 1828, sympathized with the 
nullifers of South Carolina and was the 
only senator who voted against the Force 
bill lor the suppression of that state's insip- 
ient rebellion. He resigned his position as 
senator on account of a disagreement with 
the legislature of his state in relation to his 
censuring President Jackson. He retired to 
Williamsburg, Virginia, but being regarded 
as a martyr by the Whigs, whom, hereto- 
fore, he had always opposed, was supported 
by many of that party for the vice- presi- 
dency in 1836. He sat in the Virginia leg- 
islature as a Whig in 1839-40, and was a 
delegate to the convention of that party in 
i8;9. This national convention nominated- 
him for the second place on the ticket with 
General William H. H. Harrison, and he 
was elected vice-president in November, 
1840. President Harrison dying one month 
after his inauguration, he was succeeded by 
John Tyler. He retained the cabinet chosen 
by his predecessor, and for a time moved in 
harmony with the Whig party. He finally 
instructed the secretary of the treasury, 
Thomas Ewing, to submit to congress a bill 
for the incorporation of a fiscal bank of the 



United States, which was passed by con- 
gress, but vetoed by the president on ac- 
count of some amendments he considered 
unconstitutional. For this and other meas- 
ures he was accused of treachery to his 
party, and deserted by his whole cabinet, 
except Daniel Webster. Things grew worse 
until he was abandoned by the Whig party 
formally, when Mr. Webster resigned. He 
was nominated at Baltimore, in May, 1844, 
at the Democratic convention, as their pres- 
idential candidate, but withdrew from 'the 
canvass, as he saw he had not succeed- 
ed in gaining the confidence of his old 
party. He then retired from politics until 
February, 1861, when he was made presi- 
dent of the abortive peace congress, which 
met in Washington. He shortly after re- 
nounced his allegiance to the United States 
and was elected a member of the Confeder- 
ate congress. He died at Richmond, Janu- 
ary 17, 1862. 

Mr. Tyler married, in 1813, Miss Letitia 
Christian, who died in 1842 at Washington. 
June 26, 1844, he contracted a second mar- 
riage, with Miss Julia Gardner, of New York. 



COLLfS POTTER HUNTINGTON, 
one of the great men of his time and 
who has left his impress upon the history of 
our national development, was born October 
22, 1 82 1, at Harvvinton, Connecticut. 
He received a common-school education 
and at the age of fourteen his spirit of get- 
ting along in the world mastered his educa- 
tional propensities and his father's objec- 
tions and he left school. He went to Cali- 
fornia in the early daysand had opportunities 
which he handled masterfully. Others had 
the same opportunities but they did not have 
his brains nor his energy, and it was he who 
overcame obstacles and reaped the reward 
of his genius. Transcontinental railways 



COMPENDIirM OF niOGRAPHT. 



95 



were inevitable, but the realization of this 
masterful achievement would have been de- 
layed to a much later day if there had been 
no Huntington. He associated himself with 
Messrs. Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford, 
and Charles Crocker, and they furnished the 
money necessary for a survey across the 
Sierra Nevadas, secured a charter for the 
road, and raised, with the government's aid, 
money enough to construct and equip that 
railway, which at the time of its completion 
was a marvel of engineering and one of the 
wonders of the world. Mr. Huntington be- 
came president of the Southern Pacific rail- 
road, vice-president of the Central Pacific; 
trustee of the Atlantic and Pacific Telegraph 
Company, and a director of the Occidental 
and Oriental Steamship Company, besides 
being identified with many other business 
enterprises of vas't importance. 



GEORGE A. CUSTER, a famous In- 
dian fighter, was born in Ohio in 1840. 
He graduated at \\'cst Point in 1861, an- 
scrved in the Civil war; was at Bull Run id 
1861, and was in the Peninsular campaign, 
being one of General McClellan's aides-de, 
camp. He fought in the battles of South 
Mountain and Antietam in 1863, and was 
with General Stoneman on his famous 
cavalry raid. He was engaged in the battle 
of Gettysburg, and was there made brevet- 
major. In 1863 was appointed brigadier- 
general of volunteers. General Custer was 
in many skirmishes in central Virginia in 
1S63-64, and was present at the following 
battles of the Richmond campaign: Wil- 
derness, Todd 's Tavern, Yellow Tavern, where 
he wasbrevetted lieutenant-colonel; Meadow 
Bridge, Haw's Shop, Cold Harbor, Trevil- 
lian Station. In the Shenandoah Valley 
1 864-65 he was brevetted colonel at Opequan 
Creek, and at Cedar Creek he was made 



brevet major-general for gallant conduct 
during the engagement. General Custer 
was in command of a cavalry division in the 
pursuit of Lee's army in 1865, and fought 
at Dinwiddle Court House, Five Forks, 
where he was made brevet brigadier-general ; 
Sailors Creek and Appomattox, where he 
gained additional honors and was made 
brevet major-general, and was given the 
command of the cavalry in the military 
division of the southwest and Gulf, in 1865. 
After the establishment of peace he went 
west on frontier duty and performed gallant 
and valuable service in the troubles with the 
Indians. He was killed in the massacre on 
the Little Big Horn river, South Dakota, 
June 25, 1876. 



DANIEL WOLSEY VOORHEES, cel- 
brated as "The Tall Sycamore of the 
Wabash," was born September 26, 1827, 
in Butler county, Ohio. When he was two 
months old his parents removed to Fount- 
ain county, Indiana. He grew to manhood 
on a farm, engaged in all the arduous work 
pertaining to rural life. In 1845 he entered 
the Indiana Asbury University, now the De 
Pauw, from which he graduated in 1849. 
He took up the study of law at Crawfords- 
viUe, and in 185 i began the practice of his 
profession at Covington, Fountain county, 
Indiana. He became a law partner of 
United States Senator Hannegan, of Indi- 
ana, in 1852, and in 1856 he was an unsuc- 
cessful candidate for congress. . In the fol- 
lowing year he took up his residence in Terre 
Haute, Indiana. He was United States 
district attorney for Indiana from 1857 until 
1 86 1, and he had during this period been 
elected to congress, in i860. Mr. Voorhees 
was re-elected to congress in 1862 and 1864. 
but he was unsuccessful in the election of 
1866. However, he was returned to con- 



96 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



gress in 1868, where he remained until 1874, 
having been re-elected twice. In 1877 he 
was appointed United States senator from 
Indiana to fill a vacancy caused by the death 
of O. P. Morton, and at the end of the term 
was elected for the ensuing term, being re- 
elected in 1885 and in 1891 to the same of- 
fice. He served with distinction on many 
of the committees, and took a very prom- 
inent part in the discussion of all the im- 
portant legislation of his time. His death 
.occurred in August, 189 . 



ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, fa- 
mous as one of the inventors of the tele- 
phone, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, 
March 3rd, 1847. He received his early 
education in the high school and later he 
attended the university, and was specially 
trained to follow his grandfather's profes- 
sion, that of removing impediments of 
speech. He emigrated to the United States 
in 1872, and introduced into this country 
his father's invention of visible speech in the 
institutions for deaf-mutes. Later he was 
appointed professor of vocal physiology in 
the Boston University. He worked for 
many years during his leisure hours on his 
telephonic discovery, and finally perfected 
it and exhibited it publicly, before it had 
reached the high state of perfection to which 
he brought it. His first exhibition of it was 
at the Centennial Exhibition that was held 
in Philadelphia in 1876. Its success is now 
established throughout the civilized world. 
In 1882 Prof. Bell received a diploma and 
the decoration of the Legion of Honor from 
the Academy of Sciences of France. 



WILLIAM HICKLING PRESCOTT, 
the justly celebrated historian and 
author, was a native of Salem, Massachu- 
setts, and was born May 4, 1 796. He was 



the son of Judge William Prescott and the 
grandson of tJie hero of Bunker Hill, Colonel 
William Prescott. 

Our subject in 1808 removed with the 
family to Boston, in the schools of which 
city he received his early education. He 
entered Harvard College as a sophomore in 
181 1, having been prepared at the private 
classical college of Rev. Dr. J. S. J. Gardi- 
jner. The following year he received an in- 
ury in his left eye which made study 
through life a matter of difficulty. He 
graduated in 18 14 with high honors in the 
classics and belle lettres. He spent several 
months on the Azores Islands, and later 
visited England, France and Italy, return- 
ing home in 1817. In June, 1818, he 
founded a social and literary club at Boston 
for which he edited " The Club Room," a 
periodical doomed to but a short life. May 
4, 1820, he married Miss Susan Amory. 
He devoted several years after that event to 
a thorough study of ancient and modern 
history and literature. As the fruits of his 
labors he published several well written 
essays upon French and Italian poetry and 
romance in the " North American Review." 
January 19, 1826, he decided to take up his 
first great historical work, the " History of 
the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella." To 
this he gave the labor of ten years, publish- 
ing the same December 25, 1837. Although 
placed at the head of all American authors, 
so diffident was Prescott of his literary merit 
that although he had four copies of this 
work printed for his own convenience, he 
hesitated a long time before giving it to the 
public, and it was only by the solicitation of 
friends, especially of that talented Spanish 
scholar, George Ticknor, that he was in- 
duced to do so. Soon the voluuies were 
translated into French, Italian, Dutch and 
German, and the work was recognized 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



97 



throughout the world as one of the most 
meritorious of historical compositions. In 
1843 he published the "Conquest of Mexi- 
co," and in 1847 the "Conquest of Peru." 
Two years later there came from his pen a 
volume of " Biographical and Critical Mis- 
cellanies." Going abroad in the summer of 
1850, he was received with great distinction 
in the literary circles of London, Edinburgh, 
Paris, Antwerp and Brussels. Oxford Uni- 
versity conferred the degree of D. C. L. 
upon him. In 1855 he issued two volumes 
of his "History of the Reign of Philip the 
Second,',' and a third in 1858. In the 
meantime he edited' Robertson's "Charles 
the Fifth," adding a history of the life of 
that monarch after his abdication. Death 
cut short his work on the remaining volumes 
Oi " Philip the Second," coming to him at 
Boston, Massachusetts, May 28, 1859. 



OLIVER HAZARD PERRY, a noted 
American commodore, was born in 
South Kingston, Rhode Island, August 23, 
1785. He saw his first service as a mid- 
shipman in the United States navy in April, 
1799. He cruised with his father, Captain 
Christopher Raymond Perry, in the West In- 
dies for about two years. In 1804 he was 
in the war against Tripoli, and was made 
lieutenant in 1807. At the opening of hostili- 
ties with Great Britain in 1 8 1 2 he was given 
command of a fleet of gunboats on the At- 
lantic coast. At his request he was trans- 
ferred, a year later, to Lake Ontario, where 
he served under Commodore Chauncey, and 
took an active part in the attack on Fort 
George. He was ordered to fit out a squad- 
ron on Lake Erie, which he did, building 
most of his vessels from the forests along 
the shore, and by the summer of 1 8 i 3 he had 
a fleet of nine vessels at Presque Isle, now 
Erie, Pennsylvania. September loth he 



attacked and captured the British fleet near 
Tut-in-Bay, thus clearing the lake of hostile 
ships. His famous dispatch is part of his 
fame, " We have met the enemy, and they 
are ours." He co-operated with Gen. Har- 
rison, and the success of the campaign in 
the northwest was largely due to liis victory. 
The next year he was transferred to the Po- 
tomac, and assisted in the defense of Balti- 
more. After the war he was in constant 
service with the various squadrons in cruising 
in all parts of the world. He died of yellow 
fever on the Island of Trinidad, August 23, 
1 8 19. His remains were conveyed to New- 
port, and buried there, and an imposing 
obelisk was erected to his memory by the 
State of Rhode Island. A bronze statue 
was also erected in his honor, the unveiling 
taking place in 1885. 



JOHN PAUL JONES, though a native 
of Scotland, was one of America's most 
noted fighters during the Revolutionary war. 
He was born July 6, 1747. His father was 
a gardener, but the young man soon be- 
came interested in a seafaring life and at 
the age of twelve he was apprenticed to a 
sea captain engaged in the American trade. 
His first voyage landed him in Virginia, 
where he had a brother who had settled 
there several j'ears prior. The failure of 
the captain released young Jones from his 
apprenticeship bonds, and he was engaged 
as third mate of a vessel engaged in the 
slave trade. He abandoned this trade after 
a few years, from his own sense of disgrace. 
He took passage from Jamaica for Scotland 
in 1768, and on the voyage both the captain 
and the mate died and he was compelled to 
take command of the vessel for the re- 
mainder of the voyage. He soon after 
became master of the vessel. He returned 
to Virginia about 1773 to settle up the estate 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



of his brother, and at this time added the 
name "Jones," having previously been 
known as John Paul. He settled down in 
Virginia, but when the war broke out in 
1775 he offered his services to congress and 
was appointed senior lieutenant of the flag- 
ship "Alfred," on which he hoisted the 
American flag with his own hands, the first 
Vessel that had ever carried a flag of the 
new nation. He was afterward appointed 
to the command of the " Alfred," and later 
of the " Providence," in each of which ves- 
sels he did good service, as also in the 
"Ranger," to the command of which he 
was later appointed. The fight that made 
him famous, however, was that in which he 
captured the "Serapis," off the coast of 
Scotland. He was then in command of the 
"Bon Homme Richard," which had been 
fitted out for him by the French government 
and named by Jones in honor of Benjamin 
Franklin, or " Good Man Richard," Frank- 
lin being author of the publication known 
as " Poor Richard's Almanac." The fight 
between the " Richard" and the "Serapis" 
lasted three hours, all of which time the 
vessels wore at close range, and most of the 
time in actual contact. Jones' vessel was 
on fire several times, and early in the en- 
gagement two of his guns bursted, rendering 
the battery useless. Also an envious officer 
of the Alliance, one of Jones' own fleet, 
opened fire upon the " Richard " at a crit- 
ical time, completely disabling the vessel. 
Jones continued the fight, in spite of coun- 
sels to surrender, and after dark the " Ser- 
apis "struck her colors, and was hastily 
boarded by Jones and his crew, while the 
"Richard" sank, bows first, after the 
wounded had been taken on board the 
"Serapis." Most of the other vessels of 
the fleet of which the " Serapis" was con- 
vo3', surrendered, and were taken with the 



"Serapis" to France, where Jones was 
received with greatest honors, and the king 
presented him with an elegant sword and 
the cross of the Order of Military Merit. 
Congress gave him a vote of thanks and 
made him commander of a new ship, the 
"America," but the vessel was afterward 
given to France and Jones never saw active 
sea service again. He came to America again, 
in 1787, after the close of the war, and was 
voted a gold medal by congress. He went to 
Russia and was appointed rear-admiral and 
rendered service of value against the Turks, 
but on account of personal enmity of the fav- 
orites of the emperor he was retired on a pen- 
sion. Failing to collect this, he returned to 
France, where he died, July 18, 1792. 



THOMAS MORAN, the well-known 
painter of Rocky Mountain scenery, 
was born in Lancashire, England, in 1837. 
He came to America when a child, and 
showing artistic tastes, he was apprenticed 
to a wood engraver in Philadelphia. Three 
years later he began landscape painting, and 
his style soon began to exhibit signs of genius. 
His first works were water-colors, and 
though without an instructor he began the 
use of oils, he soon found it necessary to 
visit Europe, where he gave particular at- 
tention to the works of Turner. He joined 
the Yellowstone Park exploring expedition 
and visited the Rocky Mountains in 1871 
and again in 1873, making numerous 
sketches of the scener}'. The most note- 
worthy results were his ' ' Grand Canon of 
the Yellowstone," and " The Chasm of the 
Colorado," which were purchased by con- 
gress at $10,000 each, the first of which is 
undoubtedly the finest landscape painting 
produced in this country. Mr. Moran has 
subordinated art to nature, and the subjects 
he has chosen leave little ground for fault 







L.cfC. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



101 



finding on that account. "The Mountain 
of the Holy Cross," "The Groves Were 
God's First Temples," " The Cliffs of Green 
River," " The Children of the Mountain," 
" The Ripening of the Leaf," and others 
have given him additional fame, and while 
they do not equal in grandeur the first 
mentioned, in many respects from an artis- 
tic standpoint they are superior. 



L ELAND STANFORD was one of the 
greatest men of the Pacific coast and 
also had a national reputation. He was 
born March 9, 1824, in Albany county. New 
York, and passed his early life on his 
father's farm. He attended the local 
schools of the county and at the age of 
twenty began the study of law. He 
entered the law office of Wheaton, Doolittle 
and Hadley, at Albany, in 1845, '^"d a few 
years later he moved to Port Washington, 
Wisconsin, where he practiced law four 
3'ears with moderate success. In 1852 Mr. 
Stanford determined to push further west, 
and, accordingly went to California, where 
three of his brothers were established in 
business in the mining towns. They took 
Leland into partnership, giving him charge 
of a branch store at Michigan Bluff, in 
Placer county. There he developed great 
business ability and four years later started 
a mercantile house of his own in San Fran- 
cisco, which soon became one of the most 
substantial houses on the coast. On the 
formation of the Republican party he inter- 
ested himself in politics, and in 1S60 was 
sent as a delegate to the convention that 
nominated Abraham Lincoln. In the 
autumn of 1861 he was elected, by an im- 
mense majority, governor of California. 
Prior to his election as governor he had 
been chosen president of the newly-orga- 
nized Central Pacific Railroad Company, 
6 



and after leaving the executive chair he de- 
voted all of his time to the construction of 
the Pacific end of the transcontinental rail- 
way. May 10, 1869, Mr. Stanford drove 
the last spike of the Central Pacific road, 
thus completing the route across the conti- 
nent. He was also president of the Occi- 
dental and Oriental Steamship Company. 
He had but one son, who died of typhoid 
fever, and as a monument to his child he 
founded the university which bears his son's 
name, Leland Stanford, Junior, University. 
Mr. Stanford gave to this university eighty- 
three thousand acres of land, the estimated 
value of which is $8,000,000, and the entire 
endowment is $20,000,000. In 1885 Mr. 
Stanford was elected United States senator 
as a Republican, to succeed J. T. Farley, a 
Democrat, and was re-elected in 1 891. His 
death occurred June 20, 1894, at Palo Alto, 
California. 



STEPHEN DECATUR, a famous com- 
modore in the United States navy, was 
born in Maryland in 1779. He entered the 
naval service in 1798. In 1804, 'when the 
American vessel Philadelphia had been run 
aground and captured in the harbor of Trip- 
oli, Decatur, at the head of a few men, 
boarded her and burned her in the face of 
the guns from the city defenses. For this 
daring deed he was made captain. He was 
given command of the frigate United States 
at the breaking out of the war of 18 12, and 
in October of that year he captured the 
British frigate Macedonian, and was re- 
warded with a gold medal by congress. Af- 
ter the close of the war he was sent as com- 
mander of a fleet of ten vessels to chastise 
t!ie dey of Algiers, who was preying upon 
American commerce with impunity and de- 
manding tribute and ransom for the release 
of American citizens captured. Decatur 



102 



COMPENDIUM OF BI0GRAPH7'. 



captured a number of Algerian vessels, and 
compelled the dey to sue for peace. He 
was noted for his daring and intrepidity, 
and his coolness in the face of danger, and 
helped to bring the United States navy into 
favor with the people and congress as a 
means of defense and offense in time of 
war. He was killed in a duel by Commo- 
dore Barron, March 12, 1820. 



JAMES KNOX POLK, the eleventh 
president of the United States, 1845 to 
1849, was born November 2, 1795, in Meck- 
lenburg county, North Carolina, and was 
the eldest child of a family of six sons. He 
removed with his father to the Valley of the 
Duck River, in Tennessee, in 1806. He 
attended the common schools and became 
very proficient in the lower branches of 
education, and supplemented this, with 
a course in the Murfreesboro Academy, 
which he entered in 18 13 and in the autumn 
of 1815 he became a student in the sopho- 
more class of the University of North Caro- 
lina, at Chapel Hill, and was graduated in 
181 8. He'then spent a short time in re- 
cuperating his health and then proceeded to 
Nashville, Tennessee, where he took up the 
study of law in the office of Felix Grundy. 
After the completion of his law studies he 
was admitted to the bar and removed to 
Columbia, Maury county, Tennessee, and 
started in the active practice of his profes- 
sion. Mr. Polk was a Jeffersonian "Re- 
publican " and in 1823 he was elected to the 
legislature of Tennessee. He was a strict 
constructionist and did not believe that the 
general government had the power to carry 
on internal improvements in the states, but 
deemed it important that it should have that 
power, and wanted the constitution amended 
to that effect. But later on he became 
alarmed lest the general government might 



become strong enough to abolish slavery 
and therefore gave his whole support to the 
" State's Rights" movement, and endeavored 
to check the centralization of power in the 
general government. Mr. Polk was chosen 
a me.uber of congress in 1 82 5, and held that 
office until 1839. He then withdrew, as he 
was the successful gubernatorial candidate 
of his state. He had become a man of 
great influence in the house, and, as the 
leader of the Jackson party in that body, 
weilded great influence in the election of 
General Jackson to the presidency. He 
sustained the president in all his measures 
and still remained in the house after Gen- 
eral Jackson had been succeeded by Martin 
Van Buren. He was speaker of the house 
during five sessions of congress. He was 
elected governor. of Tennessee by a large 
majority and took the oath of office at Nash- 
ville, October 4, 1839. He was a candidate 
for re-election but was defeated by Governor 
Jones, the Whig candidate. In 1844 the 
most prominent question in the election was 
the annexation of Texas, and as Mr. Polk 
was the avowed champion of this cause he 
was nominated for president by the pro- 
slavery wing of the democratic party, was 
elected by a large majority, and was inaug- 
urated March 4, 1845. President Polk 
formed a very able cabinet, consisting of 
James Buchanan, Robert J. Walker, Will- 
iam L. Marcy, George Bancroft, Cave John- 
son, and John Y. Mason. The dispute re- 
garding the Oregon boundary was settled 
during his term of office and a new depart- 
ment was added to the list of cabinet po- 
sitions, that of the Interior. The low tariff 
bill of 1846 was carried and the financial 
system of the country was reorganized. It 
was also during President Polk's term that 
the Mexican war was successfully conducted, 
which resulted in the acquisition of Califor- 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPIir. 



103 



nia ar.d New Mexico. Mr. Polk retired from 
tlie presidency March 4, 1S49, after having 
declined a re-nomination, and was succeeded 
by General Zachary Taylor, the hero of the 
Mexican war. Mr. Polk retired to pri\ate 
life, to his home in Nashville, where he died 
at the age of fifty-four on June 9, 1849. 



ANNA DICKINSON (Anna Elizabeth 
Dickinson), a noted lecturer and pub- 
lic speaker; was born at Philadelphia, Oc- 
tober 28, 1842. Herparents were Quakers, 
and she was educated at the Friends' free 
schools in her native city. She early man- 
ifested an inclination toward elocution and 
public speaking, and when, at the age of 18, 
she found an opportunity to appear before 
a national assemblage for the discussion of 
woman's rights, she at once established her 
reputation as a public speaker. From i860 
to the close of the war and during the ex- 
citing period of reconstruction, she was one 
of the most noted and influential speakers 
before the American public, and her popu- 
larity was unequaled by that of any of her 
Ecx. A few weeks after the defeat and 
death of Colonel Baker at Ball's Bluff, Anna 
Dickinson, lecturing in New York, made 
the remarkable assertion, " Not the incom- 
petency of Colonel Baker, but the treachery 
of General McClellan caused the disaster at 
Ball's Bluf?." She was hissed and hooted 
ofif the stage. A year later, at the same 
hall and with much the same class of audi- 
tors, she repeated the identical words, and 
the applause was so great and so long con- 
tinued that it was impossible to go on with 
her lecture for more than half an hour. The 
change of sentiment had been wrought by 
the reverses and dismissal of McClellan and 
his ambition to succeed Mr. Lincoln as presi- 
dent. 

Ten years after the close of the war, Anna 



Dickinson was not heard of on the lec- 
ture platform, and about that time she made 
an attempt to enter the dramatic profession, 
but after appearing a number of times in dif- 
ferent plays she was pronounced a failure. 



ROBERT J. BURDETTE.— Some per- 
sonal characteristics of Mr. Burdette 
were quaintly given by himself in the follow- 
ing words: "Politics.-' Republican after 
the strictest sect. Religion I Baptist. Per- 
sonal appearance .' Below medium height, 
and weigh one hundred and thirty five 
pounds, no shillings and no pence. Rich .'' 
Not enough to own a yacht. Favorite read- 
ing.'' Poetry and history — know Longfellow 
by heart, almost. Write for magizines .' 
Have mo.e ' declined with thanks ' letters 
than would fill a trunk. Never able to get 
into a magazine with a line. Care about it.' 
Mad as thunder. Think about starting a 
magazine and rejecting everbody's articles 
except my own." Mr. Burdette was born 
at Greensborough, Pennsylvania, in 1844. 
He served through the war of the rebellion 
under General Banks "on an excursion 
ticket" as he felicitously described it, "good 
both ways, conquering in one direction and 
running in the other, pay going on just the 
same." He entered into journalism by the 
gateway of New York correspondence for 
the "Peoria Transcript," and in 1874 went 
on the "Burlington Hawkeye " of which he 
became the managing editor, and the work 
that he did on this paper made both him- 
self and the paper famous in the world of 
humor. Mr. Burdette married in 1870, 
and his wife, whom he called "Her Little 
Serene Highness," was to him a guiding 
light until the day of her death, and it was 
probably the unconscious pathos with which 
he described her in his work that broke the 
barriers that had kept him out of the maga- 



104 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



zines and secured him the acceptance of his 
"Confessions" "by Lippincott some years 
ago, and brought him substantial fame and 
recognition in the literary world. 



WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS, one 
of the leading novelists of the present 
century and author of a number of works 
that gained for him a place in the hearts of 
the people, was born March i, 1S37, at 
Martins\ille, Belmont county, Ohio. At 
the age of three years he accompanied his 
father, who was a printer, to Hamilton, 
Ohio, where he learned the printer's trade. 
Later he was engaged on the editorial staff 
of the " Cincinnati Gazefte" and the " Ohio 
State Journal." During 1S61-65 he was 
the United States consul at Venice, and 
from 1 8/ 1 to 1S78 he was the editor-in- 
chief of the "Atlantic Monthly." As a 
writer he became one of the most fertile 
and readable of authors and a pleasing poet. 
In 1885 he became connected with "Har- 
per's Magazine. " Mr. Howells was author 
of the list of books that we give below: 
""Venetian Life," " Italian Journeys," "No 
Love Lost," " Suburban Sketches," "Their 
Wedding Journey," "A Chance Acquaint- 
ance," "A Foregone Conclusion," "Dr. 
Breen's Practice," "A Modern Instance," 
"The Rise of Silas Lapham," "Tuscan 
Cities," "Indian Summer," besides many 
others. He also wrote the ' ' Poem of Two 
Friends," with J. J. Piatt in i860, and 
some minor dramas: "The Drawing 
Room Car," "The Sleeping Car," etc., 
that are full of exqusite humor and elegant 
dialogue. 

TAMES RUSSELL LOWELL was a son 
<J of the Rev. Charles Lowell, and was born 
at Cambridge, Massachusetts, February 22, 
I S 19. He graduated at Harvard College in 



1838 as class poet, and went to Harvard 
Law School, from which he was graduated 
in 1840, and commenced the practice of his 
profession in Boston, but soon gave his un- 
divided attention to literary labors. Mr. 
Lowell printed, in 1841, a small volume of 
poems entitled " A Year's Life," edited with 
Robert Carter; in 1843, " The Pioneer, " a 
literary and critical magazine (monthly), and 
in 1848 another book of poems, that con- 
tained several directed against slavery. He 
published in 1844 a volume of "Poems" 
and in 1845 " Conversations on Some 
of the Old Poets," "The Vision of Sir 
Launfal," "A Fable for Critics," and "The 
Bigelow Papers," the latter satirical es- 
says in dialect poetry directed against 
slavery and the war with Mexico. In 
1851-52 he traveled in Europe and re- 
sided in Ital}' for a considerable time, and 
delivered in 1 8 54-5 5 a course of lectures on 
the British poets, before the Lowell Insti- 
tute, Boston. Mr. Lowell succeeded Long- 
fellow in January, 1855, as professor of 
modern languages and literature at Harvard 
College, and spent another year in Euiope 
qualifying himself for that post. He edited 
the " Atlantic Monthly " from 185710 1862, 
and the "North American Review" from 
1863 until 1S72. From 1864 to 1870 he 
published the following works: "Fireside 
Travels," " Under the Willows," "The 
Commemoration Ode," in honor of the 
alumni of Harvard who had fallen in the 
Civil war; "The Cathedral," two volumes 
of essays; "Among My Books" and "My 
Study Windows," and in 1867 he published 
a new series of the " Bigelow Papers. " He 
traveled extensively in Europe in 1S72-74, 
and received in person the degree of D. C. 
L. at Oxford and that of LL. D. at the 
University of Cambridge, England. He 
was also interested in political life and held 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



105 



many important offices. He was United 
States minister to Spain in 1877 and was 
also minister to England in 1880-85. O" 
January 2, 1884, he was elected lord rector 
of St. Andrew University in Glasgow, Scot- 
land, but soon after he resigned the same. 
Mr. Lowell's works enjoy great popularity 
in the United States and England. He 
died August 12, 1891. 



JOSEPH HENRY, one of America's 
greatest scientists, was born at Albany, 
New York, December 17, 1797. He was 
educated in the common schools of the city 
and graduated from the Albany Academy, 
where he became a professor of mathemat- 
ics in 1826. In 1827 he commenced a 
course of investigation, which he continued 
for a number of years, and the results pro- 
duced had great effect on the scientific world. 
The first success was achieved by producing 
the electric magnet, and he ne.xt proved the 
possibility of exciting magnetic energy at a 
distance, and it was the invention of Pro- 
fessor Henry's intensity magnet that first 
made the invention of electric telegraph a 
possibility. He made a statement regarding 
the practicability of applying the intensity 
magnet to telegraphic uses, in his article to 
the "American Journal of Science" in 1831. 
During the same year he produced the first 
mechanical contrivance ever invented for 
maintaining continuous motion by means of 
electro-magnetism, and he also contrived a 
machine by which signals could be made at 
a distance by the use of his electro-magnet, 
the signals being produced by a lever strik- 
ing on a bell. Some of his electro-magnets 
were of great power, one carried over a ton 
and another not less than three thousand six 
hundred pounds. In 1832 he discovered 
that secondary currents could be produced 
ri a long conductor by the induction of the 



primary current upon itself, and also in the 
same year he produced a spark by means of 
a purely magnetic induction. Professor 
Henry was elected, in 1832, professor of nat- 
ural philosophy in the College of New Jer- 
sey, and in his earliest lectures at Princeton, 
demonstrated the feasibility of the electric 
telegraph. He visited Europe in 1837, and 
while there he had an interview with Pro- 
fessor Wheatstone, the inventor of the 
needle magnetic telegraph. In 1846 he was 
elected secretary of the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution, being the first incumbent in that office, 
which he held until his death. Professor 
Henry was elected president of the Ameri- 
can Association for the Advancement of 
Science, in 1849, and of the National 
Academy of Sciences. He was made chair- 
man of the lighthouse board of the United 
States in 1871 and held that position up to 
the time of his death. He received the 
honorary degree of doctor of laws from 
Union College in 1829, and from Harvard 
University in 185 1, and his death occurred 
May 13, 1878. Among his numerous works 
may be mentioned the following: "Contri- 
butions to Electricity and Magnetism," 
" American Philosophic Trans," and many 
articles in the "American Journal of 
Science," the journal of the Franklin Insti- 
tute; the proceedings of the American As- 
sociation for the Advancement of Science, 
and in the annual reports of the Smith- 
sonian Institution from its foundation. 



FRANKLIN BUCHANAN, the famous 
rear-admiral of the Confederate navy 
during the rebellion, was born in Baltimore, 
Maryland. He became a United States 
midshipman in 18 15 and was promoted 
through the various grades of the service 
and became a captain in 1855. Mr. Buch- 
anan resigned his captaincy in order to join 



KM) 



COMPEXDILM or BIOGRAPHT. 



the Confederate service in 1S61 and later he 
asked to be reinstated, but his request was 
refused and he then entered into the service 
of the Confederate government. He was 
placed in command of the frigate " Merri- 
mac " after she had been fitted up as an iron- 
clad, and had command of her at the time 
of the battle of Hampton Roads. It was 
he who had command when the " Merri- 
mac" sunk the two wooden frigates, " Con- 
gress'' and "Cumberland," and was also 
in command during part of the historical 
battle of the " Merrimac " and the "Moni- 
tor," where he was wounded and the com- 
mand devolved upon Lieutenant Catesby 
Jones. He was created rear-admiral in the 
Confederate service and commanded the 
Confederate fleet in Mobile bay, which was 
defeated by Admiral Farragut, August 5, 
1864. Mr. Buchanan was in command of 
the "Tennessee," an ironclad, and during 
the engagement he lost one of his legs and 
was taken prisoner in the end by the Union 
fleet. After the war he settled in Talbot 
county, Maryland, where he died May 11, 
1874- 

RICHARD PARKS BLAND, a celebrated 
American statesman, frequently called 
"the father of the house," because of his 
manj' years of service in the lower house 
of congress, was born August 19, 1835, 
near Hartford, Kentucky, where he received 
a plain academic education. He moved, 
in 1855, to Missouri, from whence he went 
overland to California, afterward locating in 
Virginia Cit\-, now in the state of Nevada, 
but then part of the territory of Utah. 
While there he practiced law, dabbled in 
mines and mining in Nevada and California 
for several years, and served for a time as 
treasurer of Carson county, Nevada. Mr. 
Bland returned to Missouri in 1865, where 



he engaged in the practice ot law at Rolla, 
Missouri, and in 1869 removed to Lebanon, 
Missouri. He began his congressional career 
in 1873, when he was elected as a Demo- 
crat to the forty-third congress, and he was 
regularly re-elected to every congress after 
that time up to the fifty-fourth, when he was 
defeated for re-election, but was returned 
to the fifty-fifth congress as a Silver Demo- 
crat. During all his protracted service, 
while Mr. Bland was always steadfast in his 
support of democratic measures, yet he won 
his special renown as the great advocate cf 
silver, being strongly in favor of the free 
and unlimited coinage of silver, and on ac- 
count of his pronounced views was one of 
the candidates for the presidential nomina- 
tion of the Democratic party at Chicago in 
1896. 

FANNY DAVENPORT (F. L. G. Daven- 
port) was of British birth, but she be- 
longs to the American stage. She was the 
daughter of the famous actor, E. L. Daven- 
port, and was born in London in 1850. 
She first went on the stage as a child at the 
Howard Athenaeum, Boston, and her entire 
life was spent upon the stage. She played 
children's parts at Burton's old theater in 
Chambersstreet, and then, in 1862, appeared 
as the King of Spain in " Faint Heart Never 
Won Fair Lady. " Here she attracted the 
notice of Augustin Daly, the noted mana- 
ger, then at the Fifth Avenue theater, who 
offered her a six weeks' engagement with 
her father in "London Assurance." She 
afterwards appeared at the same house in a 
variety of characters, and her versatility 
was favorably noticed by the critics. After 
the burning of the old Fifth A^venue, the 
present theater of that name v/as built at 
Twenty-eighth street, and here Miss Daven- 
port appeared in a play written for her by 



COMPEXnii'M- OF lUOGRAPIir. 



107 



Mr. Daly. She scored a great success. 
She then starred in this play throughout the 
country, and was married to Mr. Edwin F. 
Price, sn actor of her company, in 1880. 
In 1882 she went to Paris and purchased 
the right to produce in America Sardou's 
great emotional play, "Fedora." It was 
put on at the Fourteenth Street theater in 
New York, and in it she won popular favor 
and became one of the most famous actresses 
of her time. 



HORACE BFJGHAM CLAFLIN, one 
of the greatest merchants America has 
produced, was born in Milford, Massachu- 
setts, a son of John Claflin, also a mer- 
chant. Young Claflin started his active life 
as a clerk in his father's store, after having 
been offered the opportunity of a college 
education, but with the characteristic 
promptness that was one of his virtues he 
exclaimed, "No law or medicine for me." 
He had set his heart on being a merchant, 
and when his father retired he and his 
brother Aaron, and his brother-in-law, Sam- 
uel Daniels, conducted the business. Mr. 
Claflin was not content, however, to run a 
store in a town like Milford, and accordingly 
opened a dry goods store at Worcester, with 
his brother as a partner, but the partnership 
was dissolved a year later and H. B. Claflin 
assumed complete control. The business 
in Worcester had been conducted on ortho- 
dox principles, and when Mr. Claflin came 
there and introduced advertising as a means 
of drawing trade, he created considerable 
animosity among the older merchants. Ten 
years later he was one of the most prosper- 
ous merchants. He disposed of his busi- 
ness in Worcester for $30,000, and went to 
New York to search for a wider field than 
that of a shopkeeper. Mr. Claflin and 
William M. Bulkley started in the dry goods 



business there under the firm name of Bulk- 
ley & Claflin, in 1843, and Mr. Bulkley was 
connected with the firm until i85i,when he 
retired. A new firm was then formed under 
the name of Claflin, Mcllin & Co. This 
firm succeeded in founding the largest dry 
goods house in the world, and after weather- 
ing the dangers of the civil war, during 
which the house came very near going un- 
der, and was saved only by the superior 
business abilities of Mr. Claflin, continued to 
grow. The sales of the firm amounted ta 
over $72,000,000 a year after the close of 
the war. Mr. Claflin died November 14, 
1885. 

CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN (Charlotte 
Saunders Cushman), one of the most 
celebrated American actresses, was born ia 
Boston, July 23, 1816. She was descended 
from one of the earliest Puritan families. 
Her first attempt at stage work was at the 
age of fourteen years in a charitable concert 
given by amateurs in Boston. From this 
time her advance to the first place on the 
American lyric stage was steady, until, ia 
1835, while singing in New Orleans, she 
suddenly lost control of her voice so far as 
relates to singing, and was compelled to re- 
tire. She then took up the study for the 
dramatic stage under the direction of Mr. 
Barton, the tragedian. She soon after 
made her debut as " Lady Macbeth." She 
appeared in New York in September, 1836, 
and her success was immediate. Her 
"Romeo" was almost perfect, and she is 
the only woman that has ever appeared in 
the. part of "Cardinal Wolsey." She at 
different times acted as support of Forrest 
and Macready. Her London engagement, 
secured in 1845, after many and great dis- 
couragements, proved an unqualified suc- 
cess. 



108 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHV. 



Her farewell appearance was at Booth's 
theater, New York, November 7, 1S74, in 
the part of " Lady Macbeth," and after that 
performance an Ode by R. H. Stoddard 
was read, and a body of citizens went upon 
the stage, and in their name the venerable 
poet Longfellow presented her with a wreath 
of laurel with an inscription to the effect 
that "she who merits the palm should bear 
it." From the time of her appearance as a 
modest girl in a charitable entertainment 
down to the time of final triumph as a tragic 
queen, she bore herself with as much honor 
to womanhood as to the profession she rep- 
resented. Her death occurred in Boston, 
February 18, 1876. By her profession she 
•acquired a fortune of $600,000. 



NEAL DOW, one of the most prominent 
temperance reformers our country has 
known, was born in Portland, Me., March 20, 
1S04. He received his education in the 
Friends Seminary, at New Bedford, Massa- 
chusetts, his parents being members of that 
sect. After leaving school he pursued a 
mecrantile and manufacturing career for a 
number of years. He was active in the 
affairs of his native cit}', and in 1839 be- 
came chief of the fire department, and in 
1 85 1 was elected mayor. He was re-elected 
to the latter office in 1854. Being opposed 
to the liquor traffic he was a champion of 
the project of prohibition, first brought for- 
ward in I 839 by James Appleton. While 
serving his first term as mayor he drafted a 
bill for the "suppression of drinking houses 
and tippling shops," which he took to the 
legislature and which was passed without an 
alteration. In 1858 Mr. Dow was elected 
to the legislature. On the outbreak of the 
Civil w^ar he was appointed colonel of the 
Thirteentfi Maine Infantry and accompanied 
General Butler's expedition to New Orleans. 



In 1862 he was made brigadier-general. At 
the battle of Port Hudson May 27, 1863, he 
was twice wounded, and taken prisoner. He 
was confined at Libby prison and Mobile 
nearly a year, when, being exchanged, he 
resigned, his health having given way under 
the rigors of his captivity. He made sev- 
eral trips to England in the interests of 
temperance organization, where he addressed 
large audiences. He was the candidate of 
the National Prohibition party for the presi- 
dency in 1880, receiving about ten thousand 
votes. In 1884 he was largely instrumental 
in the amendment of the constitution of 
Maine, adopted by an overwhelming popular 
vote, which forever forbade the manufacture 
or sale of any intoxicating beverages, and 
commanding the legislature to enforce the 
prohibition. He died October 2, 1897. 



ZACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth president 
of the United States, was born in 
Orange county, Virginia, September 24, 
1784. His boyhood was spent on his fath- 
er's plantation and his education was lim- 
ited. In 1808 he v/as made lieutenant of 
the Seventh Infantry, and joined his regi- 
ment at New Orleans. He was promoted 
to captain in iSio, and commanded at Fort 
Harrison, near the present site of Terre 
Haute, in 1812, where, for his gallant de- 
fense, he was brevetted major, attaining full 
rank in 18 14. In 1815 he retired to an es- 
tate near Louis.-ille. In 1S16 here-entered 
the army as major, and was promoted to 
lieutenant-colonel and then to colonel. 
Having for many years been Indian agent 
over a large pori.ion of the western countr}', 
he was often required in Washington to give 
advice and counsel in matters connected 
with the Indian bireau. He served through 
the Black Hawk /ndian war of 1832, and in 
1837 was ordered to the command of the 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



109 



army in Florida, where he attacked the In- 
dians in the swamps and brakes, defeated 
them and ended the war. He was brevetted 
brigadier-general and made commander-in- 
chief of the army in Florida. He was as- 
signed to the command of the army of the 
southwest in 1S40, but was soon* after re- 
lieved of it at his request. He was then 
stationed at posts in Arkansas. In 1845 he 
was ordered to prepare to protect and de- 
fend Texas boundaries from invasion by 
Mexicans and Indians. On the annexation 
of Texas he proceeded with one thousand 
five hundred men to Corpus Christi, within 
the disputed territory. After reinforcement 
he was ordered by the Mexican General Am- 
pudia to retire beyond the Nueces river, 
with which order he declined to comply. 
The battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la 
Palma followed, and he crossed the Rio 
Grande and occupied Matamoras May i8th. 
He was commissioned major-general for this 
campaign, and in September he advanced 
upon the city of Monterey and captured it 
after a hard fight. Here he took up winter 
quarters, and when he was about to resume 
activity in the spring he was ordered to send 
the larger part of his army to reinforce 
General Scott at Vera Cruz. After leaving 
garrisons at various points his army was re- 
duced to about five thousand, mostly fresh 
recruits. He was attacked by i:he army of 
Santa Anna at Euena Vista, February 22, 
1847, and after a severe fight completely 
routed the Mexicans. He received the 
thanks of congress and a gold medal for 
this victory. He remained in command of 
the "army of occupation" until winter, 
when he returned to the United States. 

In 1848 General Taylor was nominated 
by the Whigs for president. He was elected 
over his two opponents, Cass and Van 
Buren. Great bitterness was developing in 



the struggle for and against the extension of 
slavery, and the newly acquired territory in 
the west, and the fact that the states were 
now equally divided on that question, tended 
to increase the feeling. President Taylor 
favored immediate admission of California 
with her constitution prohibiting slavery, 
and the admission of other states to be 
formed out of the new territory as they 
might elect as they adopted constitutions 
from time to time. This policy resulted in 
the " Omnibus Bill," which afterward passed 
congress, though in separate bills; not, how- 
ever, until after the death of the soldier- 
statesman, which occurred July 9, 1850. 
One of his daughters became the wife of 
Jefferson Davis. 



MELVILLE D. LANDON, better known 
as " EliPerkins," author, lecturer and 
humorist, v/as born in Eaton, New York, 
September 7, 1839. He was the son of 
John Landon and grandson of Rufus Lan- 
don, a revolutionary soldier from Litchfield 
county, Connecticut. Melville was edu- 
cated at the district school and neighboring 
academy, where he was prepared for the 
sophomore class at Madison University. He 
passed two years at the latter, when he was 
admitted to Union College, and graduated 
in the class of 1861, receiving the degree of 
A. M., in 1862. He was, at once, ap- 
pointed to a position in the treasury depart- 
ment at Washington. This being about the 
time of the breaking out of the war, and 
before the appearance of any Union troops 
at the capital, he assisted in the organiza- 
tion of the " Clay Battalion," of Washing- 
ton. Leaving his clerkship some time later, 
he took up duties on the staff of General A. 
L. Chetlain, who was in command at Mem- 
phis. In 1864 he resigned from the army 
and engaged in cotton planting in Arkansas 



110 



COMPENDICM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



and Louisiana. In 1867 he went abroad, 
making the tour of Europe, traversing Rus- 
sia. While in the latter country' his old 
commander of the " Clay Battalion," Gen- 
eral Cassius M. Clay, then United States 
minister at St. Petersburg, made him secre- 
tary of legation. In 1 87 1, on returning to 
America, he published a history of the 
Franco-Prussian war, and followed it with 
numerous humorous writings for the public 
press under the name of "Eli Perkins," 
which, with his regular contributions to the 
" Commercial Advertiser," brought him into 
notice, and spread his reputation as a hu- 
morist throughout the country. He also pub- 
lished "Saratoga in 1891," "Wit, Humor 
and Pathos," "Wit and Humor of the Age," 
" Kings of Platform and Pulpit," "Thirty 
Yearsof^^■it and Humor," " Fun and Fact," 
and " China and Japan." 



LEWIS CASS, one of the most prom- 
inent statesman and party leaders of his 
day, was born at Exeter, New Hampshire, 
October 9, 1782. He studied law, and hav- 
ing removed to Zanesville, Ohio, commenced 
the practice of that profession in 1802. He 
entered the service of the American govern- 
ment in 1812 and was made a colonel in 
the army under General William Hull, and 
on the surrender of Fort Maiden by that 
officer was held as a prisoner. Being re- 
leased in 1813, he was promoted to the 
rank of brigadier-general and in 18 14 ap- 
pointed governor of Michigan Territory'. 
After he had held that office for some 
sixteen years, negotiatiug, in the meantime, 
many treaties with the Indians, General 
Cass was made secretary of war in the cabi- 
net of President Jackson, in 1831. He was, 
in 1836, appointed minister to France, 
which office he held fcfr si.x years. In 1 844 
he -.as elected United States senator from 



Michigan. In 1846 General Cass opposed 
the Wilmot Proviso, which was an amend- 
ment to a bill for the purchase of land from 
Mexico, which provided that in any of the 
territory acquired from that power slavery 
should not exist. For this and other reasons 
he was notninated as Democratic candidate 
for the presidency of the United States in 
1848, but was defeated by General Zachary 
Taylor, the Whig candidate, having but 
one hundred and thirty-seven electoral votes 
to his opponent's one hundred and sixty- 
three. In 1 849 General Cass was re-elected 
to the senate of the United States, and in 
1854 supported Douglas' Kansas-Nebraska 
bill. He became secretary of state in 
March, 1857, under President Buchanan, 
but resigned that office in December, i860. 
He died June 17, 1866. The published 
works of Lewis Cass, while not numerous, 
are well written and display much ability. 
He was one of the foremost men of his day 
in the political councils of the Democratic 
party, and left a reputation for high probity 
and honor behind him. 



DEWITT CLINTON.— Probably there 
were but few men who were so popular 
in their time, or who have had so much in- 
fluence in moulding events as the individual 
whose name honors the head of this article. 
De Witt Clinton was the son of General 
James Clinton, and a nephew of Governor 
George Clinton, who was the fourth vice- 
president of the United States. He was a 
native of Orange county. New York, born at 
Little Britain, March 2, 1769. He gradu- 
ated from Columbia College, in his native 
state, in 1796, and took up the study of law. 
In 1790 he became private secretary to his 
uncle, then governor of New York. He en- 
tered public life as a Republican or anti- 
Federalist, and was elected to the lower 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



Ill 



house of the state assembly in 1797, and the 
senate of that body in 1798. At that time 
he was looked on as " the most rising man 
in the Union." In 1801 he was elected to 
the United States senate. In 1S03 he was 
appointed by the governor and council 
mayor of the city of New York, then a 
very important and powerful office. Hav- 
ing been re-appointed, he held the office 
of mayor for nearly eleven years, and 
rendered great service to that city. Mr. 
Clinton served as lieutenant-governor of 
the state of New York, 181 1- 13, and 
was one of the commissioners appointed 
to examine and survey a route for a canal 
from the Hudson river to Lake Erie. Dif- 
fering with President Madison, in relation to 
the war, in 18 12, he was nominated for the 
presidency against that gentleman, by a 
coalition party called the Clintonians, many 
of whom were Federalists. Clinton received 
eight-nine electoral votes. His course at 
this time impaired his popularity for a time. 
He was removed from the mayoralty in 
1814, and retired to private life. In 1815 
he wrote a powerful argument for the con- 
struction of the Erie canal, then a great and 
beneficent work of which he was the prin- 
cipal promoter. This was in the shape of 
a memorial to the legislature, which, in 
18 1 7, passed a bill authorizing the construc- 
tion of that canal. The same year he was 
elected governor of New York, almost unani- 
mously, notwithstanding the opposition of 
a few who pronounced the scheme of the 
canal visionary. He was re-elected governor 
in 1820. He was at this time, also, presi- 
dent of the canal commissioners. He de- 
clined a re-election to the gubernatorial 
chair in 1822 and was removed from his 
place on the canal board two years later. 
But he was triumphantly elected to the of- 
fice of governor that fall; and his pet project, 



the Erie canal, was finished the next year. 
He was re-elected governor in 1826, but 
died while holding that office, February 11, 
1828. 

AARON BURR, one of the many brilliant 
figures on the political stage in the early 
days of America, was born at Newark, New 
Jersey, February 6, 1756. He was the son 
of Aaron and Esther Burr, the former the 
president of the College of New Jersey, and 
the latter a daughter of Jonathan Edwards, 
who had been president of the same educa- 
tional institution. Young Burr graduated 
at Princeton in 1772. In 1775 he joined 
the provincial army at Cambridge, Massa- 
chusetts. For a time, he served as a private 
soldier, but later was made an aide on the 
staff of the unfortunate General Montgom- 
ery, in the Quebec expedition. Subse- 
quently he was on the staffs of Arnold, Put- 
nam and Washington, the latter of whom 
he disliked. He was promoted to the rank 
of lieutenant-colonel and commanded a 
brigade on Monmouth's bloody field. In 
1779, on account of feeble health, Colonel 
Burr resigned from the army. He took up 
the practice of law in Albany, New York, 
but subsequently removed to New York City. 
In 1789 he became attorney-general of that 
state. In 1791 he was chosen to represent 
the state of New York in the United States 
senate and held that position for six years. 
In 1800 he and Thomas Jefferson were both 
candidates for the presidency, and there 
being a tie in the electoral college, each 
having seventy-three votes, the choice was 
left to congress, who gave the first place to 
Jefferson and made Aaron Burr vice-presi- 
dent, as the method then was. In 1804 Mr. 
Burr and his great rival, Alexander Hamil- 
ton, met in a duel, which resulted in the 
death of the latter. Burr losing thereby con- 



112 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT 



siderable political and social influence. He 
soon embarked in a wild attempt upon 
Mexico, and as was asserted, upon the 
southwestern territories of the United 
States. He was tried for treason at 
Richmond, Virginia, in 1807, but acquitted, 
and to avoid importunate creditors, fled to 
Europe. After a time, in 18 12, he returned 
to New York, where he practiced law, and 
where he died, September 14, 1836. A man 
of great ability, brilliant and popular talents, 
his influence was destroyed by his unscrupu- 
lous political actions and immoral private 
life. 

ALBERT GALLATIN, one of the most 
distinguished statesmen of the early 
days of the republic, was born at Geneva, 
Switzerland, January 29, 1761. He was 
the son of Jean de Gallatin and Sophia A. 
Rolaz du Rosey Gallatin, representatives of 
an old patrician family. Albert Gallatin 
was left an orphan at an early age, and was 
educated under the care of friends of his 
parents. He graduated from the University 
of Geneva in 1779, and declining employ- 
ment under one of the sovereigns of Ger- 
many, came to the struggling colonies, land- 
ing in Boston July 14, 1780. Shortly after 
his arrival he proceeded to Maine, where he 
served as a volunteer under Colonel Allen. 
He made advances to the government for 
the support of the American troops, and in 
November, 1780, was placed in command 
of a small fort at Passamaquoddy, defended 
by a force of militia, volunteers and Indians. 
In 1783 he was professor of the French 
language at Harvard University. A year 
later, having received his patrimony from 
Europe, he purchased large tracts of land 
in western Virginia, but was prevented by 
the Indians from forming the large settle- 
ment he proposed, and, in 1786, purchased 



a farm in Fayette county, Pennsylvania. 
In 1789 he was a member of the convention 
to amend the constitution of that state, and 
united himself with the Republican party, 
the head of which was Thomas Jefferson. 
The following year he was elected to the 
legislature of Pennsylvania, to which he was 
subsequently re-elected. In 1793 he was 
elected to the United States senate, but 
could not take his seat on account of not 
having been a citizen long enough. In 1794 
Mr. Gallatin was elected to the representa- 
tive branch of congress, in which he served 
three terms. He also took an important 
position in the suppression of the "whiskey 
insurrection." In 1801, on the accession of 
Jefferson to the presidency, Mr. Gallatin 
was appointed secretary of the treasury. 
In 1809 Mr. Madison offered him the posi- 
tion of secretary of state, but he declined, 
and continued at the head of the treasury 
until 1812, a period of twelve years. He 
exercised a great influence on the other de- 
partments and in the general administration, 
especially in the matter of financial reform, 
and recommended measures for taxation, 
etc., which were passed by congress, and be- 
came laws May 24, 181 3. The same year he 
was sent as an envoy extraordinary to Rus- 
sia, which iiad offered to mediate between 
this country and Great Britain, but the lat- 
ter country refusing the interposition of 
another power, and agreeing to treat di- 
rectly with the United States, in 18 14, at 
Ghent, Mr. Gallatin, in connection with his 
distinguished colleagues, negotiated and 
signed the treaty of peace. In 1815. in 
conjunction with Messrs. Adams and Clay, 
he signed, at London, a commercial treaty 
between the two countries. In 1816, de- 
clining his old post at tlie head of the treas- 
ury, Mr. Gallatin was sent as minister to 
France. <"'• ■ 'le rerauined until 1823. 



COMPEXD/L'M or BIOGRAPHY. 



\\Z 



After a year spent in England as envoy ex- 
traordinary, he took up his residence in New 
York, and from that time held no public 
office. In I S30 he was chosen president of 
the council of the University of New York. 
He was, in 1831, made president of the 
National bank, which position he resigned 
in 1839. He died August 12, 1849. 



M 



ILLARD FILLMORE, the thirteenth 
president of the United States, was 
born of New England parentage in Summer 
Hill, Cayuga count}'. New York, January 7, 
1800. His school education was very lim- 
ited, but he occupied his leisure hours in 
slud}'. He worked in youth upon his fa- 
ther's farm in his native county, and at the 
age of fifteen was apprenticed to a wool 
carder and cloth dresser. Four years later 
he was induced by Judge Wood to enter his 
office at Montviile, New York, and take up 
the study of law. This warm friend, find- 
ing young Fillmore destitute of means, 
loaned him money, but the latter, not wish- 
ing to incur a heavy debt, taught school 
during part of the time and in this and other 
ways helped maintain himself. In 1822 he 
removed to Buffalo, New York, and the year 
following, being admitted to the bar, he 
commenced the practice of his profession 
at East Aurora, in the same state. Here 
he remained until 1830, having, in the 
meantime, been admitted to practice in the 
supreme court, when he returned to Buffalo, 
where he became the partner of S. G. 
Haven and N. K. Hall. He entered poli- 
tics and served in the state legislature from 
1829 to 1832. He was in congress in 1833- 
35 and in 1837-41, where he proved an 
active and useful member, favoring the 
views of John Quincy Adams, then battling 
almost alone the slave-holding party in na- 
tional politics, and in most 01 public ques- 



tions acted with the Whig party. While 
chairman of the committee of ways and 
means he took a leading part in draughting 
the tariff bill of 1842. In 1844 Mr. Fill- 
more was the Whig candidate for governor 
of New York. In 1847 he was chosen 
comptroller of the state, and abandoning 
his practice and profession removed to Al- 
bany. In 1848 he was elected vice presi- 
dent on the ticket with General Zachary 
Taylor, and they were inaugurated the fol- 
lowing March. On the death of the presi- 
dent, July 9, 1850, Mr. Fillmore was in- 
ducted into that office. The great events 
of his administration were the passage of 
the famous compromise acts of 1850, and 
the sending out of the Japan expedition of 
1852. 

March 4, 1853, having served one term, 
President Fillmore retired from office, and 
in 1 85 5 went to Europe, where he received 
marked attention. On returning home, in 
1856, he was nominated for the presidency 
by the Native American or "Know-Noth- 
ing" party, but was defeated, Jam.es Buch- 
anan being the successful candidate. 

Mr. Fillmore ever afterward lived in re- 
tirement. During the conflict of Civil war 
he was mostly silent. It was generally sup- 
posed, however, that his sympathy was with 
the southern confederacy. He kept aloof 
from the conflict without any words of cheer 
to the one party or the other. For this rea- 
son he v.'as forgotten by both. He died of 
paralysis, in Buffalo, New York, March 8, 

1874- 

PETER F. ROTHERMEL, one of Amer- 
ica's greatest and best- known historical 
painters, was born in Luzerne county, Penn- 
sylvania, July 8, 1817, and was of German 
ancestry. He received his earlier education 
in his native county, and in Philadelphia 



114 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



learned the profession of land surveying. 
But a strong bias toward art drew him away 
and he soon opened a studib where he did 
portrait painting. This soon gave place to 
historical painting, he having discovered the 
bent of his genius in that direction. Be- 
sides the two pictures in the Capitol at 
Washington — ' 'DeSoto Discovering the Mis- 
sissippi" and "Patrick Henry Before the 
Virginia House of Burgesses" — Rothermel 
painted many others, chief among which 
are: "Columbus Before Queen Isabella," 
"Martyrs of the Colosseum," "Cromwell 
Breaking Up Service in an English Church," 
and the famous picture of the "Battle 
of Gettysburg." The last named was 
painted for the state of Pennsylvania, for 
which Rothermel received the sum of $25,- 
000, and which it took him four years to 
plan and to paint. It represents the portion 
of that historic field held by the First corps, 
an exclusively Pennsylvania body of men, 
and was selected by Rothermel for that 
reason. For many years most of his time 
was spent in Italy, only returning for short 
periods. He died at Philadelphia, August 
16, 1895. 

EDMUND KIRBY SMITH, one of the 
distinguished leaders upon the side of the 
south in the late Civil war, was born at St. 
Augustine, Florida, in 1824. After receiv- 
ing the usual education he was appointed to 
the United States Militarj' Academy at West 
Point, from which he graduated in 1845 and 
entered the army as second lieutenant of 
infantry. During the Mexican war he was 
made first lieutenant and captain for gallant 
conduct at Cerro Gordo and Contreras. 
From 1849 to 1852 he was assistant pro- 
fessor of mathematics at West Point. He 
was transferred to the Second cavalry with 
the rank of captain in 1855, served on the 



frontier, and was wounded in a fight with 
Comanche Indians in Texas, May 13, 1859. 
In January, 1861, he became major of his 
regiment, but resigned April 9th to fol- 
low the fortunes of the southern cause. 
He was appointed brigadier-general in the 
Confederate army and served in Virginia. 
At the battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, 
he arrived on the field late in the day, but 
was soon disabled by a wound. He was 
made major-general in 1862, and being trans- 
ferred to East Tennessee, was given com- 
mand of that department. Under General 
Braxton Bragg he led the advance in the 
invasion of Kentucky and defeated the Union 
forces at Richmond, Kentucky, August 30, 

1862, and advanced to Frankfort. Pro- 
moted to the rank of lieutenant-general, he 
was engaged at the battle of Perryville, 
October 10, and in the battle of Murfrees- 
boro, December 31, 1862, and January 3, 

1863. He was soon made general, the 
highest rank in the service, and in com- 
mand of the trans-Mississippi department 
opposed General N. P. Banks in the famous 
Red River expedition, taking part in the 
battle of Jenkins Ferry, April 30, 1S64, and 
other engagements of that eventful cam- 
paign. He was the last to surrender the 
forces under his command, which he did 
May 26, 1865. After the close of the war 
he located in Tennessee, where he died 
March 28, 1893. 



JOHN JAMES INGALLS, a famous 
American statesman, was born Decem- 
ber 29, 1833, at Middleton, Massachusetts, 
where he was reared and received his early 
education. He went to Kansas in 1858 
and joined the free-soil army, and a year 
after his arrival he was a member of the his- 
torical Wyandotte convention, which drafted 
a free-state constitution. In i860 he was 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



115 



made secretary of the territorial council, 
and in 1861 was secretary of the state sen- 
ate. The next year he was duly elected to 
the legitimate state senate from Atchison, 
where he had made his home. From that 
time he was the leader of the radical Re- 
publican element in the state. He became 
the editor of the " Atchison Champion " in 
1863, which was a "red-hot free-soil Re- 
publican organ." In 1862 he was the anti- 
Lane candidate for lieutenant-governor, but 
was defeated. He was elected to the Unit- 
ed States senate to succeed Senator Pom- 
eroy, and took his seat in the forty-third 
congress and served until the fiftieth. In 
the forty-ninth congress he succeeded Sen- 
ator Sherman as president pro tern., which 
position he held through the fiftieth con- 
gress. 

BENJAMIN WEST, the greatest of the 
early American painters, was of Eng- 
lish descent and Quaker parentage. He was 
born in Springfield, Pennsylvania, in 1738. 
From what source he inherited his genius it 
is hard to iinagine, since the tenets and 
tendencies of the Quaker faith were not cal- 
culated to encourage the genius of art, but 
at the age of nine years, with no suggestion 
except that of inspiration, we find him choos- 
ing his model from life, and laboring over 
his first work calculated to attract public 
notice. It was a representation of a sleep- 
ing child in its cradle. The brush with 
which he painted it was made of hairs 
which he plucked from the cat's tail, and 
the colors were obtained from the war paints 
of friendly Indians, his mother's indigo bag, 
and ground chalk and charcoal, and the juice 
of berries, but there were touches in the rude 
production that he declared in later days 
were a credit to his best works. The pic- 
ture attracted notice, for a council was 



called at once to pass upon the boy's con- 
duct in thus infringing the laws of the so- 
ciety. There were judges among them who 
saw in his genius a rare gift and their wis- 
dom prevailed, and the child was given per- 
mission to follow his inclination. He studied 
under a painter named Williams, and then 
spent some years as a portrait painter with 
advancing success. At the age of twenty- 
two he went to Italy, and not until he had 
perfected himself by twenty- three years of 
labor in that paradise of art was he satisfied 
to turn his face toward home. However, he 
stopped at London, and decided to settle 
there, sending to America for his intended 
bride to join him. Though the Revolution- 
ary war was raging. King George III showed 
the American artist the highest considera- 
tion and regard. His remuneration from 
works for royalty amounted to five thoU' 
sand dollars per year for thirty years. 

West's best known work in America is, 
perhaps, "The Death of General Wolf." 
West was one of the thirty-six original mem- 
bers of the Royal academy and succeeded 
Joshua Reynolds as president, which posi- 
tion he held until his death. His early 
works were his best, as he ceased to display 
originality in his later life, conventionality 
having seriously affected his efforts. He 
died in 1820. 



SAMUEL PORTER JONES, the famous 
Georgia evangelist, was born October 
16, 1847, in Chambers county, Alabama. 
He did not attend school regularly during 
his boyhood, but worked on a farm, and 
went to school at intervals, on account of 
ill health. His father removed to Carters- 
ville, Georgia, when Mr. Jones was a small 
boy. He quit school at the age of nineteen 
and never attended college. The war inter- 
fered with his education, which was intended 



116 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



to prepare him for the legal profession. 
After the war he renewed his preparation 
for college, but was compelled to desist from 
such a course, as his health failed him en- 
tirely. Later on, however, he still pursued 
his legal studies and was admitted to the 
bar. Soon after this event he went to Dal- 
las, Paulding county, Georgia, where he was 
engaged in the practice of his profession, 
and in a few months removed to Cherokee 
county, Alabama, where he taught school. 
In 1869 he returned to Cartersvilie, Georgia, 
and arrived in time to see his father die. 
Immediately after this event he applied for 
a license to preach, and went to Atlanta, 
Georgia, to the meeting of the North Geor- 
gia Conference of the M. E. church south, 
which received him on trial. He became 
an evangelist of great note, and traveled 
extensively, delivering his sermons in an 
inimitable style that made him very popular 
with the masses, his methods of conducting 
revivals being unique and original and his 
preaching practical and incisive. 



SHELBY MOORE CULLOM, a national 
character in political affairs and for 
many years United States senator from 
Illinois, was born November 22, 1829, at 
Monticello, Kentucky. He came with his 
parents to Illinois in 1830 and spent his early 
yearson alarm, but havingformed the purpose 
of devoting himself to the lawyer's profession 
he spent two years study at the Rock River 
seminary atMount Morris, Illinois. In 1853 
Mr. Cullom entered the law office of Stuart 
and Edwards at Springfield, Illinois, and two 
years later he began the independent prac- 
tice of law in that city. He took an active 
interest in politics and was soon elected city 
attorney of Springfield. In 1856 he was 
elected a member of the Illinois house of 
representatives. He identified himself with 



the newly formed Republican party and in 
i860 was re-elected to the legislature of his 
state, in which he was chosen speaker of the 
house. In 1862 President Lincoln appoint- 
ed a commission to pass upon and examine 
the accounts of the United States quarter- 
masters and disbursing officers, composed 
as follows: Shelby M. Cullom, of Illinois; 
Charles A. Dana, of New York, and 
Gov. Boutwell, of Massachusetts. Mr. 
Cullom was nominated for congress in 
1864, and was elected by a majority of 
1,785. In the house of representatives he 
became an active and aggressive member, 
was chairman of the committee on territories 
and served in congress until 1868. Mr. 
Cullom was returned to the state legislature, 
of which he was chosen speaker in 1872, 
and was re-elected in 1874. In 1876 he 
was elected governor of Illinois and at the 
end of his term he was chosen for a second 
term. He was elected United States senator 
in 1883 and twice re-elected. 



RICHARD JORDAN CATLING, an 
American inventor of much note, was 
born in Hertford county, North Carolina. 
September 12, 1 818. At an early age he 
gave promise of an inventive genius. The 
first emanation from his mind was the 
invention of a screw for the propulsion oi 
water craft, but on application for a 
patent, found that he was forestalled but 
a short time by John Ericsson. Subse- 
quently he invented a machine for sowing 
wheat in drills, which was used to a great 
extent throughout the west. He then stud- 
ied medicine, and in 1S47-8 attended 
lectures at the Indiana Medical College 
at Laporte, and in 184S-9 at the Ohio 
Medical College at Cincinnati. He later 
discovered a method of transmitting power 
I through the medium of compressed air. i\ 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



119- 



double-acting hemp break was also invented 
by him. The invention, however, by which 
Dr. Gatling became best known was the 
famous machine gun which bears his name. 
This he brought to light in 1861-62, and on 
the first trial of it, in the spring of the latter 
year, two hundred shots per minute were 
fired from it. After making some improve- 
ments which increased its efficiency, it was 
submitted to severe trials by our govern- 
ment at the arsenals at Frankfort, Wash- 
ington and Fortress Monroe, and at other 
points. The gun was finally adopted by 
our government, as well as by that of Great 
Britain, Russia and others. 



BENJAMIN RYAN TILLMAN, who won 
a national fame in politics, was born 
August II, 1847, in Edgefield county. South 
Carolina. He received his education in the 
Oldfield school, where he acquired the 
rudiments of Latin and Greek, in addition 
to a good English education. He left school 
in 1864 to join the Confederate army, but 
was prevented from doing so by a severe 
illness, which resulted in the loss of an eye. 
In 1867 he removed to Florida, but returned 
in 1868, when he was married and devoted 
himself to farming. He was chairman of 
the Democratic organization of his county, 
but except a few occasional services he took 
no active part in politics then. Gradually, 
however, his attention was directed to the 
depressed condition of the farming interests 
of his state, and in August, 1S85, before a 
joint meeting of the agricultural society and 
state grange at Bennettsville, he made a 
speech in which he set forth the cause of 
agricultural depression and urged measures 
of relief. From his active interest in the 
farming class he was styled the " Agricult- 
ural Moses." He advocated an industrial 

school for women and for a separate agri- 
7 



cultural college, and in 1887 he secured a 
modification in the final draft of the will of 
Thomas G. Clemson, which resulted in the 
erection of the Clemson Agricultural Col- 
lege at Fort Hill. In 1890 he was chosen 
governor on the Democratic ticket, and 
carried the election by a large majority. 
Governor Tillman was inaugurated Decem- 
ber 4, 1890. Mr. Tillman was next elected 
to the United States senate from South 
Carolina, and gained a national reputation 
by his fervid oratory. 



GEORGE DENISON PRENTICE. — 
No journalist of America was so cele- 
brated in his time for the wit, spice, and 
vigor of his writing, as the gentleman whose 
name heads this sketch. From Atlantic to- 
Pacific he was well known by his witticism 
as well as by strength and force of his edi- 
torials. He was a native of Preston, Con- 
necticut, born December 18, 1802. After 
laying the foundation of a liberal education 
in his youth, he entered Brown University, 
from which he was graduated in 1823. Tak- 
ing up the study of law, he was admitted to- 
the bar in 1829. During part of his time 
he was editor of the " New England Weekly 
Review," a position which he relinquished 
to go south and was succeeded by John 
Greenleaf Whittier, the Quaker poet. 

On arriving in Louisville, whither he 
had gone to gather items for his history of 
Henry Clay, Mr. Prentice became identified 
with the " Louisville Journal," which, under 
his hands, became one of the leading Wliig 
newspapers of the country. At the head of 
this he remained until the day of his death. 
This latter event occurred January 22, 1870, 
3nd he was succeeded in the control of the 
" Journal " by Colonel Henry Watterson. 

Mr. Prentice was an author of consider- 
able celebrity, chief among his works being; 



120 



COMPEXDILM OF BIOGRAPJIV 



"The Life of Henry Clay," and "Prentice- 
ana," a collection of wit and humor, that 
passed through several large editions. 



SAM. HOUSTON, in the opinion of some 
critics one of the most remarkable men 
who ever figured in American history, was a 
native of Rockbridge county, Virginia, born 
March 2, 1793. Early in life he was left in 
destitute circumstances by the death of his 
father, and, with his mother, removed to 
Tennessee, then almost a boundless wilder- 
ness. He received but little education, 
spending the most of his time among the 
Cherokee Indians. Part of the time of his 
residence there Houston acted as clerk for a 
trader and also taught one of the primitive 
•schools of the day. In 181 3 he enlisted as 
private in the United States army and was 
engaged under General Jackson in the war 
with the Creek Indians. When peace was 
made Houston was a lieutenant, but he re- 
signed his commission and commenced the 
^tudy of law at Nashville. After holding 
some minor offices he was elected member 
of congress from Tennessee. This was in 
1823. He retained this office until 1827, 
when he was chosen governor of the state. 
In 1S29, resigning that office before the ex- 
piration of his term, Sam Houston removed 
to Arkansas, and made his home among the 
Cherokees, becoming the agent of that 
tribe and representing their interests at 
Washington. On a visit to Te.xas, just 
prior to the election of delegates to a con- 
vention called for the purpose of drawing 
up a constitution previous to the admission 
of the state into the Mexican union, he was 
unanimously chosen a delegate. The con- 
vention framed the constitution, but, it be- 
ing rejected by the government of Mexico, 
and the petition for admission to the Con- 
federacy denied and the Texans told by the 



president of the Mexican union to give up 
their arms, bred trouble. It was determined 
to resist this demand. A military force was 
soon organized, with General Houston at 
the head of it. War was prosecuted with 
great vigor, and with var3ing success, but 
at the battle of San Jacinto, April 2 1 , i S36, 
the Mexicans were defeated and their leader 
and president, Santa Anna, captured. Texas 
was then proclaimed an independent repub- 
lic, and in October of the same year Hous- 
ton was inaugurated president. On the ad- 
mission of Texas to the Federal Union, in 
1845, Houston was elected senator, and 
held that position for twelve years. Oppos- 
ing the idea of secession, he retired from 
political life in 1861, and died at Hunts- 
ville, Texas, July 25, 186.3. 



ELI WHITNEY, the inventor of the cot- 
ton-gin, was born in Westborough, Mas- 
sachusetts, December 8, 1765. After his 
graduation from Yale College, he went to 
Georgia, where he studied law, and lived 
with the family of the widow of General 
Nathaniel Greene. At that time the only 
way known to separate the cotton seed from 
the fiber was by hand, making it extremely 
slow and expensive, and for this reason cot- 
ton was little cultivated in this country. 
Mrs. Greene urged the inventive Whitney 
to devise some means for accomplishing 
this work by machinery. This he finally 
succeeded in doing, but he was harassed by 
attempts to defraud him by those who had 
stolen his ideas. He at last formed a part- 
nership with a man named Miller, and they 
began the manufacture of the machines at 
Washington, Georgia, in 1795. The suc- 
cess of his invention was immediate, and the 
legislature of South Carolina voted the sum 
of $50,000 for his idea. This sum he had 
great difficulty in collecting, after years of 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRArHT. 



121 



litigation and delay. North Carolina al- 
lowed him a royalt}', and the same was 
agreed to by Tennessee, but was never paid. 

While his fame rests upon the invention 
cf tiie cotton-gin, his fortune came from his 
improvemeiits in the manufacture and con- 
struction of firearms. In 1798 the United 
States government gave him a contract for 
this purpose, and he accumulated a fortune 
from it. The town of Whitneyvillc, Con- 
necticut, was founded by this fortune. 
Whitney died at New Haven, Connecticut, 
January 8, 1825. 

The cotton-gin made the cultivation of 
cotton profitable, and this led to rapid in- 
troduction of slavery in the south. His in- 
vention thus affected our national history in 
a manner little dreamed of by the inventor. 



LESTER WALLACK (John Lester Wal- 
lack), for many years the leading light 
comedian upon the American stage, was 
the son of James W. Wallack, the " Brum- 
mell of the Stage." Both father and son 
were noted for their comeliness of feature 
and form. Lester Wallack was born in 
New York, January i, 18 19. He received 
his education in England, and made his first 
appearance on the stage in 1848 at the New 
Broadway theater, New York. He acted 
light comedy parts, and also occasion- 
ally in romantic plays like Monte Ciisto, 
which play made him his fame. He went 
to England and played under management 
of such men as Hamblin and Burton, and then 
returned to New York with his father, who 
opened the first Wallack's theater, at the 
corner of Broome and Broadway, in 1852. 
The location was afterward changed to 
Thirteenth and Broadway, in 1861, and 
later to its present location, Broadway and 
Thirteenth, in 1S82. The elder W'ailack 
died in 1S64, after which Lester assumed 



management, jointly with Theodore Moss. 
Lester Wallack was commissioned in the 
queen's service while in England, and there 
he also married a sister to the famous artist, 
the late John Everett Millais. While Les- 
ter Wallack never played in the interior 
cities, his name was as familiar to the public 
as that of our greatest stars. He died Sep- 
tem.ber 6, 18S8, at Stamford, Connecticut. 



GEORGE MORTIMER PULLMAN, 
the palace car magnate, inventor, 
multi-millionaire and manufacturer, may 
well be classed among the remarkable 
self-made men of the century. He was 
born March 3, 1831, in Chautauqua county, 
New York. His parents were poor, and 
his education was limited to what he could 
learn of the rudimentary branches in the 
district school. At the age of fourteen lie 
went to work as clerk for a couiitrj' mer- 
chant. He kept this place three years, 
studying at night. When seventeen he 
went to Albion, New York, and worked fir 
his brother, who kept a cabinet shop there. 
Five years later he went into business for 
himself as contractor for moving buildings 
along the line of the Erie canal, which was 
then being widened by the state, and was 
successful in this. In 1858 he removed to 
Chicago and engaged in the business of 
moving and raising houses. The work was 
novel there then and he was quite success- 
ful. About this time the discomfort attend- 
ant on traveling at night attracted his at- 
tention. He reasoned that the public would 
gladly pay for comfortable sleeping accom- 
modations. A few sleeping cars were in 
use at that time, but they were wretchedly 
crude, uncomtortahle affairs. In 1S59 he 
bought two old day coaches from the Chi- 
cago & Alton road and reinodeled them some- 
thing like the general plan of the sleeping- 



122 



COMPEXniCM OF BIOGRAPIir. 



cars of the present day. They were put 
into service on the Chicago & Alton and 
became popular at once. In 1863 he built 
the first sleeping-car resembling the Pullman 
cars of to-day. It cost $18,000 and was 
the "Pioneer." After that the Pullman 
Palace Car Company prospered. It had 
shops at different cities. In 1880 the Town 
of Pullman was founded by Mr. Pullman 
and his compan}', and this model manufac- 
turing community is known all over the 
world. Mr. Pullman died October 19, 1897. 



JAMES E. B. STUART, the most famous 
cavalry leader of the Southern Confed- 
eracy during the Civil war, was born in 
Patrick county, Virginia, in 1833. On 
graduating from the United States Military 
Academy, West Point, in 1854, he was as- 
signed, as second lieutenant, to a regiment 
of mounted rifies, receiving his commission 
in October. In March, 1855, he was trans- 
ferred to the newly organized First cavalry, 
and was promoted to first lieutenant the 
following December, and to captain April 
22, 1 86 1. Taking the side of the south, 
May 14, 1 86 1, he was made colonel of a 
Virginia cavalry regiment, and served as 
such at Bull Run. In September, 1861, he 
was promoted to the rank of brigadier-gen- 
eral, and major-general early in 1862. On 
the reorganization of the Army of Northern 
Virginia, in June of the latter year, when 
R. E. Lee assumed command. General Stu- 
art made a reconnoissance with one thou- 
sand five hundred cavalry and four guns, 
and in two days made the circuit of McClei- 
lan's army, producing much confusion and 
gathering useful information, and losing but 
one man. August 25, 1862, he captured 
part of Pope's headquarters' train, including 
that general's private baggage and official 
correspondence, and the next night, in a 



descent upon Manasses, capturing immense 
quantities of commissary and quartermaster 
store, eight guns, a number of locomotives 
and a few hundred prisoners. During the 
invasion of Maryland, in September, 1862, 
General Stuart acted as rearguard, resisting 
the advance of the Federal cavalry at South 
Mountain, and at Antietam commanded the 
Confederate left. Shortl)' after he crossed 
the Potomac, making a raid as far as Cham- 
bersburg, Pennsylvania. In the battle of 
Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, Gen- 
eral Stuart's command was on the extreme 
right of the Confederate line. At Chancel- 
lorsville, after "Stonewall " Jackson's death 
and the wounding of Gereral A. P. Hill, 
General Stuart assumed command of Jack- 
son's corps, which he led in the severe con- 
test of May 3, 1863. Earl}' in June, the 
same year, a large force of cavalry was 
gathered under Stuart, at Culpepper, Vir- 
ginia, which, advancing to join General Lee 
in his invasion of Pennsylvania, was met at 
Brandy Station, by two divisions of cavalry 
and two brigades of infantry, under General 
John I. Gregg, and driven back. During the 
movements of the Gettj'sburg campaign he 
rendered important services. In May, 1864, 
General Stuart succeeded, by a detour, in 
placing himself between Richmond and 
Sheridan's advancing column, and at Yellow 
Tavern was attacked in force. During the 
fierce conflict that ensued General Stuart 
was mortally wounded, and died at Rich- 
mond, May 1 1, 1864. 



FRANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth 
president of the United States — from 
1853 until 1857 — was born November 23, 
1804, at Hillsboro, New Hampshire. He 
came of old revolutionary stock and his 
father was a governor of the state. Mr. 
Pierce entered Bowdoin College in 1820, 



COMPENDIUM or BIOGRArHT. 



123 



was graduated in 1824, and took up the 
study of law in the office of Judge Wood- 
bury, and later he was admitted to the bar. 
Mr. Pierce practiced his profession with 
varying successes in his native town and 
also in Concord. He was elected to the 
state legislature in 1833 and served in that 
body until 1837, the last two years of his 
term serving as speaker of the house. He 
was elected to the United States senate in 
1837, just as President Van Buren began 
his term of office. Mr. Pierce served until 
1842, and many times during Polk's term he 
declined important public offices. During 
the war with Mexico Mr. Pierce was ap- 
pointed brigadier-general, and he embarked 
with a portion of his troops at Newport, 
Rhode Island, May 27, 1847, and went with 
them to the field of battle. He served 
through the war and distinguished himself 
by his skill, bravery and excellent judg- 
ment. When he reached his home in his 
native state he was received coldly by the 
opponents of the. war, but the advocates of 
the war made up for his cold reception by 
the enthusiastic welcome which they ac- 
corded him. Mr. Pierce resumed the prac- 
tice of his profession, and in the political 
strife that followed he gave his support to 
the pro- slavery wing of the Democratic 
party. The Democratic convention met in 
Baltimore, June 12, 1852, to nominate a 
candidate for the presidency, and they con- 
tinued in session four daj's, and in thirty- 
five ballotings no one had secured the re- 
quisite two-thirds vote. Mr. Pierce had not 
received a vote as yet, until the Virginia 
delegation brought his name forward, and 
finally on the forty-ninth ballot Mr, Pierce 
received 282 votes and all the other candi- 
dates eleven. His opponent on the Whig 
ticket was General Winfield Scott, who 
only received the electoral votes of four 



states. Mr. Pierce was inaugurated presi- 
dent of the United States March 4, 1853, 
with W^ R. King as vice president, and the 
following named gentlemen were afterward 
chosen to fill the positions in the cabinet: 
William S. Marcy, James Guthrie, Jeffer- 
son Davis, James C. Dobbin, Robert Mc- 
Clelland, James Campbell and Caleb Gush- 
ing. During the administration of President 
Pierce the Missouri compromise law was 
repealed, and all the territories of the Union 
were thrown open to slavery, and the dis- 
turbances in Kansas occurred. In 1857 he 
was succeeded in the presidency by James 
Buchanan, and retired to his home in Con- 
cord, New Hampshire. He always cherished 
his principles of slavery, and at the out- 
break of the rebellion he was an adherent of 
the cause of the Confederacy. He died at 
Concord, New Hampshire, October 8, 1869. 



JAMES B. WEAVER, well known as a 
<J leader of the Greenback and later of the 
Populist party, was born at Dayton, Ohio, 
June 12, 1833. He received his earlier 
education in the schools of his native town, 
and entered the law department of the Ohio 
University, at Cincinnati, from which he 
graduated in 1854. Removing to the grow- 
ing state of Iowa, he became connected 
with "The Iowa Tribune," at the state 
capital, Des Moines, as one of its editors. 
He afterward practiced law and was elected 
district attorney for the second judicial dis- 
trict of Iowa, on the Republican ticket in 
1866, which office he held for a short time. 
In 1867 Mr. Weaver was appointed assessor 
of internal revenue for the first district of 
Iowa, and filled that position until some- 
time in 1S73. He was elected and served 
in the forty-sixth congress. In 1880 the 
National or Greenback party in convention 
at Chicago, nominated James B. Weaver as 



121 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



its candidate for the presidency. By a 
union of the Democratic and National 
parties in his district, he was elected to the 
forty-ninth congress, and re-elected to the 
same office in the fall of 1886. Mr. Weaver 
was conceded to be a very fluent speaker, 
and quite active in all political work. On 
July 4, 1892, at the National convention 
of the People's party, General James B. 
Weaver was chosen as the candidate for 
president of that organization, and during 
the campaign that followed, gained a na- 
tional reputation. 



ANTHONY JOSEPH DREXEL, one 
of the leading bankers and financiers of 
the United States, was born in Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, in 1826, and was the son of 
Francis M. Drexel, who had established 
the large banking institution of Drexel & 
Co., so well known. Tlie latter was a native 
of Dornbirn, in the Austrian Tyrol. He 
studied languages and fine arts at Turin, 
Italy. On returning to his mountain home, 
in 1809, and finding it in the hands of the 
French, he went to Switzerland and later 
to Paris. In 18 12, after a short visit home, 
he went to Berlin, where he studied paint- 
ing until 1S17, in which year he emigrated 
io America, and settled in Philadelphia. A 
few years later he went to Chili and Peru,' 
where he executed some fine portraits of 
notable people, including General Simon 
Bolivar. After spending some time in Mex- 
ico, he returned to Philadelphia, and en- 
gaged in the banking business. In 1837 he 
founded the house of Drexel & Co. He 
died in 1837, and was succeeded by his two 
sons, Anthony J. and Francis A. His son, 
Anthony J. Drexel, Jr. , entered the bank 
when he was thirteen years of age, before he 
was through with his schooling, and after 
that the history of the banking business of 



which he was the head, was the history of his 
life. The New York house of Drexel, Mor- 
gan & Co. was established in 1850; the 
Paris house, Drexel, Harjes & Co., in 1867. 
The Drexel banking houses have supplied 
iand placed hundreds of millions of dollars 
n government, corporation,- railroad and 
other loans and securities. The reputation 
of the houses has always been held on the 
highest plane. Mr. Drexel founded and 
heavily endowed the Drexel Institute, in 
Philadelphia, an institution to furnish better 
and wider avenues of employment to young 
people of both sexes. It has departments 
of arts, science, mechanical arts and domes- 
tic economy. Mr. Drexel, Jr. .departed this 
life June 30, 1893. 



SAMUEL FINLEY BREESE MORSE, 
inventor of the recording telegraph in- 
strument, was born in Charlestown, Massa- 
chusetts, April 27, 1791. He graduated 
from Yale College in 18 10, and took up art 
as his profession. He went to London with 
the great American painter, Washington 
Allston, and studied in the Royal Academy 
under Benjamin West. His "Dying Her- 
cules," his first effort in sculpture, took the 
gold medal in 18 13. He returned to Amer- 
ica in 181 5 and continued to pursue his 
profession. He was greatly interested in 
scientific studies, which he carried on in 
connection with other labors. He founded 
the National Academy of Design and was 
many years its president. He returned to 
Europe and spent three years in study 
in the art centers, Rome. Florence, Venice 
and Paris. In 1832 he returned to America 
and while on the return voyage the idea of 
a recording telegraph apparatus occurred to 
him, and he made a drawing to represent his 
conception. He was the first to occupy the 
chair of fine arts in the University of New 



ccurPExnicM of bioc.j^aphi'. 



125 



"V'ork City, and in 1835 he set up his rude 
instrument in his room in the university. 
But it was not until after many years of 
discouragement and reverses of fortune that 
he finally was successful in placing his inven- 
tion before the public. In 1S44, by aid of 
the United States government, i;e had con- 
structed a telegraph line forty miles in length 
from Washington to Baltimore. Over this 
line the test was niade, and the first tele- 
graphic message was flashed May 24, 1844, 
from the United States supreme court rooms 
^ to Baltimore. It read, "What hath God 
wrought!" His fame and fortune were e?- 
tahiished in an instant. Wealth and honors 
fjoured in upon him from that day. The 
nations of Europe vied with each otlier 
in honoring the great inventor with medals, 
titles and decorations, and the learned 
societies of Europe hastened to enroll his 
name upon their membership lists and confer 
degrees. In 1858 he was the recipient of an 
honor never accorded to an inventor before. 
The ten leading nations of Europe, at the 
suggestion of the Emporer Napoleon, ap- 
pointed representatives to an international 
congress, which convened at Paris for the 
special purpose of expressing gratitude of the 
nations, and they voted him a present of 
400,000 francs. 

Professor Morse was present at the unveil- 
ing of a bronze statue erected in his honor in 
Central Park, New York, in 1871. His last 
appearance in public was at the unveiling 
of the statue of Benjamin Franklin in New 
York in 1872, when he made the dedica- 
tory speech and unveiled the statue. He 
died April 2, 1872, in the city of New York. 



MORRISO 
chief jus 



ORRISON REMICH WAITE, seventh 
jstice of the United States, was 
born at Lyme, Connecticut, November 29, 
1816. He was a graduate from Yale Col- 



lege in 1837, in the class with \^'illiam M. 
Evarts. His father was judge of the su- 
preme court of errors of the state of Con- 
necticut, and in his office • young Waite 
studied law. He subsequently rem.oved to 
Ohio, and was elected to the legislature of 
that state in 1849. He removed from 
Maumee City to Toledo and became a prom- 
inent legal light in that state. He was 
nominated as a candidate for congress re- 
peatedly but declined to run, and also de- 
clined a place on the supreme bench of the 
state. He won great distinction for his able 
handling of the Alabama claims at Geneva, 
before the arbitration tribunal in 1871, and 
was appointed chief justice of the supreme 
court of the United States in 1874 on the 
death of Judge Chase. When, in 1876, elec- 
toral commissioners were chosen to decide 
the presidential election controversy between 
Tilden and Hayes, Judge Waite refused to 
serve on that commission. 

His death occurred March 23, 1888. 



ELISHA KENT KANE was one of the- 
distinguished American explorers of the 
unknown regions of the frozen north, and 
gave to the world a more accurate knowl- 
edge of the Arctic zone. Dr. Kane was 
born February 3, 1820, at Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania. He was a graduate of the 
universities of Virginia and Pennsylvania, 
and took his medical degree in 1843. He 
entered the service of the United States 
navy, and was physician to the Chinese 
embassy. Dr. Kane traveled extensively 
in the Levant, Asia and Western Africa, 
and also served in the Mexican war, in 
which he was severely wounded. His 
first Arctic expedition was under De Haven 
in the first Grinnell expedition in search 
of Sir John Franklin in 1850. He com- 
manded the second Grinnell expedition 



126 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



in 1853-55, and discovered an open polar 
sea. For this expedition he received a gold 
medal and other distinctions. He published 
a narrative of his first polar expedition in 
1853, and in 1856 published two volumes 
relating to his second polar expedition. He 
was a man of active, enterprising and cour- 
ageous spirit. His health, which was al- 
ways delicate, was impaired by the hard- 
ships of his Arctic expeditions, from which 
he never fully recovered and from which he 
died February 16, 1857, at Havana. 



ELIZABETH CADY STANTON was a 
daughter of Judge Daniel Cady and 
Margaret Livingston, and was born Novem- 
ber 12, 1815, at Johnstown, New York. She 
was educated at the Johnstown Academy, 
where she studied with a class of boys, and 
was fitted for college at the age of fifteen, 
after which she pursued her studies at Mrs. 
Willard's Seminary, at Troy. Her atten- 
tion was called to the disabilities of her sex 
by her own educational experiences, and 
through a study of Blackstone, Story, and 
Kent. Miss Cady was married to Henry B. 
Stanton in 1840, and accompanied him to 
the world's anti-slavery convention in Lon- 
don. While there she made the acquain- 
tance of Lucretia Mott. Mrs. Stanton 
resided at Boston until 1S47, when the 
family moved to Seneca Falls, New York, 
and she and Lucretia Mott signed the first 
call for a woman's rights convention. The 
meeting was held at her place of residence 
July 19-20, 1848. This was the first oc- 
casion of a formal claim of suffrage for 
women that was made. Mrs. Stanton ad- 
dressed the Nev/ York legislature, in 1854, 
on the rights of married women, and in 
i860, in advocacy of the granting of di- 
vorce for drunkenness. She also addressed 
the legislature and the constitutional con- 



vention, and maintained that during the 
revision of the constitution the state was 
resolved into its original elements, and that 
all citizens had, therefore, a right to vote 
for the members of that convention. After 
1869 Mrs. Stanton frequently addressed 
congressional committees and state consti- 
tutional conventions, and she canvassed 
Kansas, Michigan, and other states when 
the question of woman suffrage was sub- 
mitted in those states. Mrs. Stanton was 
one of the editors of the " Revolution," and 
most of the calls and resolutions for con- , 
ventions have come from her pen. She 
was president of the national committee, 
also of the Woman's Loyal League, and 
of the National Association, for many years. 



DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, a great 
American jurist, was born in Connecti- 
cut in 1S05. He entered Williams College 
when sixteen years old, and cunmienced tiie 
study of law in 1825. In 1828 he was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and went to New York, 
where he soon came into prominence be- 
fore the bar of that state. He entered upon 
the labor of reforming the practice and 
procedure, which was then based upon the 
common law practice of England, and had 
become extremely complicated, difficult and 
uncertain in its application. His first paper 
on this subject was published in 1S39, and 
after eight years of continuous efforts in this 
direction, he was appointed one of a com- 
mission by New York to reform the practice 
of that state. The result was embodied in 
the two codes of procedure, civil and crimi- 
nal, the first of wliich was adopted almost 
entire by the state of New York, and has 
since been adopted by more than half the 
states in the Union, and became the basis 
of the new practice and procedure in Eng- 
land, contained in the Judicature act. He 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



127 



was later appointed chairman of a new com- 
mission to codify the entire body of laws. 
This great work employed many years in its 
completion, but when finished it embraced 
a civil, penal, and political code, covering 
the entire field of American laws, statutory 
and common. This great body of law was 
adopted by California and Dakota territory 
in its entirety, and many other states have 
since adopted its substance. In 1867 the 
British Association for Social Science heard 
a proposition from Mr. Field to prepare an 
international code. This led to the prepara- 
tion of his " Draft Outlines of an Interna- 
tional Code," which was in fact a complete 
body of international laws, and introduced 
the principle of arbitration. Other of his 
codes of the state of New York have since 
been adopted by that state. 

In addition to his great works on law, 
Mr. Field indulged his literary tastes by fre- 
quent contributions to general literature, 
and his articles on travels, literature, and 
the political questions of the hour gave 
him rank with the best writers of his time. 
His father was the Rev. David Dudley Field, 
and his brothers were Cyrus \\\ Field, Rev. 
Henry Martin Field, and Justice Stephen 
J. Field of the United States supreme 
court. David Dudley Field died at New 
York, April 1 3, 1894. 



HENRY M. TELLER, a celebrated 
American politician, and secretary of 
the interior under President Arthur, was born 
May 23, 1830, in Allegany county. New 
York. He was of Hollandish ancestry and 
received an excellent education, after which 
he took up the study of law and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in the state of New York. 
Mr. Teller removed to Illinois in January, 
1858, and practiced for three jears in that 
state. From thence he moved to Colorado 



in 1 86 1 and located at Central City, which 
was then one of the principal mining towns 
in the state. His exceptional abilities as 
a lawyer soon brought him into prominence 
and gained for him a numerous and proflt- 
able clientage. In politics he affiliated with 
the Republican party, but declined to become 
a candidate for office until the admission of 
Colorado into the Union as a state, when 
he was elected to the United States senate. 
Mr. Teller drew the term ending March 
4, 1877, but was re-elected December 11, 
1876, and served until April 17, 1882, when 
he was appointed by President Arthur as 
secretary of the interior. He accepted a 
cabinet position with reluctance, and on 
March 3, 1885, he retired from the cabinet, 
having been elected to the senate a short 
time before to succeed Nathaniel P. Hill. 
Mr. Teller took his seat on March 4, 1885, 
in the senate, to which he was afterward 
re-elected. He served as chairman on the 
co/nmittee of pensions, patents, mines and 
mining, and was also a member of commit- 
tees on claims, railroads, privileges and 
elections and public lands. Mr. Teller came 
to be recognized as one of the ablest advo- 
cates of the silver cause. He was one of the 
delegates to the Republican National conven- 
tion at St. Louis in 1896, in which he took 
an active part and tried to have a silver 
plank inserted in the platform of the party. 
Failing in this he felt impelled to bolt the 
convention, which he did and joined forces 
with the great silver movement in the cam- 
paign which followed, being recognized in 
that campaign as one of the most able and 
eminent advocates of "silver" in America. 



JOHN ERICSSON, an eminent inven- 
tor and machinist, who won fame in 
America, was born in Sweden, July 31,1 803. 
In early childhood he evinced a decided in- 



128 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPH2'. 



clination to mechanical pursuits, and at the 
age of eleven he was appointed to a cadet- 
ship in the enj^ineer corps, and at the age of 
seventeen was promoted to a lieutenancy. 
In 1826 he introduced a "flame engine," 
which he had invented, and offered it to 
English capitalists, but it was found that it 
could be operated only by the use of wood 
for fnel. Shortly after this he resigned his 
commission in the army of Sweden, and de- 
voted himself to mechanical pursuits. He 
discovered and introduced the principle of 
artificial draughts in steam boilers, and re- 
ceived a prize of two thousand five hundred 
dollars for his locomotive, the "Novelty," 
which attained a great speed, for that day. 
The artificial draught effected a great saving 
in fuel and made unnecessary the huge 
smoke-stacks formerly used, and the princi- 
ple is still applied, in modified form, in boil 
ers. He also invented a steam fire-engine, 
and later a hot-air engine, which he at- 
tempted to apply in the operation of his 
ship, "Ericsson," but as it did not give the 
speed required, he abandoned it, but after- 
wards applied it to machinery for pumping, 
hoisting, etc. 

Ericsson was first to apply the screw 
propeller to navigation. The English peo- 
ple not receiving this new departure readily, 
Ericsson came to America in 1839, and 
built the United States steamer, "Prince- 
ton," in which the screw-propeller was util- 
ized, the first steamer ever built in which 
the propeller was under water, out of range 
of the enemy's shots. The achievement 
which gave him greatest renown, however, 
was the ironclad vessel, the "Monitor," an 
cr.tirely new t)pe of vessel, which, in March, 
1862, attacked the Confederate monster 
ironclad ram, "Virginia," and after a fierce 
struggle, compelled her to withdraw from 
Hampton Roads for repairs. After the war 



one of his most noted inventions was his 
vessel, " Destroyer, " with a submarine gun, 
which carried a projectile torpedo. In 1886 
the king of Spain conferred on him the 
grand cross of the Order of Naval Merit. 
He died in March, 18S9, and his body was 
transferred, with naval honors, to the country 
of his birth. 

JAMES BUCHANAN, the fifteenth presi- 
dent of the United States, was a native 
of Pennsylvania, and was born in Franklin 
county, April 23, 1791. He was of Irish 
ancestry, his father having come to this 
country in 1783, in quite humble circum- 
stances, and settled in the western part of 
the Keystone state. 

James Buchanan remained in his se- 
cluded home for eight years, enjoying but 
few social or intellectual advantages. His 
parents were industrious and frugal, and 
prospered, and, in 1799, the family removed 
to Mercersbur Pennsylvania, where he 
was placed in school. His progress was 
rapid, and in 1801 he entered Dickinson 
College, at Carlisle, where he took his place 
arhong the best scholars in the institution. 
In 1809 he graduated with the highest hon- 
ors in his class. He was then eighteen, tall, 
graceful and in vigorous health. He com- 
menced the study of law at Lancaster, and 
was admitted to the bar in 18 12. He rose 
very rapidly in his profession and took a 
stand with the ablest of his fellow lawyers. 
When but twenty-six years old he success- 
fully defended, unaided by counsel, one of 
the judges of the state who was before the 
bar of the state senate under articles of im- 
peachment. 

During the war of 1812-15, Mr. Buch- 
anan sustained the government with all his 
power, eloquently urging the vigorous prose- 
cution of the war, and enlisted as a private 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



129 



volunteer to assist in repelling the British 
who had sacked and burned the public 
buildings of Washington and threatened 
Baltimore. At that time Buchanan was 
a Federalist, but the opposition of that 
party to the war with Great Britain and the 
alien and sedition laws of John Adams, 
brought that party into disrepute, and drove 
many, among them Buchanan, into the Re- 
publican, or anti-Federalist Tanks. He was 
elected to congress in 1828. In 1831 he 
was sent as minister to Russia, and upon 
his return to this country, in 1833, was ele- 
vated to the United States senate, and re- 
mained in that position for twelve years. 
Upon the accession of President Polk to 
office he made Mr. Buchanan secretary of 
state. Four years later he retired to pri- 
vate life, and in 1853 he was honored with 
the mission to England. In 1856 the na- 
tional Democratic convention nominated 
him for the presidency and he was elected. 
It was during his administration that the 
rising tide of the secession movement over- 
took the country. Mr. Buchanan declared 
that the national constitution gave him no 
power to do anything against the movement 
to break up the Union. After his succession 
by Abraham Lincoln in i860, Mr. Buchanan 
retired to his home at Wiieatland, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he died June i, 1868. 



JOHN HARVARD, the founder of the 
Harvard University, was born in Eng- 
land about the year 1608. He received his 
education at Emanuel College, Cambridge, 
and came to America in 1637, settling in 
Massachusetts. He was a non-conformist 
minister, and a tract of land was set aside 
for him in Charlestown, near Boston He 
was at once appointed one of a committee to 
formulate a body of laws for the colony. 
One year before his arrival in the colony 



the general court had voted the sum of four 
hundred pounds toward the establishment of 
a school or college, half of which was to be 
paid the next year In 1637 preliminary 
plans were made for starting the school. In 
1638 John Harvard, who had shown great 
interest in the new institution of learning 
proposed, died, leaving his entire property, 
about twice the sum originally voted, to the 
school, together with three hundred volumes 
as a nucleus for a library. The institution 
was then given the name of Harvard, and 
established at Newton (now Cambridge), 
Massachusetts. It grew to be one of the two 
principal seats of learning in the new world, 
and has maintained its reputation since. It 
now consists of twenty-two separate build- 
ings, and its curriculum embraces over one 
hundred and seventy elective courses, and it 
ranks among the great universities of the 
world. 

ROGER BROOKE TANEY, a noted 
jurist and chief justice of the United 
States supreme court, was born in Calvert 
county, Maryland, March 17, 1777. He 
graduated fiom Dickinson College .at the 
age of eighteen, took up the study of law, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1799. He 
was chosen to the legislature from his county, 
and in 1801 removed to Frederick, Mary- 
land. He became United States senator 
from Maryland in 1 8 16, and took up his 
permanent residence in Baltimore a few 
years later. In 1824 he became an ardent 
admirer and supporter of Andrew Jackson, 
and upon Jackson's election to the presi- 
dency, was appointed attorney general of 
the United States. Two years later he was 
appointed secretary of the treasury, and 
after serving in that capacity for nearly one 
year, the senate refused to confirm the ap- 
pointment. In 1835, upon the death of 



180 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



Chief-justice Marshall, he was appointed to 
that place, and a political change having 
occurred in the make up of the senate, he 
was confirmed in 1836. He presided at 
his first session in January of the following 
year. 

The case which suggests itself first to 
the average reader in connection with this 
jurist is the celebrated " Dred Scott " case, 
which came before the supreme court for 
decision in 1856. In his opinion, delivered 
on behalf of a majority of the court, one 
remarkable statement occurs as a result of 
an exhaustive survey of the historical 
grounds, to the effect that " for more than 
a century prior to the adoption of the con- 
stitution they (Africans) had been regarded 
so far inferior that they had no rights which 
a white man was bound to respect." Judge 
Taney retained the office of chief justice 
until his death, in 1864. 



JOHN LOTHROP MOTLEY.— This gen- 
tleman had a world-wide reputation as 
an historian, which placed him in the front 
rank of tiie great men of America. He was 
born April 15, 18 14, at Dorchester, Massa- 
chusetts, was given a thorough preparL.tory 
education and then attended Harvard, from 
which he was graduated in 1831. He also 
studied at Gottingen and Berlin, read law 
and in 1836 was admitted to the bar. In 
1 841 he was appointed secretary of the 
legation at St. Petersburg, and in 1866-67 
served as United States minister to Austria, 
serving in the same capacity during 1869 
and 1870 to England. In 1S56, after long 
and exhaustive research and preparation, he 
published in London "The Rise of the 
Dutch Republic." It embraced three vol- 
umes and immediately attracted great at- 
tention throughout Europe and America as 
a work of unusual merit. From 1861 to 



1868 he produced "The History of the 
United Netherlands," in four volumes. 
Other works followed, with equal success, 
and his position as one of the foremost his- 
torians and writers of his day was firmly 
established. His death occured May 29, 
1877- 

ELIAS HOWE, the inventor of the sew- 
ing machine, well deserves to be classed 
among the great and noted men of Amer- 
ica. He was the son of a miller and farmer 
and was born at Spencer, Massachusetts, 
July 9, 1819. In 1835 he went to Lowell 
and worked there, and later at Boston, in the 
machine shops. His first sewing machine 
was completed in 1 845 , and he patented it in 
1846, laboring with the greatest persistency 
in spite of poverty and hardships, working 
for a time as an engine driver on a railroad 
at pauper wages and with broken health. 
He then spent two years of unsuccessful ex- 
ertion in England, striving in vain to bring 
his invention into public notice and use. 
He returned to the United States in almost 
hopeless poverty, to find that his patent 
had been violated. At last, however, he 
found friends who assisted him financially, 
and after years of litigation he made good 
his claims in the courts in 1 854. His inven- 
tion afterward brought him a large fortune. 
During the Civil war he volunteered as a 
private in the Seventeentii Connecticut Vol- 
unteers, and served for some time. During 
his life time he received the cross of the 
Legion of Honor and many other medals. 
His death occurred October 3, 1867, at 
Brooklyn, New York. 



PHILLIPS BROOKS, celebrated as an 
eloquent preacher and able pulpit ora- 
tor, was born in Boston on the 13th d.iy of 
December, 1835. He received excellent 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



131 



educational advantages, and graduated at 
Harvard in 1855. Early in life he decided 
upon the ministry as his life work and 
studied theology in the Episcopal Theolog- 
ical Seminar}', at Alexandria, Virginia. In 
1859 he was ordained and the same year 
became pastor of the Church of the Advent, 
in Philadelphia. Three years later lie as- 
sumed the pastorate of the Church of the 
Holy Trinity, where he remained until 1870. 
At the expiration of that time he accepted 
the pastoral charge of Trinity Church in 
Boston, where his eloquence and ability at- 
tracted much attention and built up a pow- 
erful church organization. Dr. Brooks also 
devoted considerable time to lecturing and 
literary work and attained prominence in 
these lines. 



WILLIAM B. ALLISON, a statesman 
of national reputation undone of the 
leaders of the Republican party, was born 
March 2, 1829, at Perry, Ohio. He grew 
up on his father's farm, which he a.=;sisted 
in cultivating, and attended the district 
school. When sixteen years old he went 
to tlie academy at Wooster, and subse- 
quently spent a year at the Allegheny Col- 
lege, at Meadville, Pennsylvania. He next 
taught school and spent another year at the 
Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio. 
Mr. Allison then took up the study of law 
at Wooster, where he was admitted to the 
bariniSsi, and soon obtained a position 
as deputy county clerk. His political lean- 
irgs were toward the old line Whigs, who 
afterward laid the foundation of the Repub- 
lican party. He was a delegate to the state 
convention in 1856, in the campaign of 
which he supported Fremont for president. 
Mr Allison removed to Dubuque, Iowa, 
in the following year. He rapidly rose to 
prominence at the bar an i i.i politics. In 



i860 he was chosen as a delegate to the 
Republican convention held in Chicago, of 
which he was elected one of the secretaries. 
At the outbreak of the civil war he was ap- 
pointed on the staff of the governor. His 
congressional career opened in 1862, when 
he was elected to the thirty-eighth congress; 
he was re-elected three times, serving from 
March 4, 1863, to March 3, 1871. He was 
a member of the ways and means committee 
a good part of his term. His career in the 
United States senate began in 1873, and he 
rapidly rose to eminence in national affairs, 
his service of a quarter of a century in that 
body being marked by close fealty to the 
Republican party. He twice declined the 
portfolio of the treasury tendered him by 
Garfield and Harrison, and his name was 
prominently mentioned for the presidency 
at several national Republican conventions. 



Wl 



ARY ASHTON LIVERMORE, lec- 
rer and writer, was born in Boston, 
December 19, i82r. She was the daughter 
of Timothy Rice, and married D. P. Liver- 
more, a preacher of the Universalist church. 
She contributed able articles to many of the 
most noted periodicals of this country and 
England. During the Civil war she labored 
zealously and with success on behalf of the 
sanitary commission which played so impor- 
tant a part daring that great struggle. She 
became editor of the " Woman's Journal," 
published at Boston in 1870. 

She held a prominent place as a public 
speaker and writer on woman's suffrage, 
temperance, social and religious questions, 
and her influence was great in every cause 
she advocated. 



JOHN B. GOUGH. a noted temperance 
lecturer, who won his fame in America, 
was born in the village of Sandgate, Kent, 



]?2 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



England, August 22, 18 17. He came to 
the United States at the age of twelve. 
He followed the trade of bookbinder, and 
lived in great poverty on account of the 
liquor habit. In 1843, however, he re- 
formed, and began his career as a temper- 
ance lecturer. He worked zealously in the 
cause of temperance, and his lectures and 
published articles revealed great earnestness. 
He formed temperance societies throughout 
the entire country, and labored with great 
success. He visited England in the same 
cause about the year 1853 and again in 
1878. He also lectured upon many other 
topics, in which he attained a wide reputa- 
tion. His death occurred February 18, 
1886. 

THOMAS BUCHANAN READ, author, 
sculptor and painter, was born in Ches- 
ter county, Pennsylvania, March 12, 1822. 
He early evinced a taste for art, and began 
the study of sculpture in Cincinnati. Later 
he found painting more to his liking. He 
went to New York, where he followed this 
profession, and later to Boston. In 1846 
he located in Philadelphia. He visited 
Italy in 1850, and studied at Florence, 
where he resided almost continuously for 
twenty-two j'ears. He returned to America 
in 1872, and died in New York May 11 of 
the same year. 

He Vt'as the author of many heroic 
poems, but the one giving him the most re- 
nown is his famous "Sheridan's Ride," of 
which he has also left a representation in 
painting. 

EUGENE V. DEBS, the former famous 
president of the American Railway 
Union, and great labor leader, was born in 
the city of Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1855. 
He received his education in tiie public 



schools of that place and at the age r/f 
sixteen years began work as a painter in 
the Vandalia shops. After this, for some 
three years, he was employed as a loco- 
motive fireman on the same road. His 
first appearance in public life was in his 
canvass for the election to the office of city 
clerk of Terre Haute. In this capacity he 
served two terms, and when twenty six 
years of age was elected a member of the 
legislature of the state of Indiana. While 
a member of that body he secured the 
passage of several bills in the interest of 
organized labor, of which he was always 
a faithful champion. Mr. Debs' speech 
nominating Daniel Voorhees for the United 
States senate gave him a wide reputation for 
oratory. On the expiration of his term in 
the legislature, he was elected grand secre- 
tary and treasurer of the Brotherhood of 
Locomotive Fireman and filled that office 
for fourteen successive years. He was 
always an earnest advocate of confederation 
of railroad men and it was mainly through 
his efforts that the United Order of Railway 
Employes, composed of the Brotherhood 
of Railway Trainmen and Conductors, 
Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and 
the Switchmen's Mutual Aid Association was 
formed, and he became a member of its 
supreme council. The order was dissolved 
by disagreement between two of its leading 
orders, and then Mr. Debs conceived th3 
idea of the American Railway Union. He 
worked on the details and the union came 
into existence in Chicago, June 20, i S93. For 
a time it prospered and became one of the 
largest bodies of railway men in tlie world. 
It won in a contest with the Great Northern 
Railway. In the strike made by the union 
in sympathy with the PuUirian employes 
inaugurated in Chicago June 25, 1S94, and 
the consequent rioting, the Railway Union 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHr. 



113 



lost much prestige and Mr. Debs, in company 
with others of the officers, being held as in con- 
tempt of the United States courts, he suffered 
a sentence of six months in jail at Wood- 
stock, McHenry county, Illinois. In 1897 
Mr. Debs, on the demise of the American 
Railway Union, organized the Social 
Democracy, an institution founded on the 
best lines of the communistic idea, which 
was to provide homes and employment for 
its members. 



JOHN G. CARLISLE, famous as a law- 
yer, congressman, senator and cabinet 
officer, was born in Campbell (now Kenton) 
■county, Kentucky, September 5, 1835, on a 
farm. He received the usual education oi 
the time and began at an early age to teach 
school and, at the same time, the study of 
law. Soon opportunity ofTered and he 
entered an office in Covington, Kentuck}', 
and was admitted to practice at the bar in 
1858. Politics attracted his attention and 
in 1859 he was elected to the house of rep- 
resentatives in the legislature of his native 
state. On the, outbreak of the war in 1861, 
he embraced the cause of the Union and was 
largely instrumental in preserving Kentucky 
to the federal cause. He resumed his legal 
practice for a time and declined a nomina- 
tion as presidential elector in 1864. In 
1866 and again in 1S69 Mr. Carlisle was 
elected to the senate of Kentucky. He re- 
signed this position in 1871 and was chosen 
lieutenant governor of the state, which office 
he held until 1875. He was one of the 
presidential electors-at- large for Ken- 
tucky in 1876. He first entered congress in 
1877, and soon became a prominent leader 
■on the Democratic side of the house of rep- 
resentatives, and continued a member of 
that body through the forty-sixth, forty- 
seventh, forty-eighth and forty-ninth con- 



gresses, and was speaker of the house during 
the two latter. He was elected to the 
United States senate to succeed Senator 
Blackburn, and remained a member of that 
branch of congress until March, 1893, when 
he was appointed secretary of the treasury. 
He performed the duties of that high office 
until March 4, 1897, throughout the en- 
tire second administration of President 
Cleveland. His ability and many 3'ear3 of 
public service gave him a national reputa- 
tion. 

FRANCES E. WILLARD, for many years 
president of the -Woman's Christian 
Temperance Union, and a noted American 
lecturer and writer, was born in Rochester, 
New York, September 28, 1839. Graduating 
from the Northwestern Female College at the 
age of nineteen she began teaching and met 
with great success in many cities of the west. 
She was made directress of Genesee Wes- 
leyan Seminary at Lima, Ohio, in 1867, and 
four years later was elected president of the 
Evanston College for young ladies, a branch 
of the Northwestern University. 

During the two years succeeding 1869 
she traveled extensively in Europe and the 
east, visiting Egypt and Palestine, aiid 
gathering materials for a valuable course of 
lectures, which she delivered at Chicago ou 
her return. She became very popular, and 
won great influence in the temperance 
cause. Her work as president of the Wo- 
man's Christian Temperance Union greatly 
strengthened that society, and she made 
frequent trips to Europe in the interest of 
that cause. 

RICHARD OLNEY.— Among the promi- 
nent men who were members of the 
cabinet of President Cleveland in his second 
administration, the gentleman whose namo 



134 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHV 



heads this sketch held a leading place, oc- 
cupying the positions of attorney general 
and secretary of state. 

Mr. Olney came from one of the oldest 
and most honored New England families; 
the first of his ancestors to come from Eng- 
land settled in Massachusetts in 1635. This 
was Thomas Olney. He was a friend and 
co-religionist of Roger Williams, and when 
the latter moved to what is now Rhode 
Island, went with him and became one of 
the founders of Providence Plantations. 

Richard Olney was born in Oxford, 
Massachusetts, in 1835, and received the 
elements of his earlier education in the com- 
mon schools which New England is so proud 
of. He entered Brown University, from 
which he graduated in 1856, and passed the 
Harvard law school two years later. He 
began the practice of his profession with 
Judge B. F. Thomas, a prominent man of 
that locality. For j'ears Richard Olney was 
regarded as one of the ablest and most 
learned lawyers in Massachusetts. Twice 
he was offered a place on the bench of the 
suoreme court of the state, but both times 
he declined. He was always a Dem.ocrat 
in his political tenets, and for many years 
was a trusted counsellor of members of that 
party. In 1874 Mr. Olney was elected a 
member of the legislature. In 1876, during 
the heated presidential campaign, to 
■strengthen the cause of Mr. Tilden in the 
New England states, it was intimated that 
in the event of that gentleman's election to 
tiie presidency, Mr. Olney would be attor- 
t>ev peneral. 

When Grover Cleveland was elected presi- 
'•""nt of the United States, on his inaugura- 
tion in March, 1S93, he tendered the posi- 
tion of attorney general to Richard Olney. 
This was accepted, and that gentleman ful- 
felled the duties of the office until the death 



of Walter Q. Gresham, in May, 1S95, made 
vacant the position of secretary of state. 
This post was filled by the appointment of 
Mr. Olney. While occupying the later 
office, Mr. Olney brought himself into inter- 
national prominence by some very able state 
papers. 

JOHN J.AY KNOX, for many years comp- 
troller of the currenc}', and an eminent 
financier, was born in Knoxboro, Oneida 
county, New York, May 19. 1828. He re- 
ceived a good education and graduated at 
Hamilton College in 1849. For about 
thirteen years he was engaged as a private 
banker, or in a position in a bank, where 
he laid the foundation of his knowledge of 
the laws of finance. In 1862, Salmon P. 
Chase, then secretary of the treasury, ap- 
pointed him to an oflice in that department 
of the government, and later he had charge 
of the mint coinage correspondence. In 1867 
Mr. Knox was made deputy comptroller 
of the currency, and in that capacity, in 
1870, he made two reports on the mint 
service, with a codification of the mint and 
coinage laws of the United States, and 
suggesting many important amendments 
These reports were ordered printed by reso- 
lution of congress. The bill which he pre- 
pared, with some slight changes, was sub- 
sequently passed, and has been known in 
hi.story as the " Coinage Act of 1873." 

In 1872 Mr. Knox wrs appointed comp- 
troller of the currency, and held that re- 
sponsible position until 1884, when he re- 
signed. He then accej'ted the position of 
president of the National Bank of the Re- 
public, of New York City, which institution 
he served for many years. He was the 
author of " United States Notes," published 
in 1884. In the reports spoken of above, a 
history of the two United States banks is- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



135 



given, together with that of the state and 
national banking system, and much valuable 
statistical matter relating to kindred sub- 
jects. 

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE.— In the 
opinion of many critics Hawthorne is 
pronounced the foremost American novelist, 
and in his peculiar vein of romance is said 
to be without a peer. His reputation is 
world-wide, and his ability as a writer is 
recognized abroad as well as at home. 
He was born July 4, 1S04, at Salem, Massa- 
chusetts. On account of feeble health he 
spent some years of his boyhood on a farm 
near Raymond, Maine. He laid the foun- 
dation of a liberal education in his youth, 
and entered Bowdoin College, from which 
he graduated in 1825 in the same class with 
H W Longfellow and John S. C. Abbott. 
He then returned to Salem, where he gave 
his attention to literature, publishing several 
tales and other articles in various periodi- 
cals. His first venture in the field of ro- 
mance, " Fanshaw,'' proved a failure. In 
1836 he removed to Boston, and became 
editor of the "American Magazine," which 
soon passed out of existence. In 1837 he 
published "Twice Told Tales," which were 
chiefly made up of his former contributions 
to magazines. In 183S-41 he held a posi- 
tion in the Boston custom house, but later 
took part in tlie " Brook farm experiment," 
a socialistic idea after the plan of Fourier. 
In 1843 he was married and took up his 
residence at the old parsonage at Concord, 
Massachusetts, which he immortalized in 
his next work, "Mosses From an Old 
Manse," pubhshed in 1846. From the lat- 
ter date until 1850 he was surveyor of the 
po:t of Salem, and while thus employed 
wrote one of his strongest works, "The 
Scarlet Letter." For the succeeding: two 



years Lenox, Massachusetts, was his home, 
and the " House of the Seven Gables" was 
produced there, as well as the " Blithedale 
Romance." In 1852 he published a "Life 
of Franklin Pierce," a college friend whom 
he warmly regarded. In 1853 he was ap- 
pointed United States consul to Liverpool, 
England, where he remained some years, 
after which he spent some time in Italy. 
On returning to his native land he took up 
his residence at Concord, Massachusetts. 
While taking a trip for his health with ex- 
President Pierce, he died at Plymouth, New 
Hampshire, May 19, 1864. In addition to 
the works mentioned above Mr. Hawthorne 
gave to the world tiie following books: 
" True Stories fronr History," "The Won- 
der Book," " The Snow Image," "Tangle- 
wood Tales," "The Marble Faun," and 
' ' Our Old Home. " After his death appeared 
a series of "Notebooks," edited by his wife, 
Sophia P. Hawthorne; " Septimius Felton," 
edited by his daughter, Una, and "Dr. 
Grimshaw's Secret," put into shape by his 
talented son, Julian. He left an unfinished 
work called " Dolliver Romance," which has 
been published just as he left it. 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN, sixteenth presi- 
dent of the United States, was born 
February 12, 1809, in Larue county (Har- 
din county), Kentucky, in a log-cabin near 
Hudgensville. When he was eight years 
old he removed with his parents to Indiana, 
near the Ohio river, and a year later his- 
mother died. His father then married Mrs. 
Elizabeth (Bush) Johnston, of Elizabeth- 
town, Kentucky, who proved a kind of fos- 
ter-motiier to Abraham, and encouraged 
him to study. He worked as a farm hand 
and as a clerk in a store at Gentryville, and 
was noted for his athletic feats and strength, 
fondness for debate, a fund of huinorou.s- 



186 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAl'Iir. 



anecdote, as well as the composition of rude 
verses. He made a trip at the age of nine- 
teen to New Orleans on a flat-boat, and set- 
tled in Illinois in 1S30. He assisted his 
father to build a log house and clear a farm 
on the Sangamon river near Decatur, Illinois, 
and split the rails with which to fence it. In 
185 I he was employed in the building of a 
flat-boat on the Sangamon, and to run it to 
New Orleans. The voyage gave him anew 
insight into the horrors of slavery in the 
south. On his return he settled at New 
Salem and engaged, first as a clerk in a store, 
then as grocer, surveyor and postmaster, and 
he piloted the first steamboat that as- 
cended the Sangamon. He participated in 
the Black Hawk war as captain of volun- 
teers, and after his return he studied law, 
interested himself in politics, and became 
prominent locally as a public speaker. He 
was elected to the legislature in 1834 as a 
'• Clay Whig, " and began at once to dis- 
play a command of language and forcible 
rhetoric that made him a match for his 
more cultured opponents. He was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1837, and began prac- 
tice at Springfield. He married a lady o( a 
prominent Kentucky family in 1842. He 
was active in the presidential campaigns of 
1840 and 1844 and was an elector on the 
Harrison and Clay tickets, and was elected 
to congress in 1846, over Peter Cartwright. 
He voted for the Wilmot proviso and the 
abolition of slavery in the District of Colum- 
bia, and opposed the war with Mexico, but 
gained little prominence during his two 
years' service. He then returned to Spring- 
field and devoted his attention to law, tak- 
ing little interest in politics, until the repeal 
of the Missouri compromise and the passage 
of the Kansas-Nebraska bill in 1S54. This 
awakened his interest in politics again and 
he attacked the champion of that measure, 



Stephen A. Douglas, in a speech at Spring- 
field that made him famous, and is said 
by those who heard it to be the greatest 
speech of his life. Lincoln was selected as 
candidate for the United States senate, but 
was defeated by Trumbull. Upon the pas- 
sage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill the Whig 
party suddenly went to pieces, and the Re- 
publican party gathered head. At the 
Bloomington Republican convention in 1856 
Lincoln made an effective address in which 
he first took a position antagonistic to the ex- 
istence of slavery. He was a Fremont elector 
and received a strong support for nomina- 
tion as vice-president in the Philadelphia 
convention. In 1858 he was the unanimous 
choice of the Republicans for the United 
States senate, and the great campaign of de- 
bate which followed resulted in the election 
of Douglas, but established Lincoln's repu- 
tation as the leading exponent of Republican 
doctrines. He began to be mentioned in 
Illinois as candidate for the presidency, and 
a course of addresses in the eastern states 
attracted favorable attention. When the 
national convention met at Chicago, his 
rivals. Chase, Seward, Bates and others, 
were compelled to retire before the western 
giant, and he was nominated, with Hannibal 
Hamlin as his running mate. The Demo- 
cratic party had now been disrupted, and 
Lincoln's election assured. He carried 
practically every northern state, and the 
secession of South Carolina, followed by a 
number of the gulf states, took place before 
his inauguration. Lincoln is the only presi- 
dent who was ever compelled to reach 
Washington in a secret manner. He es- 
caped assassination by avoiding Baltimore, 
and was quietly inaugurated March 4, 1861. 
His inaugural address was firm but con- 
ciliator}', and he said to the secessionists: 
" You have no oath registered in heaxen 



COMTE^DIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



137 



to destroy the go\ernment, while I have the 
most solemn one to preserve, protect and 
defend it.' He made up his cabinet chiefly 
of those political rivals in his own party — 
Seward, Chase, Cameron, Bates — and se- 
cured the co-operation of the Douglas Dem- 
o.rats. His great deeds, amidst the heat 
and turmoil of war, were: His call for 
seventy-five thousand volunteers, and the 
blockading of southern ports; calling of con- 
gress in extra session, July 14, 1861, and 
obtaining fcjur hundred thousand men and 
four hundred million dollars for the prosecu- 
tion of the war; appointing Stanton secre- 
tary of war; issuing the emancipation proc- 
lamation; calling three hundred thou- 
sand volunteers; address at Gettysburg 
cemetery; commissioned Grant as lieuten- 
ant-general and commander-in-chief of the 
armies of the United States; his second 
inaugural address; his visit to the army be- 
fore Richmond, and his entry into Rich- 
mond the day after its surrender. 

Abraham Lincoln was shot by John 
Wi'kes Booth in a box in Ford's theater 
i»t Washington the night of April 14, 1865, 
and expired the following morning. His 
body was buried at Oak Ridge cemetery, 
Springfield, Illinois, and a monument com- 
memorating his great work marks his resting 
place. 

STEPHEN GIRARD, the celebrated 
l)hilanthropist, was born in Bordeaux, 
France, May 24, 1750. He became a sailor 
engaged in the American coast trade, and 
also made frequent trips to the West Indies. 
During the Revolutionary war he was a 
grocer and liquor seller in Philadelphia. 
He married in that city, and afterward 
separated from his wife. After the war he 
again engaged in the coast and West India 
trade, and his fortu.ie began to accumulate 



from receiving goods from West Indian 
planters during the insurrection in Hayti, 
little of which was e\er called for again. 
He became a private banker in Philadelphia 
in 1 8 1 2, and afterward was a director in the 
United States Bank. He made much money 
by leasing property in the city in times of 
depression, and upon the revival of industry 
sub-leasing at enormous profit. He became 
the wealthiest citizen of the United States 
of his time. 

He was eccentric, ungracious, and a 
freethinker. He had few, if any, friends in 
his lifetime. However, he was most chari- 
tably disposed, and gave to charitable in- 
stitutions and schools with a liberal hand. 
He did more than any one else to relieve 
the suffering and deprivations during the 
great yellow fever scourge in Philadelphia, 
devoting his personal attention to the sick. 
He endowed and made a free institution, 
the famous Will's Eye and Ear Infirmary 
of Philadelph a — one of^ the largest institu- 
tions of its kind in the world. At his death 
practically all his immense wealth was be- 
queathed to charitable institutions, more 
than two millions of dollars going to the 
founding of Girard College, which was to 
be devoted to the education and training of 
boys between the ages of six and ten years. 
Large donations were also made to institu- 
tions in Philadelphia and New Orleans. 
The principal building of Girard College is 
the most magnificent example of Greek 
architecture in America. Girard died De- 
cember 26, 1831. 



LOUIS J. R. AGASSIZ, the eminent nat- 
uralist and geologist, was born in the 
parish of Motier, near Lake Neuchatel, Swit- 
zerland, May 28, 1807, but attained his 
greatest fame after becoming an American 
citizen. He studied the medical sciences at 



138 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



Zurich, Heidelberg and Munich. His first 
work was a Latin description of the fishes 
which Martius and Spix brought from Brazil. 
This was published in 1 829-3 1 • He devoted 
much time to the study of fossil fishes, and 
in 1832 was appointed professor of natural 
history at Neuchatel. He greatly increased 
his reputation by a great work in French, 
entitled " Researches on Fossil Fishes," in 
1S32-42, in which he made many important 
improvements in the classification of fishes. 
Having passed many summers among the 
Alps in researches on glaciers, he propounded 
some new and interesting ideas on geology, 
and the agency of glaciers in his "Studies 
by the Glaciers." This was published in 
1840. This latter work, with his " System 
of the Glaciers," published in 1847, are 
among his principal works. 

In 1846, Professor Agassiz crossed the 
ocean on a scientific excursion to the United 
States, and soon determined to remain here. 
He accepted, about the beginning of 1848, 
the chair of zoology and geology at Harvard. 
He explored the natural history of the 
United States at different times and gave an 
impulse to the study of nature in this 
country. In 1865 he conducted an expedi- 
tion to Brazil, and explored the lower Ama- 
zon and its tributaries. In 1868 he was 
made non-resident professor of natural his- 
tory at Cornell University. In December, 
1 87 1, he accompanied the Hassler expedi- 
tion, under Professor Pierce, to the South 
Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He died at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, December 14, 

1873- 

Among other of the important works of 
Professor Agassiz may be mentioned the fol- 
lowing: "Outlines of Comparative Physi- 
ology," "Journey to Brazil," and "Contri- 
butions to the Natural History of the United 
States." It is said of Professor Agassiz, 



that, perhaps, with the exception of Hugh 
Miller, no one had so popularized science in 
his day, or trained so many young natural- 
ists. Many of the theories held by Agassiz 
are not supported by many of the natural- 
ists of these later days, but upon many of 
the speculations into the origin of species and 
in physics he has left the marks of his own 
strongly marked individualit}'. 



WILLIAM WINDOM.— As a prominent 
and leading lawyer of the great north- 
west, as a member of both houses of con- 
gress, and as the secretary of the treasury, 
the gentleman whose name heads this sketch 
won for himself a prominent position in the 
history of our country. 

Mr. Windom was a native of Ohio, 
born in Belmont county. May 10, 1827. 
He received a good elementary education m 
the schools of his native state, and took up 
the study of law. He was admitted to the 
bar, and entered upon the practice of his 
profession in Ohio, where he remained until 
1855. In the latter year he made up his 
mind to move further west, and accordingly 
went to Minnesota, and opening an office, 
became identified with the interests of that 
state, and the northwest generally. In 
1858 he took his place in the Minnesota 
delegation in the national house of repre- 
sentatives, at Washington, and continued 
to represent his constituency in that body 
for ten years. In 1871 Mr. Windom was 
elected United States senator from Min- 
nesota, and was re-elected to the same office 
after fulfilling the duties of the position for 
a full term, in 1876. On the inauguration 
of President Garfield, in March, 18S1, Mr. 
Windom became secretary of the treasury 
in his cabinet. He resigned this office Oc- 
tober 27, 1 88 1, and was elected senator 
from the North Star state to fill the va- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



139 



cancy caused by the resignation of A. J. 
Edgerton. Mr. Windom served in that 
chamber until March, 1883. 

William Windom died in New York 
City January 29, 1891. 



DON M. DICKINSON, an American 
politician and lawyer, was born in 
Port Ontario, New York, January 17, 1846. 
He removed with his parents to Michigan 
when he was but two years old. He was 
educated in the public schools of Detroit 
and at the University of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor, and was admitted to the bar at the 
age of twenty- one. In 1872 he was made 
secretary of tlie Democratic state central 
committee of Michigan, and his able man- 
agement of tlic campaign gave him a prom- 
inent place ill the councils of his party. In 
1876, during the Tilden campaign, he acted 
as chairman of the state central committee. 
He was afterward chosen to represent his 
state in the Democratic national committee, 
and in 18S6 he was appointed postmaster- 
general by President Cleveland. After the 
expiration of his term of office he returned 
to Detroit and resumed the practice of law. 
In the presidential campaign of 1896, Mr. 
Dic'.inson adhered to the "gold wing" of 
the Democracy, and his influence was felt 
in the national canvass, and especially in 
his own state. 



JOHN JACOB ASTOR, the founder of 
<J the Astor family and fortunes, while not 
a native of this country, was one of the 
most noted men of his time, and as all his 
wealth and fafne were acquired here, he 
may well be classed among America's great 
men. He was born near Heidelberg, Ger- 
many, July 17, 1763, and when twenty 
years old emigrated to the United States. 
Even at that age he exhibited remarkable 



business ability and foresight, and soon he 
was investing capital in furs which he took 
to London and sold at a great profit. He 
next settled at New York, and engaged ex- 
tensively in the fur trade. He exported 
furs to Europe in his own vessels, which re- 
turned with cargoes of foreign commodities, 
and thus he rapidly amassed an immense 
fortune. In 181 1 he founded Astoria on 
the western coast of North America, near 
the mouth of the Columbia river, as a depot 
for the fur trade, for the promotion of 
which he sent a number of expeditions to 
the Pacific ocean. He also purchased a 
large amount of real estate in New York, 
the value of which increased enormously 
All through life his business ventures were 
a series of marvelous successes, and he 
ranked as one of the most sagacious and 
successful buyness men in the world. He 
died March 29, 1848, leaving a fortune es- 
timated at over twenty million dollars to 
his children, who have since increased it. 
John Jacob Astor left $400,000 to found a 
public library in New York City, and his son, 
William B. Astor, who died in 1875, left 
$300,000 to add to his father's bequest. 
This is known as the Astor Library, one of 
the largest in the United States. 



SCHUYLER- COLFAX, an eminent 
American statesman, was born in New 
York City, March 23, 1823, being a grand- 
son of General William Colfax, the com- 
mander of Washington's life-guards. In 
1836 he removed with his mother, who was 
then a widow, to Indiana, settlmg at South 
Bend. Young Schuyler studied law, and 
in 1845 became editor of the "St. Joseph 
Valley Register," a Whig paper published 
at South Bend. He was a member of the 
convention which formed a new constitu- 
tion for Indiana in 1850, and he opposed 



140 



COMPENDIUM OF BI0GRAPH7: 



the clause that prohibited colored men 
from settling in that state. In 185 i he was 
defeated as the Whig candidate for congress 
but was elected in 1854, and, being repeat- 
edly re-elected, continued to represent that 
district in congress until 1869. He became 
one of the most prominent and influential 
members of the house of representatives, 
and served three terms as speaker. During 
the Civil war he was an active participant 
in all public measures of importance, and 
was a confidential friend and adviser of 
President Lincoln. In May, 1868, Mr. 
Colfax was nominated for vice-president on 
the ticket with General Grant, and was 
elected. After the close of his term he re- 
tired from office, and for the remainder of 
his life devoted much of his time to lectur- 
ing and literary pursuits. His death oc- 
curred January 23, 1885. He was one of 
the most prominent members of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows in America, 
and t!;at order erected a bronze statue to 
his memory in University Park, Indianapo- 
li=, Indiana, which was unveiled in May, 
1887. 

WILLIAM FREEMAN VILAS, who at- 
tained a national reputation as an able 
lawyer, statesman, and cabinet officer, was 
born at Chelsea, Vermont, July 9, 1840. 
His parents removed to Wisconsin when 
our subject was but eleven years of age, 
and there with the early settlers endured ail 
the hardships and trials incident to pioneer 
life. William F. Vilas was given all the 
advantages found in the common schools, 
and supplemented this b}' a course of study 
in tjie Wisconsin State University, after 
winch he studied law, was admitted to the 
bar and began practicing at Madison. 
Shortly afterward the Civil war broke out 
and Mr. \'ilas enlisted and became colonel 



of the Twenty-third regiment of Wisconsin 
Volunteers, serving throughout the war with 
distinction. At the close of the war he re- 
turned to Wisconsin, resumed his law prac- 
tice, and rapidly rose to eminence in this 
profession. In 1885 he was selected by- 
President Cleveland for postmaster-general 
and at the close of his term again returned 
to Madison, Wisconsin, to resume the prac- 
tice of law. 

THOMAS McINTYRECOOLEY, anem- 
inent American jurist and law writer, 
was born in Attica, New York, January 6, 
1 824. He was admitted to the bar in i S46, 
and four years later was appointed reporter 
of the supreme court of Michigan, which 
office he continued to hold for seven years. 
In the meantime, in 1S59, he became pro- 
fessor of the law department of the Univer- 
sity of Michigan, and soon afterward was 
made dean of the faculty of that depart- 
ment. In 1864 he was elected justice of 
the supreme cuurt of Michigan, in 1867 be- 
came chief justice of that court, and in 
1869 was re-elected for a term of eight 
years. In 1881 he again joined the faculty 
of the University of Michigan, assuming the 
professorship of constitutional and adminis- 
trative law. His v.orks on these branches 
have become standard, and he is recog- 
nized as authority on this and related sub- 
jects. Upon the passage of t!ie inter-state 
commerce law in 1887 he became chairman 
of the commission and served in that capac- 
ity four years. 



JOHN PETER ALTGELD, a noted 
U American politician and writer on social 
questions, was born in Germany, December 
30, 1847. He came to America with his 
parents and settled in Oh'o when two years 
old. In 1864 h:: entered the Union army 



LOMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



141 



and served till the close of the war, after 
which he settled in Chicago, Illinois. He 
was elected judge of the superior court of 
Cook county, Illinois, in 1886, in which 
capacity he served until elected governor of 
Illinois in 1892, as a Democrat. During 
the first year of his term as governor he at- 
tracted national attention by his pardon of 
the anarchists convicted of the Hayinarkct 
murder in Chicago, and again in 1 R94 by 
his denunciation of President Cleveland f<jr 
calling out federal troops to suppress the 
rioting in connection with the great Pull- 
man strike in Chicago. At the national 
convention of the Democratic party in Chi- 
cago, in July, 1896, he is said to have in- 
spired the clause in the platform denuncia- 
tory of interference by federal authorities in 
local affairs, and "government by injunc- 
tion." He was {gubernatorial candidate for 
re-election on the Democratic ticket in 1896, 
but was defeated by John R. Tanner, Re- 
publican. Mr. Altgeld published two vol- 
umes of essays on " Live Questions," evinc- 
ing radical views on social matters. 



ADLAI EWING STEVENSON, an Amer. 
ican statesman and politician, was born 
in Christian county, Kentucky, October 23, 
1835, and removed with the family to 
Bloomington, Illinois, in 1852. He was 
admitted to the bar in 1858, and set- 
tled in the practice of his profession 
in Metamora, Illinois. In 1861 he was 
made master in chancery of Woodford 
county, and in 1864 was elected state's at- 
torney. In 1868 he returned to Blooming- 
ton and formed a law partnership with 
James S. Ewing. He had served as a pres- 
idential elector in 1864, and in 1868 was 
elected to congress as a Democrat, receiv- 
ing a majority vote from every county in his 
district. He became promment in his 



party, and was a delegate to the national 
convention in 18S4. On the election of 
Cleveland to the presidency Mr. Stevenson 
was appointed first assistant postmaster- 
general. After the expiration of his term 
he continued to e.xert a controlling influence 
in the politics of his state, and in 1892 was 
elected vice-president of the United States 
on the ticket with Grover Cleveland. At 
the expiration of his term of office he re- 
sumed the practice of law at Bloomington, 
Illinois. 



SIMON CAMERON, whose name is 
prominently identified with the history 
of the United States as a political leader 
and statesman, was born in Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, March 8, 1799. He grew 
to manhood in his native county, receiving 
good educational advantages, and develop- 
ing a natural inclination for political life. 
He rapidly rose in prominence and became 
the most influential Democrat in Pennsyl- 
vania, and in 1845 was elected by that party 
to the United States senate. Upon the. 
organization of the Republican party he was 
one of the first to declare his allegiance to 
it, and in 1856 was re-elected United States 
senator from Pennsylvania as a Republican. 
In March, 1861, he was appointed secretary 
of war by President Lincoln, and served 
until early in 1862, when he was sent as 
minister to Russia, returning in 1863. In 
1866 he was again elected United States 
senator and served until 1877, when he re- 
signed and was succeeded by his son, James 
Donald Cameron. He continued to exert a 
powerful influence in political affairs up to 
the time of his death, June 26, 1889. 

James Donald Cameron was the eld- 
est son of Simon Cameron, and also 
attained a high rank among American 
statesmen. He was born at Harrisburg, 



I4i 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



Pennsjlvania, May 14, 1833, and received an 
excellent education, graduating at Princeton 
College in 1852. He rapidly developed into 
one of the most able and successful business 
men of the country and was largely inter- 
ested in and identified with the develop- 
ment of the coal, iron, lumber and manu- 
facturing interests of his native state. He 
served as cashier and afterward president of 
the Middletown bank, and in 1861 was made 
vice-president, and in 1863 president of 
the Northern Central railroad, holding this 
position until 1874, when he resigned and 
■was succeeded by Thomas A. Scott. This 
road V as of great service to the government 
during the war as a means of communica- 
tion between Pennsylvania and the national 
capital, via Baltimore. Mr. Cameron also 
took an active part in political affairs, 
always as a Republican. In May, 1876, 
lie was appointed secretary of war in Pres- 
ident Giant's cabinet, and in 1877 suc- 
ceeded his father in the United States 
senate. He was re-elected in 1S85, and 
again in 1891, serving until 1896, and was 
recognized as one of the most prominent and 
influential members of that bodv. 



ADOLPHUS W. GREELEY, a famous 
American arctic explorer, was born at 
Newburyport, Massachusetts, March 27, 
1844. He graduated from Brown High 
School at the age of sixteen, and a year 
later enlisted in Company B, Nineteenth 
Massachusetts Infantry, and was made first 
sergeant. In 1863 he was promoted to 
second lieutenant. After the war he was 
assigned to the Fifth United States Cavalry, 
and became first lieutenant in 1S73. He 
was assigned to duty in the United States 
signal service shortly after the close of the 
war. An expedition was fitted out by the 
United States government in 18S1, un- 



der auspices of the weather bureau, and 
Lieutenant Greeley placed in command. 
They set sail from St. Johns the first week 
in July, and after nine days landed in Green- 
land, where they secured the services of two 
natives, together with sledges, dogs, furs 
and equipment. They encountered an ice 
pack early in August, and on the 28th of 
that month freezing weather set in. Two 
of his party. Lieutenant Lock wood and Ser- 
geant Brainard, added to the known maps 
about forty miles of coast survey, and 
reached the highest point yet attained by 
man, eighty-three degrees and twenty-four 
minutes north, longitude, forty-four degrees 
and five minutes west. On their return to 
Fort Conger, Lieutenant Greeley set out 
for the south on August 9, 1883. He 
reached Baird Inlet twenty days lattr with 
his entire party. Here they were coinpelled 
to abandon their boats, and drifted on an 
ice-floe for one month. They then went 
into camp at Cape Sabine, where they suf- 
fered untold hardships, and eighteen of the 
parly succumbed to cold and hunger, and 
had relief been delayed two days longer 
none would have been found alive. They 
were picked up by the relief expedition, 
imder Captain Schley, June 22, 1884. The 
dead were taken to New York for burial. 
Many sensational stories were published 
concerning the expedition, and Lieutenant 
Greeley prepared an exhaustive account 
of his explorations and experiences. 



LEVI P. MORTON, the millionaire poli- 
tician, was born in Shoreham, Ver- 
mont, May 16, 1824, and his early educa- 
tion consisted of the rudiments which he 
obtained in the common school up to the 
age of fourteen, and after that time what 
knowledge he gained was wrested from the 
hard school of experience. He removed to 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRATHl'. 



148 



Hanover, Vermont, then Concord, Vermont, 
and afterwards to Boston. He had worked 
in a store at Shoreham, his native village, 
and on going to Hanover he established a 
store and went into business for himself. 
In Boston he clerked in a dry goods store, 
and then opened a business of his own in 
the same line in New York. After a short 
career he failed, and was compelled to set- 
tle with his creditors at only fifty cents on 
the dollar. He began the struggle anew, 
and when the war began he established a 
banking house in New York, with Junius 
Morgan as a partner. Through his firm 
and connections the great government war 
loans were floated, and it resulted in im- 
mense profits to his house. When he was 
again thoroughly established he invited his 
former creditors to a banquet, and under 
each guest's plate was found a check cover- 
ing the amount of loss sustained respec- 
tively, with interest to date. 

President Garfield appointed Mr. Mor- 
ton as minister to France, after he had de- 
clined the secretaryship of the navy, and in 
1888 he was nominated as candidate for 
vice-president, with Harrison, and elected. 
In 1894 he was elected governor of New 
York over David B. Hill, and served one 
term. 

CHARLES KENDALL ADAMS, one 
of the most talented and prominent 
educators this country has known, was born 
January 24, 1835, at Derby, Vermont. He 
received an elementary education in the 
common schools, and studied two terms in 
the Derby Academy. Mr. Adams moved 
with his parents to Iowa in 1856. He was 
very anxious to pursue a collegiate course, 
but this was impossible until he had attained 
the age of twenty-one. In the autumn of 
1856 he began the study of Latin and Greek 



at Denmark Academy, and in September, 
1857, he was admitted to the University of 
Michigan. Mr. Adams was wholly depend- 
ent upon himself for the means of his edu- 
cation. During his third and fourth year 
he became deeply interested in historical 
studies, was assistant librarian of the uni- 
versity, and determined to pursue a post- 
graduate course. In 1864 he was appointed 
instructor of history and Latin and was ad- 
vanced to an assistant professorship in 1865, 
and in 1S67, on the resignation of Professoi 
White to accept the presidency of Cornell, 
he was appointed to fill the chair of profes- 
sor of history. This he accepted on con- 
dition of his being allowed to spend a year 
for special study in Germany, France and 
Italy. Mr. Adams returned in 1868, and 
assumed the duties of his professorship. 
He introduced the Gerinan system for the 
instruction of advanced history classes, and 
his lectures were largely attended. In 1885, 
on the resignation of President White at 
Cornell, he was elected his successor and 
held the office for seven years, and on Jan- 
uary 17, 1893, he was inaugurated presi- 
dent of the University of Wisconsin. Pres- 
ident Adams was prominently connected 
with numerous scientific and literary organ- 
izations and a frequent contributor to the 
historical and educational data in the peri- 
odicals and journals of the country. He 
was the author of the following: " Dem- 
ocracy and Monarchy in France," " Manual 
of Historical Literature," " A Plea for Sci- 
entific Agriculture," " Higher Education in 
Germany." 

JOSEPH B. FORAKER, a prominent po- 
litical leader and e.x-governor of Ohio, 
was born near Rainsboro, Highland county, 
Ohio, July 5, 1846. His parents operated 
a small farm, with a grist and sawmill, hav- 



144 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



ing emigrated hither from Virginia and 
Delaware on account of their distaste for 
slavery. 

Joseph was reared upon a farm until 
1862, when he enlisted in the Eighty-ninth 
Ohio Infantry. Later he was made ser- 
geant, and in 1864 commissioned first lieu- 
tenant. The next year he was brevetted 
captain. At the age of nineteen he was 
mustered out of the army after a brilliant 
service, part of the time being on the staff 
of General Slocum. He participated in the 
battles of Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mount- 
ain and Kenesaw Mountain and in Sher- 
man's march to the sea. 

For two years subsequent to the war 
j'oung Foraker was studjing at the Ohio 
Wesleyan University at Delaware, but later 
went to Cornell University, at Unity, New 
York, from which he graduated July i, 
1869. He studied law and was admitted to 
the bar. In 1879 Mr. Foraker was elected 
judge of the superior court of Cincinnati 
and held the office for three years. In 1883 
he was defeated in the contest for the gov- 
ernorship with Judge Hoadly. In 1885, 
however, being again nominated for the 
same office, he was elected and served two 
terms. In 1889, in running for governor 
again, this time against James E. Camp- 
bell, he was defeated. Two years later his 
career in the United States senate began. 
Mr. Foraker was alwa}s a prominent figure 
at all national meetings of the Republican 
party, and a strong power, politically, in his 
native state. 



LYMAN ABBOTT, an eminent American 
preacher and writer on religious sub- 
jects, came of a noted New England 
family. His father. Rev. Jacob Abbott, was 
a prolific and popular writer, and his uncle. 
Rev. John S. C. Abbott, was a noted 



preacher and author. Lyman Abbott was 
born December 18, 1835, in Roxbury, 
Massachusetts. He graduated at the New 
York University, in 1853, studied law, and 
practiced for a time at the bar, after which 
he studied theology with his uncle. Rev. 
John S. C. Abbott, and in i860 was settled 
in the ministry at Terre Haute, Indiana, re- 
maining there until after the close of the 
war. He then became connected with the 
Freedmen's Commission, continuing this 
until 1868, when he accepted the pastorate 
of the New England Congregational church, 
in New York City. A few years later he re- 
signed, to devote his time principally to lit- 
erary pursuits. For a number of years he 
edited for the American Tract Society, its 
"Illustrated Christian Weekly," also the 
New York "Christian Union." He pro- 
duced many works, which had a wide circu- 
lation, among which may be mentioned the 
following: "Jesus of Nazareth, His Life and 
Teachings," "Old Testament Shadows of 
New Testament Truths," "Morning and 
Evening Exercises, Selected from Writings 
of Henry Ward Beecher," "Laicus, or the 
Experiences of a Layman in a Country 
Parish," "Popular Religious Dictionary," 
and "Commentaries on Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, John and Acts." 



GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS.— The 
well-known author, orator and journal- 
ist whose name heads this sketch, was born 
at Providence, Rhode Island, February 24, 
1824. Having laid the foundation of a 
most excellent education in his native land, 
he went to Europe and studied at the Uni- 
versity of Berlin. He made an extensive 
tour throughout the Levant, from which he 
returned home in 1850. At that early 'age 
literature became his field of labor, and in 
1851 he published his first important work. 



COMPENDIU^r OF BIOGRAPHY. 



145 



" Nile Notes of a Howadji." In 1852 two 
works issued from his facile pen, "The 
Howadji in Syria," and "Lotus-Eating." 
Later on he was the author of the well- 
known " Potiphar Papers," " Prue and L" 
and "Trumps." He greatly distinguished 
himself throughout this land as a lecturer 
on many subjects, and as an orator had but 
few peers. He was also well known as one 
of the most fluent speakers on the stump, 
making many political speeches in favor of 
the Republican party. In recognition of 
his valuable services, Mr. Curtis was ap- 
pointed by President Grant, chairman of 
the advisory board of the civil service. Al- 
though a life-long Republican, Mr. Curtis 
refused to support Blaine for the presidency 
in 1884, because of his ideas on civil ser- 
vice and other reforms. For his memorable 
and magnificent eulogy on Wendell Phillips, 
delivered in Boston, in 1884, that city pre- 
sented Mr. Curtis with a gold medal. 

George W. Curtis, however, is best 
known to the reading public of the United 
States by his connection with the Harper 
Brothers, having been editor of the " Har- 
per's Weekly, " and of the "Easy Chair," 
in " Harper's Monthly Magazine, "for many 
years, in fact retaining that position until 
the day of his death, which occurred August 
31. 1892. 

ANDREW JOHNSON, the seventeenth 
president of the United States, served 
from 1865 to 1869. He was born Decem- 
ber 8, 1808, at Raleigh, North Carolina, 
and was left an orphan at the age of four 
years. He never attended school, and was 
apprenticed to a tailor. While serving his 
apprenticeship he suddenly acquired a pas- 
sion for knowledge, and learned to read. 
From that time on he spent all his spare 
time in reading, and after working for two 



years as a journeyman tailor at Lauren's 
Court House, South Carolina, he removed 
to Greenville, Tennessee, where he worked 
at his trade and was married. Under his 
wife's instruction he made rapid progress in 
his studies and manifested such an interest 
in local politics as to be elected as " work- 
ingmen's candidate " alderman in 1828, and 
in 1830 to the mayoralty, and was twice 
re-elected to each office. Mr. Johnson 
utilized this time in cultivating his talents 
as a public speaker, by taking part in a de- 
bating society. Fie was elected in 1835 to 
the lower house of the legislature, was re- 
elected in 1839 as 3- Democrat, and in 
1 84 1 was elected state senator. Mr. John- 
son was elected representative in congress 
in 1843 and was re-elected four times ia 
succession until 1853, when he was the suc- 
cessful candidate for the gubernatorial chair 
of Tennessee. He was re-elected in 1855 
and in 1857 he entered the United States 
senate. In i860 he was supported by the 
Tennessee delegation to the Democratic 
convention for the presidential nomination, 
and lent his influence to the Breckinridge 
wing of the party. At the election of Lin- 
coln, which brought about the first attempt 
at secession in December, i860, Mr. John- 
son took a firm attitude in the senate for 
the Union. He was the leader of the loy- 
alists in East Tennessee. By the course 
that Mr. Johnson pursued in this crisis he 
was brought prominently before the north- 
ern people, and when, in March, 1862, he 
was appointed military governor of Ten- 
nessee with the rank of brigadier-general, 
he increased his popularity by the vigorous 
manner in which he labored to restore 
order. In the campaign of 1S64 he was 
elected vice-president on the ticket with 
President Lincoln, and upon the assassi- 
nation of the latter he succeeded to the 



146 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



presidency, April 15, 1865. He retained 
the cabinet of President Lincoln, and at 
first exhibited considerable severity towards 
the former Confederates, but he soon inau- 
gurated a policy of reconstruction, pro- 
claimed a general amnesty to the late Con- 
federates, and established provisional gov- 
ernments in the southern states. These 
. states claimed representation in congress in 
the following December, and then arose the 
momentous question as to what should be 
the policy of the victorious Union against 
their late enemies. The Republican ma- 
jority in congress had an apprehension that 
the President would undo the results of the 
war, and consequently passed two bills over 
the executive veto, and the two highest 
branches of the government were in open 
antagonism. The cabinet was reconstructed 
in July, and Messrs. Randall, Stanbury and 
Browning superseded Messrs. Denison, 
Speed and Harlan. In August, 1867, Pres- 
ident Johnson removed the secretary of war 
and replaced him with General Grant, but 
when congress met in December it refused 
to ratify the removal of Stanton, who re- 
sumed the functions of his office. In 1868 
the president again attempted to remove 
Stanton, who refused to vacate his post 
and was sustained by the senate. Presi- 
dent Johnson was accused by congress of 
high crimes and misdemeanors, but the trial 
resulted in his acquittal. Later he was Uni- 
ted States senator from Tennessee, and 
died July 31, 1S75. 



EDMUND RANDOLPH, first attorney- 
general of the United States, was born 
in Virginia, August 10, 1753. His father, 
John Randolph, was attorney-general of 
Virginia, and lived and died a royalist. Ed- 
mund was educated in the law, but joined 
the army as aide-de-camp to Washington 



in 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. He 
was elected to the Virginia convention in 
1776, and attorney-general of the state the 
same year. In 1779 he was elected to the 
Continental congress, and served four years 
in that body. He was a member of the con- 
vention in 1787 that framed the constitu- 
tion. In that convention he proposed what 
was known as the " Virginia plan" of con- 
federation, but it was rejected. He advo- 
cated the ratification of the constitution in 
the Virginia convention, although he had re- 
fused to sign it. He became governor of 
Virginia in 1788, and the next year Wash- 
ington appointed him to the office of at- 
torney-general of the United States upon 
the organization of the government under 
the constitution. He was appointed secre- 
tary of state to succeed Jefferson during 
Washington's second term, but resigned a 
year later on account of differences in the 
cabinet concerning the policy pursued to- 
ward the new French republic. He died 
September 12, 181 3. 



W INFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK was 
born in Montgomery county, Penn- 
sylvania, February 14, 1824. He received 
his early education at the Norristown 
Academy, in his native county, and, in 1840, 
was appointed a cadet in the United States 
Military Academy, at West Point. He was 
graduated from the latter in 1844, and brev- 
etted as second lieutenant of infantry. In 
1853 he was made first lieutenant, and two 
years 'ater transferred to the quartermaster's 
department, with the rank of captain, and 
in 1863 promoted to the rank of major. He 
served, on the frontier, and in the war with 
Mexico, displaying conspicuous gallantry dur- 
ing the latter. He also took a part in the 
Seminole war, and in the troubles in Kan- 
sas, in 1857, and in California, at the out- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



147 



break of the Civil war, as chief quarter- 
master of the Southern district, he exerted 
a powerful influence. In 1861 he applied 
for active duty in the field, and was assigned 
to the department of Kentucky as chief 
quartermaster, but before entering upon that 
duty, was appointed brigadier-general of 
volunteers. His subsequent history during 
the war was substantially that of the Army 
of the Potomac. He participated in the 
campaign, under McClellan, and led the 
gallant charge, which captured Fort Magru- 
der, won the day at the battle of Wil- 
liamsburg, and by services rendered at 
Savage's Station and other engagements, 
won several grades in the regular service, 
and was recommended by McClellan for 
major-general of volunteers. He was a con- 
spicuous figure at South Mountain and An- 
tietam. He was commissioned major-gen- 
eral of volunteers, November 29, 1862, and 
made commander of the First Division of 
the Second Corps, which he led at Fred- 
ricksburg and at Chancellorsville. He was 
appointed to the command of the Second 
Corps in June, 1863, and at the battle of 
Gettysburg, July i, 2 and 3, of that year, 
took an important part. On his arrival on 
the field he found part of the forces then 
in retreat, but stayed the retrograde 
movement, checked the enemy, and on the 
following day commanded the left center, 
repulsed, on the third, the grand assault of 
General Lee's army, and was severely 
wounded. For his services on that field 
General Hancock received tlie thanks of 
congress. On recovering from his wound, 
he was detailed to go north to stimulate re- 
cruiting and fill up the diminished corps, and 
was the recipient of many public receptions 
and ovations. In March, 1S64, he returned 
to his command, and in the Wilderness and 
at Spottsylvania led large bodies of men 



successfully and conspicuously. From that 
on to the close of the campaign he was a 
prominent figure. In November, 1864, he 
was detailed to organize the First Veteran 
Reserve Corps, and at the close of host'dities 
was appointed to the command of the Mid- 
dle Military Division. In July, 1866, he 
was made major-general of the regular 
service. He was at the head of various 
military departments until 1872, when he 
was assigned to the command of the Depart- 
ment of the Atlantic, which post he held 
until his death. In 1869 he declined the 
nomination for governor of Pennsylvania. 
He was the nominee of the Democratic 
party for president, in 1880, and was de- 
feated by General Garfield, who had a popu- 
lar majority of seven thousand and eighteen 
and an electoral majority^of fifty-nine. Gen- 
eral Hancock died February 9, 1886. 



THOMAS PAINE, the most noted polit- 
ical and deistical writer of the Revolu- 
tionary period, was born in England, Jan- 
uary 29, 1737, of Quaker parents. His edu- 
cation was. obtained in the grammar schools 
of Thetford, his native town, and supple- 
mented by hard private study while working 
at his trade of stay-maker at London and 
other cities of England. He was for a time 
a dissenting preacher, although he did not 
relinquish his employment. He married a 
revenue official's daughter, and was employed 
in the revenue service for some time. He 
then became a grocer and during all this time 
he was reading and cultivating his literary 
tastes, and had developed a clear and forci- 
ble style of composition. He was chosen to 
represent the interests of the excisemen, 
and published a pamphlet that brought 
him considerable notice. He was soon after- 
ward introduced to Benjamin Franklin, and 
having been dismissed from the service on a 



148 



COMPEXDIUM or JlIOGh'AI'/ir 



charge of smuggling, his resentment led him 
to accept the advice of that statesman to 
come to America, in 1774. He became 
editor of the ' ' Pennsylvania Magazine," and 
the next year published his "Serious 
Thoughts upon Slavery" in the "Penn- 
sylvania Journal." His greatest political 
work, however, was written at the sugges- 
tion of Dr. Rush, and entitled " Common 
Sense." It was the most popular pamphlet 
written during the period and he received 
two thousand five hundred dollars from the 
state of Pennsylvania in recognition of its 
value. His periodical, the "Crisis," began 
in 1776, and its distribution among the 
soldiers did a great deal to keep up the spirit 
of revolution. He was made secretary cf 
the committee of foreign affairs, but was dis- 
missed for revealing diplomatic secrets in 
one of his controversies with Silas Deane. 
He was originator and promoter of a sub- 
scription to relieve the distress of the soldiers 
near the close of the war, and was sent to 
France with Henry Laurens to negotiate the 
treaty with France, and was granted three 
thousand dollars by congress for his services 
there, and an estate at New Rochelle, by the 
state of New York. 

In 1787, after the close of the Revolu- 
tionary war, he went to France, and a few 
years later published his " Rights of Man," 
defending the French revolution, which 
gave him great popularity in France. He 
was made a citizen and elected to the na- 
tional convention at Calais. He favored 
banishment of the king to America, and 
opposed his execution. He was imprisoned 
for about ten months during 1794 by the 
Robespierre party, during which time he 
wrote the " Age of Reason," his great deis- 
tical work. He was in danger of the guillo- 
tine for several months. He took up his 
residence with the family of James Monroe, 



then minister to France and was chosen 
again to the convention. He returned 
to the United States in 1802, and was 
cordially received throughout the coun- 
try except at Trenton, where he was insulted 
by Federalists. He retired to his estate at 
New Rochelle, and his death occurred June 
8, 1809. 

JOHN WILLIAM MACKAY was one of 
America's noted men, both in the de- 
velopment of the western coast and the 
building of the Mackay and Bennett cable. 
He was born in 1831 at Dublin, Ireland; 
came to New York in 1840 and his boyhood 
days were spent in Park Row. He went 
to California some time after the argonauts 
of 1S49 and took to the primitive methods 
of mining — ^lost and won and finally drifted 
into Nevada about i860. The bonanza dis- 
coveries which were to have such a potent 
influence on the finance and statesmanship 
of the day came in 1872. Mr. Mackay 
founded the Nevada Bank in 187S. He is 
said to have taken one hundred and 
fifty million dollars in bullion out of 
the Big Bonanza mine. There were as- 
sociated with him in this enterprise James 
G. Fair, senator from Nevada; William 
O'Brien and James C. Flood. When 
vast wealth came to Mr. Mackay he be- 
lieved it his duty to do his country some 
service, and he agitated in his mind the 
building of an American steamship line, 
and while brooding over this his attention 
was called to the cable relations between 
America and Europe. The financial man- 
agement of the cable was selfish and ex- 
travagant, and the capital was heavy with 
accretions of financial " water" and to pay 
even an apparent dividend upon the sums 
which represented the nominal value of the 
cables, it was necessary to hold the rates 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



149 



at an exorbitant figure. And, moreover, 
the cables were foreign; in one the influence 
of France being paramount and in the other 
that of England; and in the matter of intel- 
ligence, so necessary in case of war, we 
would be at the mercy of our enemies. This 
train of thought brought Mr. Mackay into re- 
lation with James Gordon Bennett, the pro- 
prietor of the " New York Herald." The 
result of their intercourse was that Mr. Mac- 
kay so far entered into the enthusiasm of 
Mr. Bennett over an independent cable, 
that he offered to assist the enterprise with 
five hundred thousand dollars. This was the 
inception of the Commercial Cable Com- 
pany, or of what has been known for years 
as the Mackav-Bennett cable. 



ELISHA GRAY, the great inventor and 
electrician, was born August 2, 1835' 
at Barnesville, Belmont countj', Ohio. He 
was, as a child, greatly interested in the 
phenomena of nature, and read with avidity 
all the books he could obtain, relating to 
this subject. He was apprenticed to various 
trades during his boyhood, but his insatiable 
thirst for knowledge dominated his life and 
he found time to study at odd intervals. 
Supporting himself by working at his trade, 
he found time to pursue a course at Oberlin 
College, where he particularly devoted him- 
self to the study of physicial science. Mr. 
Gray secured his first patent for electrical 
or telegraph apparatus on October i, 1S67. 
His attention was first attracted to tele- 
phonic transmission during this year and he 
saw in it a way of transmitting signals for 
telegraph purposes, and conceived the idea 
■of electro-tones, tuned to different tones in 
the scale. He did not then realize the im- 
portance of his invention, his thoughts being 
employed on the capacit}' of the apparatus 
-for transmitting musical tones through an 



electric circuit, and it was not until 1874 
that he was again called to consider the re- 
production of electrically-transmitted vibra- 
tions through the medium of animal tissue. 
He continued experimenting with various 
results, which finally culminated in his 
taking out a patent for his speaking tele- 
phone on February 14, 1876. He took out 
fifty additional patents in the course of 
eleven years, among which v/ere, telegraph 
switch, telegraph repeater, telegraph annun- 
ciator and typewriting telegraph. From 
1869 until 1873 he was employed in the 
manufacture of telegraph apparatus in Cleve- 
land and Chicago, and filled the office of 
electrician to the Western Electric Com- 
pany. He was awarded the degree of D. 
S., and in 1874 he went abroad to perfect 
himself in acoustics. Mr. Gray's latest in- 
vention was known as the telautograph or 
long distance writing machine. Mr. Gray 
wrote and published several works on scien- 
tific subjects, among which were: "Tele- 
graphy and Telephony," and " Experi- 
mental Research in Electro-Harmonic Tele- 
graphy and Telephony." 



"^yS miTELAW REID.— Among the many 
V V men who have adorned the field of 
journalism in the United States, few stand 
out with more prominence than the scholar, 
author and editor whose name heads this ar- 
ticle. Born at Xenia, Greene county, Ohio, 
October 27, 1837, he graduated at Miami 
University in 1S56. For about a year he 
was superintendent of the graded schools of 
South Charleston, Ohio, after which he pur- 
chased the "Xenia News," which he edited 
for about two years. This paper was the 
first one outside of Illinois to advocate the 
nomination of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Reid 
having been a Republican since the birth of 
that party in 1856. After taking an active 



150 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY 



part in the campaign, in the winter of 1860- 
61, he went to the state capital as corres- 
pondent of three daily papers. At the close 
of the session of the legislature he became 
city editor of the "Cincinnati Gazette," 
and at the breaking out of the war went to 
the front as a correspondent for that journal. 
For a time he served on the staff of General 
Morris in West Virginia, with the rank of 
captain. Shortly after he was on the staff 
of General Rosecrans, and, under the name 
of "Agate," wrote most graphic descrip- 
tions of the movements in the field, espe- 
cially that of the battle ol Pittsburg Land- 
ing. In the spring of 1862 Mr. Reid went 
to Washington and was appointed librarian 
to the house of representatives, and acted as 
correspondent of the " Cincinnati Gazette." 
His description of the battle of Gettysburg, 
written on the field, gained him added 
reputation. In 1865 he accompanied Chief 
Justice Chase on a southern tour, and pub- 
lished "After the War; a Southern Tour." 
During the next two years he was engaged 
in cotton planting in Louisiana and Ala- 
bama, and published "Ohio in the War. " 
In 1868 he returned to the " Cincinnati Ga- 
zette," becoming one of its leading editors. 
The same year he accepted the invitation of 
Horace Greeley and became one of the staff 
on the " New York Tribune." Upon the 
death of Mr. Greeley in 1872, Mr. Reid be- 
came editor and chief proprietor of that 
paper. In 1878 he was tendered the United 
States mission to Berlin, but declined. The 
offer was again made by the Garfield ad- 
ministration, but again he declined. In 
1878 he was elected by the New York legis- 
lature regent of the university, to succeed 
General John A. Dix. Under the Harrison 
administration he served as United States 
minister to France, and in 1892 was the 
Republican nominee for the vice-presidency 



of the United States. Among other works 
published by him were the " Schools of 
Journalism," "The Scholar in Politics," 
"Some Newspaper Tendencies," and 



Town-Hall Suggestions." 



GEORGE WHITEFIELD was one of 
the most powerful and effective preach- 
ers the world has ever produced, swaying 
his hearers and touching the hearts of im- 
mense audiences in a manner that has rarely 
been equalled and never surpassed. While 
not a native of America, yet much of his 
labor was spent in this country. He wielded 
a great influence in the United States in 
early days, and his death occurred here; so 
that he well deserves a place in this volume 
as one of the most celebrated men America 
has known. 

George Whitefleld was born in the Bull 
Inn, at Gloucester, England, December 16. 
1 7 14. He acquired the rudiments of learn- 
ing in St. Mary's grammar school. Later 
he attended Oxford University for a time, 
where he became intimate with the Oxford 
Methodists, and resolved to devote himself 
to the ministry. He was ordained in the 
Gloucester Cathedral June 20, 1836, and 
the following day preached his first sermon 
in the same church. On that day there 
commenced a new era in Whitefield's life. 
He went to London and began to preach at 
Bishopsgate church, his fame soon spread- 
ing over the city, and shortly he was en- 
gaged four times on a single Sunday in ad- 
dressing audiences of enormous magnitude, 
and he preached in various parts of his native 
country, the people crov.'ding in multitudes 
to hear him and hanging upon the rails and 
rafters of the churches and approaches there- 
to. He finally sailed for America, landing 
in Georgia, where he stirred the people to 
great enthusiasm. During the balance of 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



153 



his life he divided his time between Great 
Britain and America, and it is recorded that 
he crossed the Atlantic thirteen times. He 
came to America for the seventh time in 
1770. He preached every day at Boston 
from the 17th to the 20th of September, 
1770, then traveled to Newburyport, preach- 
ing at Exeter, New Hampshire, September 
29, on the way. That evening he went to 
Newburyport, where he died the next day, 
Sunday, September 30, 1770. 

' ' Whitefield's dramatic power was amaz- 
ing, " says an eminent writer in describing 
him. " His voice was marvelously varied, 
and he ever had it at command — an organ, 
a flute, a harp, all in one. His intellectual 
powers were not of a high order, but he had 
an abundance of that ready talent and that 
wonderful magnetism which makes the pop- 
ular preacher; and beyond all natural en- 
dowments, there was in his ministry the 
power of evangelical truth, and, as his con- 
verts believed, the presence of the spirit of 
God." 

CHARLES FRANCIS BRUSH, one of 
America's prominent men in the devel- 
opment of electrical science, was born March 
17, 1849, near Cleveland, Ohio, and spent 
his early life on his father's farm. From 
the district school at Wickliffe, Ohio, he 
passed to the Shaw Academy at Collamer, 
and then entered the high school at Cleve- 
land. His interest in chemistry, physics 
and engineering was already marked, and 
during his senior year he was placed in 
charge of the chemical and physical appar- 
atus. During these years he devised a plan 
for lighting street lamps, constructed tele- 
scopes, and his first electric arc lamp, also 
an electric motor. In September, 1867, he 
entered the engineering department of the 

University of Michigan and graduated in 
9 



1869, which was a year in advance of his 
class, with the degree of M. E. He then 
returned to Cleveland, and for three years 
was engaged as an analytical chemist and 
for four years in the iron business. In 
1875 Mr. Brush became interested in elec- 
tric lighting, and in 1876, after four months' 
experimenting, he completed the dynamo- 
electric machine that has made his name 
famous, and in a shorter time produced the 
series arc lamps. These were both patent- 
ed in the United States in 1876, and he 
afterward obtained fifty patents on his later 
inventions, including the fundamental stor- 
age battery, the compound series, shunt- 
winding for dynamo-electric machines, and 
the automatic cut-out for arc lamps. His 
patents, two-thirds of which have already 
been profitable, are held by the Brush 
Electric Company, of Cleveland, while his 
foreign patents are controlled by the Anglo- 
American Brush Electric Light Company, 
of London. In 1880 the Western Reserve 
University conferred upon Mr. Brush the 
degree of Ph. D., and in 1881 the French 
government decorated him as a chevalier of 
the Legion of Honor. 



HENRY CLEWS, of Wall-street fame, 
was one of the noted old-time opera- 
tors on that famous street, and was also an 
author of some repute. Mr. Clews was 
born in Staffordshire, England, August 14, 
1S40. His father had him educated with 
the intention of preparing him for the minis- 
try, but on a visit to the United States the 
young man became interested in a business 
life, and was allowed to engage as a clerk in 
the importing house of Wilson G. Hunt & 
Co., of New York. Here he learned the 
first principles of business, and when the war 
broke out in 1861 young Clews saw in the 
needs of the government an ^opportunity to 



ir.4 



COMPENDIUM OF BlOGRAPIir 



reap a golden harvest. He identified him- 
self with the negotiating of loans for the 
^overnnrient, and used his powers of pur- 
suasion upon the great money powers to 
convince them of the stability of the govern- 
ment and the value of its securities. By 
enthusiasm and patriotic arguments he in- 
duced capitalists to invest their money in 
government securities, often against their 
judgment, and his success was remarkable. 
His was one of the leading firms that aided 
the struggling treasury department in that 
critical hour, and his reward was great. In 
addition to the vast wealth it brought, 
President Lincoln and Secretary Chase 
both wrote important letters, acknowledging 
his valued service. In 1873, by the repu- 
diation of the bonded indebtedness of the 
state of Georgia, Mr. Clews lost six million 
dollars which he had invested in those se- 
curities. It is said that he is the only man, 
with one exception, in Wall street, v,'ho 
ever regained great wealth after utter dis- 
aster. His " Twenty-Eight Years in Wall 
5treet " has been widely read. 



ALFRED VAIL was one of the men that 
gave to the world the electric telegraph 
and the names of Henry, Morse and Vail 
will forever remain linked as the prime fac- 
tors in that great achievement. Mr. Vail 
was born September 25, 1807, at Morris- 
town, New Jersey, and was a son of Stephen 
Vail, the proprietor of the Speedwell Iron 
Works, near Morristown. At the age of 
seventeen, after he had completed his stud- 
ies at the Morristown Academy, Alfred Vail 
went into the Speedwell Iron Works and 
contented himself with the duties of his 
position until he reached his majority. He 
tiien determined to prepare himself for the 
ministry, and at the age of twenty-five he 
-entered the University of the City of New 



York, where he was graduated in 1836. His 
health becoming impaired he labored for a 
time under much uncertainty as to his future 
course. Professor S. F. B. Morse had come 
to the university in 1835 ^s professor of lit- 
erature and fine arts, and about this time, 

1837, Professor Gale, occupying the chair 
of chemistry, invited Morse to exhibit his 
apparatus for the benefit of the students. 
On Saturday, September 2, 1837, the exhi- 
bition took place and Vail was asked to at- 
tend, and with his inherited taste for me- 
chanics and knowledge of their construction, 
he saw a great future for the crude mechan- 
ism used by Morse in giving and recording 
signals. Mr. Vail interested his father in 
the invention, and Morse was invited to 
Speedwell and the elder Vail promised to 
help him. It was stipulated that Alfred 
Vail should construct the required apparatus 
and exhibit before a committee of congress, 
the telegraph instrument, and was to receive 
a quarter interest in the invention. Morse 
had devised a series of ten numbered leaden 
types, which were to be operated in giving 
the signal. This was not satisfactory to 
Vail, so he devised an entirely new instru- 
ment, involving a lever, or "point," on a 
radically different principle, which, when 
tested, produced dots and dashes, and de- 
vised the famous dot-and-dash alphabet, 
misnamed the "Morse." At last the ma- 
chine was in working order, on January 6, 

1838. The machine was taken to Wash- 
ington, where it caused not only wonder, 
but excitement. Vail continued his experi- 
ments and devised the lever and roller. 
When the line between Baltimore and 
Washington was completed. Vail was sta- 
tioned at the Baltimore end and received 
the famous first message. It is a remarka- 
ble fact that not a single feature of the 
original invention of Morse, as formulated 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



1 00' 



by his caveat and repeated in his original 
patent, is to be found in Vaii's apparatus. 
From 1S37 to 1844 it was a combination of 
the inventions of Morse, Henry and Vail, 
but the work of Morse fell gradually into 
desuetude, while Vaii's conception of an 
alphabet has remained unchanged for half a 
century. Mr. Vail published but one work, 
"American Electro-Magnetic Telegraph," 
in 1845, and died at Morristovvn at the com- 
paratively early age of fifty-one, on January 
19. 1859- 

ULYSSES S. GRANT, the eighteenth 
president of the United States, was 
born April 27, 1S22, at Point Pleasant, Cler- 
mont county, Ohio. At the age of seven- 
teen he entered the United States Military 
Academy at West Point, from which he 
graduated in June, 1843, ^"^^ was given his 
brevet as second lieutenant and assigned to 
the Fourth Infantry. He remained in the 
service eleven years, in which time he 
was engaged in the Me.xican war with gal- 
lantry, and was thrice brevetted for conduct 
in the field. In 1848 he married Miss Julia 
Dent, and in 1854, having reached the 
grade of captain, he resigned and engaged 
in farming near St. Louis. In 1S60 he en- 
tered the leather business with his father at 
Galena, Illinois. 

On the breaking out of the war, in 1861, 
he commenced to drill a company at Ga- 
lena, and at the same time offered his serv- 
ices to the adjutant-general of the army, 
but he had few influential friends, so re- 
ceived no answer. He was employed by 
the governor of Illinois in the organization 
of the various volunteer regiments, and at 
the end of a few weeks was given the 
colonelcy of the Twenty first Infantry, from 
that state. His military training and knowl- 
edge soon attracted the attention of his su- 



perior officers, and on reporting to General 
Pope in Missouri, the latter put him in 
the way of advancement. August 7, 1S61, 
he was promoted to the rank of brigadier- 
general of volunteers, and for a few weeks 
was occupied in watching the movements of 
partisan forces in Missouri. September i, 
the same year, he was placed in command 
of the Department of Southeast Missouri, 
with headquarters at Cairo, and on the 6th 
of the month, without orders, seized Padu- 
cah, which commanded the channel of the 
Ohio and Tennessee rivers, by which he se- 
cured Kentucky for the Union. He now 
received orders to make a demonstration on 
Belmont, which he did, and v/ith about three 
thousand raw recruits held his own against 
the Confederates some seven thousand 
strong, bringing back about two hundred 
prisoners and two guns. In February,; 1862, 
he moved up the Tennessee river with 
the naval fleet under Commodore Foote. 
The latter' soon silenced Fort Henry, and 
Grant advanced against Fort Donelson aud 
took their fortress and its garrison. His 
prize here consisted of si.xty-five cannon, 
seventeen thousand si.x hundred stand of 
arms, and fourteen thousand si.x hundred 
and twenty-three prisoners. This was the 
first important success won by the Union 
forces. Grant was immediately made a 
major-general and placed in command of 
the district of West Tennessee. In April, 
I S62, he fought the battle of Pittsburg Land- 
ing, and after the evacuation of Corintii by 
the enemy Grant became commander of the 
Department of the Tennessee. He now 
made his first demonstration toward Vicks- 
burg, but owing to the incapacity of subor- 
dinate officers, was unsuccessful. In Janu- 
ary, 1863, he took command of all the 
troops in the Mississippi Valley and devoted 
several months to the siege of Vicksburg, 



156 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



which was finally taken possession of by him 
Julj' 4, with thirty-one thousand six hundred 
prisoners and one hundred and seventy-two 
cannon, thus throwing the Mississippi river 
open to the Federals. He was now raised 
to the rank of major-general in the regular 
army. October following, at the head of 
the Department of the Mississippi, General 
Grant went to Chattanooga, where he over- 
threw the enemy, and united with the Army 
of the Cumberland. The remarkable suc- 
cesses achieved by him pointed Grant out 
for an appropriate commander of all na- 
tional troops, and in February, 1864, the 
rank of lieutenant-general was made for him 
by act of congress. Sending Sherman into 
Georgia, Sigel into the Valley of West Vir- 
ginia and Butler to attempt the capture of 
Richmond he fought his way through the 
Wilderness to the James and pressed the 
siege of the capital of the Confederacy. 
After the fall of the latter Grant pressed 
the Confederate army so hard that their 
commander surrendered at Appomattox 
Court House, April 9, 1865. This virtually 
ended the war. 

After the war the rank of general was 
conferred upon U. S. Grant, and in 1868 he 
was elected president of the United States, 
and re-elected his own successor in 1872. 
After the expiration of the latter term he 
made his famous tour of the world. He died 
at Mt. McGregor, near Saratoga, New York, 
July 23, 1885, and was buried at Riverside 
Park, New York, where a magnificent tomb 
has been erected to hold the ashes of the 
nation's hero. 



JOHN MARSHALL, the fourth chief jus- 
tice of the United States supreme court, 
was born in Germantown, Virginia, Septem- 
ber 24, 1755. His father. Colonel Thomas 
Marshall, served with distinction in the Rev- 



olutionary war, while he also served from 
the beginning of the war until 1779, where 
he became noted in the field and courts 
martial. While on detached service he at- 
tended a course of law lectures at William 
and Marj' College, delivered by Mr. Wythe, 
and was admitted to the bar. The next year 
he resigned his commission and began his 
career as a lawyer. He was a distinguished 
member of the convention called in Virginia 
to ratify the Federal constitution. He was 
tendered the attorney-generalship of the 
United States, and also a place on the su- 
preme bench, besides other places of less 
honor, all of which he declined. He 
went to France as special envoy in 1798, 
and the next year was elected to congress. 
He served one year and was appointed, first, 
secretary of war, and then secretary of state, 
and in 1801 was made chief justice of the 
United States. He held this high office un- 
til his death, in 1835. 

Chief Justice Marshall's early education 
was neglected, and his opinions, the most 
valuable in existence, are noted for depth 
of wisdom, clear and comprehensive reason- 
ing, justice, and permanenc}', rather than for 
wide learning and scholarly construction. 
His decisions and rulings are resorted to 
constantly by our greatest lawyers, and his 
renown as a just juds^e and profound jurist 
was world wide. 



LAWRENCE BARRETT is perhaps 
known more widely as a producer of 
new plays than as a great actor. He was 
born in Paterson, New Jersey, in 1838, and 
educated himself as best he could, and at 
the age of sixteen years became salesman 
for a Detroit dry goods house. He after- 
wards began to go upon the stage as a 
supernumerary, and his ambition was soon 
rewarded by the notice of the management. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



157 



During the war of the Rebellion he was a 
soldier, and after valiant service for his 
country he returned to the stage. He went 
to Europe and appeared in Liverpool, and 
returning in 1869, he began playing at 
Booth's theater, with Mr. Booth. He was 
afterward associated with John McCullough 
in the management of the California 
theater. Probably the most noted period 
of his work was during his connection with 
Edwin Booth as manager of that great 
actor, and supporting him upon the stage. 
Mr. Barrett was possessed of the crea- 
tive instinct, and, unlike Mr. Booth, he 
sought new fields for the display of his 
genius, and only resorted to traditional 
drama in response to popular demand. He 
preferred new plays, and believed in the 
encouragement of modern dramatic writers, 
and was the only actor of prominence in his 
time that ventured to put upon the stage 
new American plays, which he did at his 
own expense, and the success of his experi- 
ments proved the quality of his judgment. 
He died March 21, 1891. 



ARCHBISHOP JOHN HUGHES, a cel- 
ebrated Catholic clergyman, was born 
at Annaboghan, Tyrone county, Ireland, 
June 24, 1797, and emigrated to America 
when twenty years of age, engaging for 
some time as a gardener and nurseryman. 
In 1 8 19 he entered St. Mary's College, 
where he secured an education, paying his 
way by caring for the college garden. In 
I 82 5 he was ordained a deacon of the Ro- 
man Catholic church, and in the same year, 
a priest. Until 1838 he had pastoral charges 
in Philadelphia, where he founded St. John's 
As}lum in 1829, and a few years later es- 
tablished the "Catholic Herald." In 1838 
he was made bishop of Basileopolis in parti- 
hus and coadjutor to Bishop Dubois, of 



New York, and in 1842 became bishop of 
New York. In 1839 he founded St. John's 
College, at Fordham. In 1850 he was 
made archbishop of New York. In 186 1-2 
he was a special agent of the United States 
in Europe, after which he returned to this 
country and remained until his death, Jan- 
uary 3, 1864. Archbishop Hughes early 
attracted much attention by his controver- 
sial correspondence with Rev. John Breck- 
inridge in 1833-35. He was a man of great 
ability, a fluent and forceful writer and an 
able preacher. 

RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES 
was the nineteenth president of the 
United States and served from 1877 to iS8i. 
He was born October 4, 1822, at Delaware, 
Ohio, and his ancestry can be traced back 
as far as 1280, when Hayes and Rutherford 
ware two Scottish chieftans fighting side by 
side with Baliol, William Wallace and 
Robert Bruce. The Hayes family had for 
a coat of arms, a shield, barred and sur- 
mounted by a flying eagle. There was a 
circle of stars about the eagle, while on a 
scroll underneath was their inotto, ' 'Recte. " 
Misfortune overtook the family and in 16S0 
George Hayes, the progenitor of the Ameri- 
can family, came to Connecticut and settled 
at Windsor. Rutherford B. Hayes was 
a very delicate child at his birth and was 
not expected to live, but he lived in spite of 
all and remained at home until he was 
seven years old, when he was placed in 
school. He wasa verytractablepupil, being 
always very studious, and in 1S38 entered 
Kenyon College, graduating from the same 
in 1842. He then took up the study of law 
in the office of Thomas Sparrow at Colum- 
bus, but in a short time he decided to enter 
a law school at Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
where for two years he was immersed in the 



IDS 



COMPENDIUM OF BJOGRAPHT. 



study of law. Mr. Hayes was admitted to 
the bar in 1845 in Marietta, Ohio, and very 
soon entered upon the active practice of his 
profession with Ralph P. Buckland, of 
Fremont, Ohio. He remained there three 
years, and in 1849 removed to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, where his ambition found a new 
stimulus. Two events occurred at this 
period tiiat had a powerful influence on his 
after life. One was his marriage to Miss 
Lucy Ware Webb, and the other was his 
introduction to a Cincinnati literary club, 
a body embracing such men as Salmon P. 
Chase, John Pope, and Edward F. Noyes. 
In 1856 he was nominated for judge of the 
court of common pleas, but declined, and 
two years later he was appointed city 
solicitor. At the outbreak of the Rebellion 
Mr. Hayes was appointed major of the 
Twenty-third Ohio Infantry, June 7, 1861, 
and in July the regiment was ordered to 
Virginia, and October 15, i86i,saw him 
promoted to the lieutenant-Colonelcj' of his 
regiment. He was made colonel of the 
Seventy-ninth Ohio Infantry, but refused to 
leave his old comrades; and in the battle of 
South Mountain he was v.'ounded very 
severely and was unable to rejoin his regi- 
ment until November 30, 1862. He had 
been promoted to the colonelcy of the 
regiment on October 15, 1862. In the 
following December he was appointed to 
command the Kanawa division and was 
given the rank of brigadier-general for 
meritorious services in several battles, and 
in 1864 he was brevetted major-general for 
distinguished services in 1864, during 
which campaign he was wounded several 
times and five horses had been shot under 
him. Mr. Hayes' first venture in politics 
was as a Whig, and later he was one of the 
first to unite with the Republican party. In 
1864 he was elected from the Second Ohio 



district to congress, re-elected in 1866, 
and in 1867 was elected governor of Ohio 
over Allen G. Thurman, and was re-elected 
in 1869. Mr. Hayes was elected to the 
presidency in 1876, for the term of four 
years, and at its close retired to private life, 
and went to his home in Fremont, Ohio, 
where he died on January 17, 1893. 



WILLIAM JENNINGS BRYAN became 
a celebrated character as the nominee 
of the Democratic and Populist parties for 
president of the United States in 1896. He 
was born March 19, i860, at Salem, Illi- 
nois. He received his early education in 
the public schools of his native county, and 
later on he attended the Whipple Academy 
at Jacksonville. He also took a course in 
Illinois College, and after his graduation 
from the same went to Chicago to study 
law, and entered tlie Union College of Law 
as a student. He was associated with 'the 
late Lyman Trumbull, of Chicago, during 
his law studies, and devoted considerable 
time to the questions of government. He 
graduated from the college, was admitted to 
the bar, and went to Jacksonville, Illinois, 
where he was married to Miss Mary Eliza- 
beth Baird. In 1887 Mr. Bryan removed 
to Lincoln, Nebraska, and formed a law 
partnership with Adolphus R. Talbot. He 
entered the field of politics, and in iSSS 
was sent as a delegate to the state con- 
vention, which was to choose delegates to 
the national convention, during which he 
made a speech which immediately won him 
a high rank in political affairs. He declined, 
in the next state convention, a nomination 
for lieutenant-governor, and in 1890 he was 
elected congressman from the First district 
of Nebraska, and was the youngest member 
of the fifty-second congress. He cham- 
pioned the Wilson tariff bill, and served 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



159 



three terms in the house of representatives. 
He next ran for senator, but was defeated 
by John M. Thurston, and in 1896 he was 
selected by the Democratic and Populist 
parties as their nominee for the presidency, 
being defeated by William McKinley. 



Wl 



ARVIN HUGHITT, one of America's 
mous railroad men, was born in 
Genoa, New York, and entered the railway 
service in 1856 as superintendent of tele- 
graph and trainmaster of the St. Louis, Al- 
ton & Chicago, now Chicago & Alton Rail- 
road. Mr. Hughitt was superintendent of 
the southern division of the Illinois Central 
Railroad from 1862 until 1864, and was, later 
on, the general superintendent of the road 
until 1870. He was then connected with 
the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Rail- 
road as assistant general manager, and re- 
tained this position until 1871, when he be- 
came the general manager of Pullman's 
Palace Car Company. In 1872 he was made 
general superintendent of the Chicago & 
Northwestern Railroad. He served during 
1876 and up to 1880 as general manager, 
and from 18S0 until 1887 as vice-presi- 
dent and general manager. He was elected 
president of the road in 1887, in recog- 
nition of his ability in conducting the 
affairs of the road. He was also chosen 
president of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minne- 
apolis & Omaha Railway; the Fremont, Elk- 
horn & Missouri Valley Railroad, and the 
Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western Railroad, 
and his services in these capacities stamped 
him as one of the most able railroad mana- 
gers of his day. 



JOSEPH MEDILL, one of the most 
kJ eminent of American journalists, was 
born in New Brunswick, Canada, April 6, 
1823. In 1S31 his father moved to Stark 



county, Ohio, and until 1841 Joseph Medill 
worked on his father's farm. Later he 
studied law, and began the practice of that 
profession in 1846 at New Philadelphia,. 
Ohio. But the newspaper field was more 
attractive to Mr. Medill, and three years 
later he founded a free-soil Whig paper at 
Coshocton, Ohio, and after that time jour- 
nalism received all his abilities. "The 
Leader," another free-soil Whig paper, was 
founded by Mr. Medill at Cleveland in 1852. 
In that city he also became one of the first 
organizers of the Republican party. Shortly 
after that event he removed to Chicago and 
in 1853, with two partners, he purchased 
the " Chicago Tribune." In the contest for 
the nomination for the presidency in i860, 
Mr. Medill worked with unflagging zeal for 
Mr. Lincoln, his warm personal friend, and 
was one of the president's stanchest sup- 
porters during the war. Mr. Medill was a 
member of the Illinois Constitutional con- 
vention in 1870. President Grant, in 1871, 
appointed the editor a member of the first 
United States civil service commission, and 
the following year, after the fire, he was 
elected mayor of Chicago by a great ma- 
jority. During 1873 and 1874 Mr. Medill 
spent a year in Europe. Upon his return 
he purchased a controlling interest in the 
" Chicago Tribune." 



CLAUSSPRECKELS, the great " sugar 
baron, " and one. of the most famous 
representatives of commercial life in Amer- 
ica, was born in Hanover, German}', and 
emigrated to the United States in 1840, 
locating in New York. He very soon be- 
came the proprietor of a small retail gro-^ 
eery store on Church street, and embarked 
on a career that has since astonished the 
world. He sold out his business and went 
to California with the argonauts of 1849, 



160 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPI/r. 



not as a prospector, but as a trader, and for 
3'ears after his arrival on the coast he was 
still engaged as a grocer. At length, after a 
quarter of a century of fairly prosperous 
business life, he found himself in a position 
where an ordinary man would have retired, 
but Mr. Spreckles did not retire; he had 
merely been gathering capital for the real 
work of his life. His brothers had followed 
him to California, and in combination with 
them he purchased for forty thousand dollars 
an interest in the Albany Brewery in San 
Francisco. But the field was not extensive 
-enough for the development of his business 
abilities, so Mr. Sprecklas branched out 
■extensively in the sugar business. He suc- 
ceeded in securing the entire output of 
sugar that was produced on the Sand- 
•■wich Islands, and after 1885 was known as 
the "Sugar King of Sandv/ich Islands." 
He controlled absolutely the sugar trade of 
;the Pacific coast which was known to be 
:not less than ten million dollars a year. 



CHARLES HENRY PARKHURST, 
famous as a clergyman, and for many 
years president of the Society for the 
Prevention of Crime, was born April 17, 
1842, at Framingham, Massachusetts, of 
English descent. At the age of sixteen 
he was pupil in the grammar school at 
Clinton, Massachusetts, and for the ensu- 
ing two years was a clerk in a dry goods 
■store, which position 'he gave up to prepare 
'"himself for college at Lancaster academy. 
■Mr. Parkhurst went to Amherst in 1862, 
'and after taking a thorough course he gradu- 
ated in 1866, and in 1867 became the prin- 
cipal of the Amherst High School. He re- 
•tained this position until 1870, when he 
visited Germany with the intention of tak- 
ing a course in philosophy and theology, 
-but was forced to abandon this intention on 



account of illness in the family causing his 
early return from Europe. He accepted the 
chair of Latin and Greek in Williston Semi- 
nary, Easthampton, Massachusetts, and re- 
mained there two years. He tlien accom- 
panied his wife to Europe, and devoted two 
years to study in Halle, Leipsic and Bonn. 
Upon his return home he spent considerable 
time in the study of Sanscrit, and in 1S74 
he became the pastor of the First Congrega- 
tional church at Lenox, Massachusetts. He 
gained here his reputation as a pulpit ora- 
tor, and on March 9, 1880, he became the 
pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian 
church of New York. He was, in 1890, 
made a member of the Society for the Pre- 
vention of Crime, and the same year be- 
came its president. He delivered a sermon 
in 1892 on municipal corruption, for which 
he was brought before the grand jury, which 
body declared his charges to be without suffi- 
cient foundation. But the matter did not end 
here, for he immediately went to work on a 
second sermon in which he substantiated his 
former sermon and wound up by saying, 
"I know, for I have seen." He was again 
summoned before that august bodj', and as 
a result of his testimony and of the investi- 
gation of the jurors themselves, the police 
authorities were charged with incompetency 
and corruption. Dr. Parkhurst was the 
author of the following works: "The Forms 
of the Latin Verb, Illustrated by Sanscrit," 
"The Blind Man's Creed and Other Ser- 
mons," "The Pattern on the Mount," and 
" Three Gates on a Side." 



HENRY BERGH. although a writer, 
diplomatist and government official, 
was noted as a philanthropist — the founder 
of the American Society for the Prevention 
of Cruelty to Animals. On his labors for 
the dumb creation alone rests his fame. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



161 



Alone, in the face of indifference, opposition 
and ridicule, he began the reform which is 
now recognized as one of the beneficent 
movements of the age. Through his exer- 
tions as a speaker and lecturer, but above 
all as a bold worker, in the street, in the 
court room, before the legislature, the cause 
he adopted gained friends and rapidly in- 
creased in power until it has reached im- 
mense proportions and influence. The work 
of the society covers all cases of cruelty to 
all sorts of animals, employs every moral 
agency, social, legislative and personal, and 
touches points of vital concern to health as 
well as humanity. 

Henry Bergh was born in New York 
City in 1823, and was educated at Colum- 
bia College. In 1863 he was made secre- 
tary of the legation to Russia and also 
served as vice-consul there. He also de- 
voted some time to literary pursuits and was 
the author of "Love's Alternative," a 
drama; "Married Off," a poem; "'The 
Portentous Telegram, " "The Ocean Para- 
gon;" "The Streets of New York," tales 
and sketches. 



HENRY BENJAMIN WHIPPLE, one 
of the most eminent of American di- 
vines, was born in Adams, Jefferson county. 
New York, February 15, 1822. He was 
brought up in the mercantile business, and 
early in life took an active interest in polit- 
ical affairs. In 1847 he became a candidate 
for holy orders and pursued theological 
studies with Rev. W. D. Wilson, D. D., 
afterward professor in Cornell University. 
He was ordained deacon in 1849, in Trinity 
church, Geneva, New York, by Rt. Rev. 
W. H. De Lancey, D. D., and took charge 
of Zion church, Rome, New York, Decem- 
ber I, 1849. In 1850, our subject was or- 
dained priest by Bishop De Lancey. In 



1857 he became rector of the Church of the 
Holy Communion, Chicago. On the 30th 
of June, 1859, he was chosen bishop of 
Minnesota, and took charge of the interests 
of the Episcopal church in that state, being 
located at Faribault. In i860 Bishop 
Whipple, with Revs. I. L. Breck, S. W. 
Mauncey and E. S. Peake, organized the 
Bishop Seabury Affission, out of which has 
grown the Cathedral of Our Merciful Savior, 
the Seabury Divinity School, Shattuck 
School and St. Mary's Hall, which have 
made Faribault City one of the greatest 
educational centersof the northwest. Bishop 
Whipple also became noted as the friend 
and defender of the North American In- 
dians and planted a number of successful 
missions among them. 



EZRA CORNELL was one of the greatest 
philanthropists and friends of education 
the country has known. He was born at 
Westchester Landing, New York, January 
II, 1807. He grew to manhood in his na- 
tive state and became a prominent figure in 
business circles as a successful and self-made 
man. Soon after the invention of the elec- 
tric telegraph, he devoted his attention to 
that enterprise, and accumulated an im- 
mense fortune. In 1865, by a gift of five 
hundred thousand dollars, he made possible 
the founding of Cornell University, which 
was named in his honor. He afterward 
made additional bequests amountingto many 
hundred thousand dollars. His death oc- 
curred at Ithaca, New York, December 9, 
1874- 

IGNATIUS DONNELLY, widely known 
1 as an author and politician, was born in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 3, 
1831. He was educated at the public 
schools of that city, and graduated from the 



162 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



Central High School in 1849. He studied 
law in the office of Judge B. H. Brewster, 
and was admitted to the bar in 1852. In 
the spring of 1856, Mr. Donnelly emigrated 
to Minnesota, then a new territory, and, at 
Hastings, resumed the practice of law in 
partnership with A. M. Hayes. In 1857, 
and again in 1858, he was defeated for state 
senator, but in 1859 he was elected by the 
Republicans as lieutenant-governor, and re- 
elected in 1 86 1. In 1862 he was elected to 
represent the Second district of Minnesota 
in congress. He was re-elected to the same 
office in 1864 and in 1866. He was an 
abolitionist and warmly supported President 
Lincoln's administration, but was strongly 
in favor of leniency toward the people of 
the south, after the war. In many ways he 
was identified with some of the best meas- 
ures brought before the house during his 
presence there. In the spring of 1868, at 
the request of the Republican national com- 
mittee, he canvassed New Hampshire and 
Connecticut in the interests of that party. 
E. B. Washburne about this time made an 
attack on Donnelly in one of the papers of 
Minnesota, which was replied to on the floor 
of the house by a fierce philiipic that will 
long be remembered. Through the inter- 
vention of the Washburne interests Mr. Don- 
nelly failed of a re-election in 1870. In 
1873 he was elected to the state senate from 
Dakota county, and continuously re-elected 
until 1878. In 1886 he was elected mem- 
ber of the house for two years. In later 
years he identified himself with the Popu- 
list party. 

In 1882, Mr. Donnelly became known as 
an author, publishing his first literary work, 
"Atlantis, the Antediluvian World," which 
passed through over twenty-two editions in 
America, several in England, and was trans- 
lated into French. This was followed by 



" Ragnarok, the Age of Fire and Gravel," 
which attained nearly as much celebrity as 
the first, and these two, in the opinion of 
scientific critics, are sufficient to stamp the 
author as a most capable and painstaking 
student of the facts he has collated in them. 
The work by which he gained the greatest 
notoriety, however, was "The Great Cryp- 
togram, or Francis Bacon's Cipher ia the 
Shakespeare Plays." "Csesar's Column," 
" Dr. Huguet," and other works were pub- 
lished subsequently. 



STEVEN V. WHITE, a speculator of 
Wall Street of national reputation, was 
born in Chatham county. North Carolina, 
August I, I S3 1, and soon afterward re- 
moved to Illinois. His home was a log 
cabin, and until his eighteenth year he 
worked on the farm. Then after several 
years of struggle with poverty he graduated 
from Knox College, and went to St. Louis, 
where he entered a wholesale boot and shoe 
house as bookkeeper. He then studied law 
and worked as a reporter for the "Missouri 
Democrat." After his admission to the bar 
he went to New York, in 1865, and became 
a member of the banking house of Marvin 
& White. Mr. White enjoyed the reputa- 
tion of having engineered the only corner 
in Wall Street since Commodore Vander- 
bilt's time. This was the famous Lacka- 
wanna deal in 1883, in which he made a 
profit of two million dollars. He was some- 
times called " Deacon" White, and, though 
a member for many 3'ears of the Plymouth 
church, he never held that office. Mr. 
White was one of the most noted characters 
of the street, and has been called an orator, 
poet, philanthropist, linguist, abolitionist, 
astionomer, schoolmaster, plowboy, and 
trapper. He was a lawyer, e.x-congress- 
man, expert accountant, art critic and theo- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



163 



Idgian. He laid the foundation for a 
"Home for Colored People," in Chatham 
county, North Carolina, where the greater 
part of his father's life was spent, and in 
whose memory the work was undertaken. 



JAMES A. GARFIELD, the twentieth 
president of the United States, was born 
November 19, 1831, in Cuyahoga county, 
Ohio, and was the son of Abram and Eliza 
(Baliou) Garfield. In 1833 the father, an 
industrious pioneer farmer, died, and the 
care of the family devolved upon Thomas, 
to whom James became deeply indebted for 
educational and other advantages. As James 
grew up he was industrious and worked on 
the farm, at carpentering, at chopping wood, 
or anything else he found to do, and in the 
meantime made the most of his books. 

Until he was about sixteen, James' high- 
est ambition was to become a sea captain. 
On attaining that age he walked to 
Cleveland, and, not being able to find work, 
he engaged as a driver on the Ohio & Penn- 
sylvania canal, but quit this after a short 
time. He attended the seminary at Ches- 
ter for about three years, after which he 
entered Hiram Institute, a school started by 
the Disciples of Christ in 1850. In order 
to pay his way he assumed the duties of 
janitor and at times taught school. After 
completing his course at the last named edu- 
cational institution he entered Williams Col- 
lege, from which he graduated in 1856. He 
afterward returned to Hiram College as its 
president. He studied law and was admitted 
to the bar in 1859. November 11, 1858, 
Mr. Garfield and I^ucretia Rudolph were 
married. 

In 1859 Mr. Garfield made his first polit- 
ical speeches, at Hiram and in the neighbor- 
hood. The same year he was elected to the 
state senate. 



On the breaking out of the war, in i86r, 
he became lieutenant-colonel of the Forty- 
second Ohio Infantry, and, while but a new 
soldier, was given command of four regi- 
ments of infantry and eight companies of 
cavalry, with which he drove the Confeder- 
ates under Humphrey Marshall out of Ken- 
tucky. January 11, 1862, he was commis- 
sioned brigadier-general. He participated 
with General Buell in the battle of Shiloh 
and the operations around Corinth, and was 
then detailed as a member of the Fitz John 
Porter court-martial. Reporting to General 
Rosecrans, he was assigned to the position 
of chief of staff, and resigned his position, 
with the rank of major-general, when his 
immediate superior was superseded. In 
the fall of 1862 Mr. Garfield was elected to 
congress and remained in that body, either 
in the house or senate, until 1880. 

June 8, 1880, at the national Republican 
convention, held in Chicago, General Gar- 
field was nominated for the presidency, and 
was elected. He was inaugurated March 
4, 1881, but, July 2, following, he was shot 
and fatally wounded by Charles Guiteau for 
some fancied political slight, and died Sep- 
tember 19, 1 88 1. 



INCREASE MATHER was one of the 
1 most prominent preachers, educators and 
authors of early times in the New England 
states. He was born at Dorchester, Massa- 
chusetts, June 21, 1639, and was given an 
excellent education, graduating at Harvard 
in 1656, and at Trinity College, Dublin, 
two years later. He was ordained a min- 
ister, and preached in England and America, 
and in 1664 became pastor of the North 
church, in Boston. In 1685 he became 
president of Harvard University, serving 
until 1 70 1. Li 1692 he received the first 
doctorate in divinity conferred in English 



164 



COMPENDIUM OF BI0GRAPH2'. 



speaking America. The same year he pro- 
cured in England a new charter for Massa- 
chusetts, which conferred upon himself the 
power of naming the governor, lieutenant- 
governor and council. He opposed the 
severe punishment of witchcraft, and took 
a prominent part in all public affairs of his 
day. He was a prolific writer, and became 
the author of nearly one hundred publica- 
tions, large and small. His death occurred 
August 23, 1723, at Boston. 



COTTON MATHER, a celebrated minis- 
ter in the "Puritan times" of New 
England, was born at Boston, Massachu- 
setts, February 12, 1663, being a son of 
Rev. Increase Mather, and a grandson of 
John Cotton. A biography of his father 
will be found elsewhere in this volume. 
Cotton Mather received his early education 
in his native city, was trained by Ezekiel 
Cheever, and graduated at Harvard College 
in 1678; became a teacher, and in 1684 
was ordained as associate pastor of North 
church, Boston, with his father, having by 
persistent effort overcome an impediment in 
his speech. He labored with great zeal as 
a pastor, endeavoring also, to establish the 
ascendancy of the church and ministry in 
civil affairs, and in the putting down of 
witchcraft by legal sentences, a work in 
which he took an active part and through 
which he is best known in history. He re- 
ceived the degree of D. D. in 17 10, con- 
ferred by the University of Glasgow, and 
F. R. S. in 17 1 3. His death occurred at 
Boston, February 13, 1728. He was the 
author of many publications, among which 
were " Memorable Providences Relating to 
Witchcraft," "Wonders of the Invisible 
World," "Essays to Do Good," " Mag- 
nalia Christi Americana," and " Illustra- 
tions of the Sacred Scriptures." Some of 



these works are quaint and curious, full of 
learning, piety and prejudice. A well- 
known writer, in summing up the life and 
character of Cotton Mather, says: " Mather, 
with all the faults of his early years, was a 
man of great excellence of character. He 
labored zealously for the benefit of the 
poor, for mariners, slaves, criminals and 
Indians. His cruelty and credulity were 
the faults of his age, while his philanthro- 
phy was far more rare in that age than in 
the present." 

WILLIAM A. PEFFER, who won a 
national reputation during the time 
he was in the United States senate, was 
born on a farm in Cumberland county, 
Pennsvlvania, September 10, 1831. He 
drew his education from the public schools 
of his native state and at the age of f.fteen 
taught school in winter, working on a farm 
in the summer. In June, 1853, while yet a 
young man, he removed to Indiana, and 
opened up a farm in St. Joseph county. 
In 1859 he made his way to Missouri and 
settled on a farm in Morgan county, but on 
account of the war and the unsettled state 
of the country, he moved to Illinois in Feb- 
ruary, 1862, and enlisted as a private in 
Company F, Eighty-third Illinois Infantry, 
the following August. He was promoted 
to the rank of second lieutenant in 
March, 1863, and served successively as 
quartermaster, adjutant, post adjutant, 
judge advocate of a military commission, 
and depot quartermaster in the engineer 
department at Nashville. He was mustered 
out of the service June 26, 1865. He had, 
during his leisure hours while in the army, 
studied law, and in August, 1865, he com- 
menced the practice of that profession at 
Clarksville, Tennessee. He removed to 
Kansas in 1870 and practiced there until 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



165 



1878, in the meantime establishing and 
conducting two newspapers, the " Fredonia 
Journal " and " Coffey ville Journal." 

Mr. Peffer was elected to the state senate 
in 1874 and was a prominent and influential 
member of several important committees. 
He served as a presidential elector in 1880. 
The year following he became editor of the 
" Kansas Farmer," which he made a promi- 
nent and useTul paper. In 1890 Mr. Peffer 
was elected to the United States senate as 
a member of the People's party and took 
his seat March 4, 1891. After si.x years of 
service Senator Peffer was succeeded in 
March, 1897, by William A. Harris. 



ROBERT MORRIS.— The name of this 
financier, statesman and patriot is 
closely connected with the early history of 
the United States. He was a native of 
England, born January 20, 1734, and came 
to America with his father when thirteen 
years old. Until 1754 he served in the 
counting house of Charles Willing, then 
formed a partnership with that gentleman's 
son, which continued with great success until 
1793. In 1776 Mr. Morris was a delegate 
to the Continental congress, and, although 
once voting against the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, signed that paper on its adop- 
tion, and was several times thereafter re- 
elected to congress. During the Revolu- 
tionary war the services of Robert Morris 
in aiding the government during its finan- 
cial difficulties were of incalculable value; he 
freely pledged his personal credit for sup- 
plies for the army, atone time to the amount 
of about one and a half million dollars, with- 
out which the campaign of 1781 would have 
been almost impossible. Mr. Morris was 
appointed superintendent of finance in 1781 
and served until 1784, continuing to employ 
his personal credit to facilitate the needs of 



his department. He also served as mem- 
ber of the Pennsylvania legislature, and 
from 1786 to 1795 was United States sena- 
tor, declining meanwhile the position of sec- 
retary of the treasury, and suggesting the 
name of Alexander Hamilton, who was ap- 
pointed to that post. During the latter 
part of his life Mr. Morris was engaged ex- 
tensively in the China trade, and later be- 
came involved in land speculations, which 
ruined him, so that the remaining days of 
this noble man and patriot were passed 
in confinement for debt. His death occurred 
at Philadelphia, May 8, 1806. 



WILLIAM SHARON, a senator and 
capitalist, and mine owner of na- 
tional reputation, was born at Smithfield, 
Ohio, January 9, 1821. He was reared 
upon a farm and in his boyhood given excel- 
lent educational advantages and in 1842 
entered Athens College. He remained in 
that institution about two years, after which 
he studied law with Edwin M. Stanton, and 
was admitted to the bar at St. Louis and 
commenced practice. " His health failing, 
however, he abandoned his profession and 
engaged in mercantile pursuits at Carrollton, 
Greene county, Illinois. During the time 
of the gold excitement of 1849, Mr. Sharon 
went to California, whither so many went, 
and engaged in business at Sacramento. 
The next year he removed to San Francisco, 
where he operated in real estate. Being 
largely interested in its silver mines, he re- 
moved to Nevada, locating at Virginia City, 
and acquired an immense fortune. He be- 
came one of the trustees of the Bank of 
California, and during the troubles that 
arose on the death of William Ralston, the 
president of that institution, was largely in- 
strumental in bringing its affairs into a satis- 
factory shape. 



166 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



Mr. Sharon was elected to represent the 
state of Nevada in the United States senate 
in 1875, and remained a member of that 
body until 1881. He was always distin- 
guished for close application to business. 
Senator Sharon died November 13, 1885. 



HENRY W. SHAW, an American hu- 
morist who became celebrated under 
the nou-de-phtmc of " Josh Billings," gained 
his fame from the witticism of his writing, 
and peculiar eccentricity of style and spell- 
ing. He was born at Lanesborough, Mas- 
sachusetts, in 18 1 8. For twenty-five years 
he lived in different parts of the western 
states, following various lines of busmess, 
including farming and auctioneering, and in 
the latter capacity settled at Poughkeepsie, 
New York, in 1858. In 1863 he began 
writing humorous sketches for the news- 
papers over the signature of "Josh Bill- 
ings," and became immediately popular 
both as a writer and lecturer. He pub- 
lished a number of volumes of comic 
sketches and edited an " Annual Allminax " 
for a number of years, which had a wide cir- 
culation. His death occurred October 14, 
1885, at Montere)', California. 



JOHN M. THURSTON, well known 
throughout this country as a senator 
and political leader, was born at Mont- 
pelier, Vermont, August 21, 1847, of ^-^ 
old Puritan family which dated back their 
ancestry in this countrj' to 1636, and among 
•whom were soldiers of the Revolution and 
.of the war of 18 12-15. 

Young Thurston was brought west by 
the family in 1854, they settling at Madison, 
Wisconsin, and two years later at Beaver 
Dam, where John M. received his schooling 
in the public schools and at Wayland Uni- 
versity. His father enlisted as a private iii 



the First Wisconsin Cavalry and died while 
in the service, in the spring of 1863. 

Young Thurston, thrown on his own 
resources while attaining an education, sup- 
ported himself by farm work, driving team 
and at other manual labor. He studied law 
and was admitted to the bar May 21, 1S69, 
and in October of the same year located in 
Omaha, Nebraska. He was elected a 
member of the city council in 1872, city 
attorney in 1874 and a member of the Ne- 
braska legislature in 1874. He was a mem- 
ber of the Republican national convention 
of 1884 and temporary chairman of that of 
1888. Taking quite an interest in the 
younger members of his party he was instru- 
mental in forming the Republican League 
of the United States, of which he was presi- 
dent for two years. He was then elected a 
member of the United States senate, in 
1895, to represent the state of Nebraska. 

As an attorney John M. Thurston occu- 
pied a very prominent place, and for a num- 
ber of years held the position of general 
solicitor of the Union Pacific railroad sys- 
tem. 



JOHN JAMES AUDUBON, a celebrated 
American naturalist, was born in Louis- 
iana, May 4, 1780, and was the son of an 
opulent French naval officer who owned a 
plantation in the then French colony. In 
his childhood he became deeply interested 
in the study of birds and their habits. About 
1794 he was sent to Paris, France, where 
he was partially educated, and studied de- 
signing under the famous painter, Jacques 
Louis David. He returned to the Unit- 
ed States about 1798, and settled on a 
farm his father gave him, on the Perkiomen 
creek in eastern Pennsylvania. He mar- 
ried Lucy Bakewell in 1808, and, disposing 
of his property, removed to Louisville, Ken- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



167 



tuck}', where he engaged in mercantile pur- 
suits. About two years later he began to 
make extensive excursions through the pri- 
meval forests of the southern and south- 
western states, in the exploration of which 
he passed many years. He made colored 
drawings of all the species of birds that he 
found. For several years he made his home 
with his wife and children at Henderson, on 
the Ohio river. It is said that about this 
time he had failed in business and Vv'as re- 
duced to poverty, but kept the wolf from the 
door by giving dancing lessons and in portrait 
painting. In 1824, at Philadelphia, he met 
Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who encouraged 
him to publish a work on ornithology. Two 
years later he went to England and com- 
menced the publication of his great work, 
"The Birds of America." He obtained a 
large number of subscribers at one thousand 
dollars a copy. This work, embracing five 
volumes of letterpress and five volumes of 
beautifully colored plates, was pronounced 
by Cuvier " the most magnificent monument 
that art ever raised to ornithology." 

Audubon returned to America in 1829, 
and explored the forests, lakes and coast 
from Canada to Florida, collecting material 
for another work. This was his " Ornitho- 
logical Biography; or, An Account of the 
Habits of the Birds of the United States, 
Etc." He revisited England in 1831, and 
returned in 1839, after which he resiaed on 
the Hudson, near New York City, in which 
place he died January 27, 1S51. During 
his life he issued a cheaper edition of his 
great work, and was, in association with 
Dr. Bachman, preparing a work on the 
quadrupeds of North America. 



the superior British squadron, under Com- 
modore Do wnie, September II, 18 14. Com- 
modore McDonough was born in Newcastle 
county, Delaware, December 23, 1783, and 
when seventeen years old entered the 
United States navy as midshipman, serving 
in the expedition to Tripoli, under Decatur, 
in 1803-4. In 1807 he was promoted to 
lieutenant, and in July, 1813, was made a 
commander. The following year, on Lake 
Champlain, he gained the celebrated victory 
above referred to, for which he was again 
promoted; also received a gold medal from 
congress, and from the state of Vermont an 
estate on Cumberknd Head, in view of the 
scene of the engagement. His death oc- 
curred at sea, November 16, 1825, while he 
was returning from the command of the 
Mediterranean squadron. 



COMMODORE THOMAS McDON- 
OUGH gained his principal fame from 
he celebrated victory which he gained over 



CHARLES FRANCIS HALL, one of 
America's most celebrated arctic ex- 
plorers, was born in Rochester, New Hamp- 
shire, in 1 82 1. He was a blacksmith by 
trade, and located in Cincinnati, where later 
he became a journalist. For several years 
he devoted a great deal of attention to cal- 
orics. Becoming interested in the fate of the 
explorer. Sir John Franklin, he joined the 
expedition fitted out by Henry Grinnell and 
sailed in the ship "George Henry, " under 
Captain Buddington, which left New Lon- 
don, Connecticut, in i860. He returned in 
1862, and two years later published his 
" Arctic Researches." He again joined the 
expedition fitted out by Mr. Grinnell, and 
sailed in the ship, " Monticello," under 
Captain Buddington, this time remaining in 
the arctic region over four years. On his 
return he brought back many evidences of 
having found trace of Franklin. 

In 1 87 1 the " Polaris " was fitted out by 
the United States government, and Captaia 



108 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



Hall again sailed for the polar regions. He 
died in Greenland in October, 1871, and the 
"Polaris" was finally abandoned by the 
crew, a portion of which, under Captain 
Tyson, drifted with the icebergs for one 
hundred and ninety-five days, until picked 
up by the " Tigress," on the 30th of April, 
1873. The other portion of the crew built 
boats, and, after a perilous voyage, were 
picked up in June, 1873, by a whaling vessel. 



OLIVER ELLSWORTH, the third chief 
justice of the United States, was born 
at Windsor, Connecticut, April 29, 1745. 
After graduating from Princeton, he took 
up the study of law, and was licensed 
to practice in 177 1. In 1777 he was elected 
as a delegate to the Continental congress. 
He was judge of the superior court of his 
state in 1784, and was chosen as a delegate 
to the constitutional convention in 1787. 
He sided with the Federalists, was elected 
to the United States senate in 1789, and 
was a firm supporter of Washington's policy. 
He won great distinction in that body, and 
was appointed chief justice of the supreme 
court of the United States by Washington 
in 1796. The relations between this coun- 
try and France having become violently 
strained, he was sent to Paris as envoy ex- 
traordinary in 1799, and was instrumental 
in negotiating the treaty that averted war. 
He resigned the following year, and was suc- 
ceeded by Chief Justice Marshall. His 
death occurred November 26, 18.07. 



M' 



ELLVILLE WESTON FULLER, an 

eminent American jurist and chief 
justice of the United States supreme court, 
was born in Augusta, Maine, in 1833. His 
education was looked after in boyhood, and 
at the age of si.xteen he entered Bowdoin 
College, and on graduation entered the law 



department of Harvard University. He then 
entered the law office of his uncle at Ban- 
gor, Maine, and soon after opened an office 
for the practice of law at Augusta. He was 
an alderman from his ward, city attorney, 
and editor of the " Age," a rival newspaper 
of the "Journal," which was conducted by 
James G. Blaine. He soon decided to re- 
move to Chicago, then springing into notice 
as a western metropolis. He at once iden- 
tified hirriself with the interests of the 
new city, and by this means acquired an 
experience that fitted him for his future 
work. He devoted himself assiduously to 
his profession, and had the good fortune to 
connect himself with the many suits grow- 
ing out of the prorogation of the Illinois 
legislature in 1863. It was not long before 
he became one of the foremost lawyers in 
Chicago. He made a three days' speech in 
the heresy trial of Dr. Cheney, which added 
to his fame. He was appointed chief jus- 
tice of the United States by President Cleve- 
land in 1888, the youngest man who ever 
held that exalted position. His income from 
his practice had for many years reached 
thirty thousand dollars annually. 



CHESTER ALLEN ARTHUR, twenty- 
first president of the United States, was 
born in Franklin county, Vermont, Octo- 
ber 5, 1830. He was educated at Union 
College, Schenectady, New York, from 
which he graduated with honor, and en- 
gaged in teaching school. After two years 
he entered the law office of Judge E. D. 
Culver, of New York, as a student. He was 
admitted to the bar, and formed a partner- 
ship with an old room-mate, Henry D. Gar- 
diner, with the intention of practicing law 
in the west, but after a few months' search 
for a location, they returned to New York 
and opened an office, and at once entered 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPIir. 



1G9 



upon a profitable practice. He was shortly 
afterwards married to a daughter of Lieu- 
tenant Herndon, of the United States navy. 
Mrs. Arthur died shortly before his nomina- 
tion for the vice-presidency. In 1856 a 
colored woman in New York was ejected 
from a street car and retained Mr. Arthur 
in a suit against the company, and obtained 
a verdict of five hundred dollars. It result- 
ed in a general order by all superintendents 
of street railways in the city to admit col- 
ored people to the cars. 

Mr. Arthur was a delegate to the first 
Republican national convention, and was 
appointed judge-advocate for the Second 
Brigade of New York, and then chief engi- 
neer of Governor Morgan's staff. At the 
close of his term he resumed the practice of 
law in New York. In 1872 he was made 
collector of the port of New York, which 
position he held four years. At the Chi- 
cago convention in 1880 Mr. Arthur was 
nominated for the vice-presidency with 
Garfield, and after an exciting campaign 
was elected. Four months after the inau- 
guration President Garfield was assassinated, 
and Mr. Arthur was called to take the reins 
of government. His administration of 
affairs was generally satisfactory. At its 
close he resumed the practice of law in New 
York. His death occurred November 18, 
1886. 

ISAAC HULL was one of the most con- 
spicuous and prominent naval officers in 
the early history of America. He was born 
at Derby, Connecticut, March 9, 1775, be- 
ing the son of a Revolutionary officer. Isaac 
Hull early in life became a mariner, and 
when nineteen years of age became master 
of a merchant ship in the London trade. 
In 1798 he became a lieutenant in the United 

States navy, and three years later was made 
10 



first lieutenant of the frigate ' ' Constitution. " 
He distinguished himself by skill and valor 
against the French on the coast of Hayti, and 
served with distinction in the Barbary expe- 
ditions. July 12, 1S12, he sailed from 
Annapolis, in command of the "Constitu- 
tion, " and for three days was pursued by a 
British squadron of five ships, from which 
he escaped by bold and ingenious seaman- 
ship. In August of the same year he cap- 
tured the frigate " Guerriere," one of his 
late pursuers and for this, the first naval 
advantage of that war, he received a gold 
medal from congress. Isaac Hull was later 
made naval commissioner and had command 
of various navy yards. His death occurred 
February 13, 1843, at Philadelphia. 



M 



ARCUS ALONZO HANNA, famous 
as a prominent business man, political 
manager and senator, was born in New Lis- 
bon, Columbiana county, Ohio, September 
24, 1837. He removed with his father's 
family to Cleveland, in the same state, in 
1852, and in the latter city, and in the 
Western Reserve College, at Hudson, Ohio, 
received his education. He became an em- 
ploye of the wholesale grocery house of 
Hanna, Garrettson & Co., his father being 
the senior member of the firm. The latter 
died in 1862, and Marcus represented his 
interest until 1867, when the business was 
closed up. 

Our subject then became a member of 
the firm of Rhodes & Co., engaged in the 
iron and coal business, but at the expira- 
tion of ten years this firm was changed to 
that of M. A. Hanna & Co. Mr. Hanna 
was long identified with the lake carrying 
business, being interested in vessels on the 
lakes and in the construction of them. As 
a director of the Globe Ship Manufacturing 
Company, of Cleveland, president of the 



170 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRArHV 



Union National Bank, of Cleveland, president 
of the Cleveland City Railway Company, 
and president of the Chapin Mining Com- 
pany, of Lake Superior, he became promi- 
nently identified with the business world. 
He was one of the government directors of 
the Union Pacific Railroad, being appointed 
to that position in 1885 by President Cleve- 
land. 

Mr. Hanna was a delegate to the na- 
tional Republican convention of 1884, which 
was his first appearance in the political 
world. He was a delegate to the con- 
ventions of 1888 and 1S96, and was elect- 
ed chairman of the Republican national 
comm.ittee the latter year, and practically 
managed the campaign of William McKin- 
ley for the presidency. In 1897 Mr. Hunna 
was appointed senator by Governor Bush- 
nell, of Ohio, to fill the vacancy caused by 
the resignation of John Sherman. 



GEORGE PEABODY was one of the 
best known and esteemed of all philan- 
thropists, whose munificent gifts to Ameri- 
can institutions have proven of so much 
benefit to the cause of humanity. He was 
born February 18, 1795, at South Danvers, 
Massachusetts, which is now called Pea- 
body in honor of him. He received but a 
meager education, and during his early life 
he was a mercantile clerk at Thetford, Ver- 
mont, and Newburyport, Massachusetts. In 
1 8 14 he became a partner with Elisha 
Riggs, at Georgetown, District of Columbia, 
and in 1 8 1 5 they moved to Baltimore, Mary- 
land. The business grew to great propor- 
tions, and thej' opened branch houses at 
New York and Philadelphia. Mr. Peabody 
made several vojages to Europe of com- 
mercial importance, and in 1829 became the 
head of the firm, which was then called 
Peabody, Riggs & Co., and in 1838 he re- 



moved to London, England. He retired 
from the firm, and established the cele- 
brated banking house, in which he accumu- 
lated a large fortune. He aided Mr. Grin- 
nell in fitting out Dr. Kane's Arctic e.xpedi- 
tion, in 1852, and founded in the same year 
the Peabody Institute, in his native town, 
which he afterwards endowed with two hun- 
dred thousand dollars. Mr. Peabody visited 
the United States in 1857, and gave three 
hundred thousand dollars for the establish- 
ment at Baltimore of an institute of science, 
literature and fine arts. In 1862 he gave 
two million five hundred thousand dollars 
for the erecting of lodging houses for the 
poor in London, and on another visit to tlie 
United States he gave one hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars to establish at Harvard a 
museum and professorship of American 
archaeology and ethnology, an equal sum for 
the endowment of a department of physical 
science at Yale, and gave the "Southern 
Educational Fund" two million one hundred 
thousand dollars, besides devoting two hun- 
dred thousand dollars to various objects of 
public utility. Mr. Peabody made a final 
visit to the United States in 1S69, and on 
this occasion he raised the endowment of 
the Baltimore Institute one million dollars, 
created the Peabody Museum, at Salem, 
Massachusetts, with a. fund of one hundred 
and fifty thousand dollars, gave sixty thou- 
sand dollars to Washington College, Vir- 
ginia; fifty thousand dollars for a "Peabody 
Museum, " at North Danvers, thirty thousand 
dollars to Phillips Academy, Andover; twen- 
ty-five thousand dollars to Kenyon College, 
Ohio, and twenty thousand dollars to the 
Maryland Historical Societ}'. Mr. Peabody 
also endowed an art school at Rome, in 

1 868. He died in London, November 4, 

1869, less then a month after he had re- 
turned from the United States, and his 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPIir. 



171 



remains were brought to the United States 
and interred in his native town. He made 
several other bequests in his will, and left 
his fainilj' about five million dollars. 



^/|ATTHEW S. QUAY, a celebrated 
1 public man and senator, was born at 
Dillsburgh, York county, Pennsylvania, 
September 30, 1833, of an old Scotch-Irish 
family, some of whom had settled in the 
Keystone state in 1715. Matthew received 
a good education, graduating from the Jef- 
ferson College at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, 
at the age of seventeen. He then traveled, 
taught school, lectured, and studied law 
under Judge Sterrett. He was admitted to 
the bar in 1854, was appointed a prothon- 
otary in 1855 and elected to the same 
office in 1856 and 1859. Later he was 
made lieutenant of the Pennsylvania Re 
serve.=;, lieutenant-colonel and assistant com- 
missary-general of the state, private secre- 
tary of t!ie famous war governor of Pcnns\l- 
vaiiia, Andrew G. Curtin, colonel of the 
One Hundred and Thirty-fourth Pennsylva- 
nia Infantry (nine months men), military 
state agent and held other offices at different 
times. 

Mr. Quay was a member of the house of 
representatives of the state of Pennsylvania 
from 1865 to 1S68. He filled the office of 
secretary of the commonwealth from 1872 
to 1878, and the position of delegate-at- 
large to (he Republican national conventions 
of 1S72, 1876, 1880 and 1888. Hewasthe 
editor of the "Beaver Radical" and the 
"Philadelphia Record" for a time, and held 
many offices in the state conventions and on 
their committees. He was elected secre- 
tar}' of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 
1869, and served three years, and in 18S5 
was chosen state treasurer. In 1S8& his 
great abilities pointed him out as the 



natural candidate for United States senator, 
and he was accordingly elected to that posi- 
tion and re-elected thereto in 1892. He 
Vv-as always noted for a genius for organiza- 
tion, and as a political leader had but few 
peers. Cool, serene, far-seeing, resourceful, 
holding his impulses and forces in hand, he 
never quailed from any policy he adopted, 
and carried to success most, if not all, of 
the political campaigns in which he took 
part. 

JAMES K. JONES, a noted senator and 
political leader, attained national fame 
while chairman of the national executive 
committee of the Democratic party in the 
presidential campaign of 1896. He was a 
native of Marshall county, Mississippi, and 
was born September 29, 1839. His father, 
a well-to-do planter, settled in. Dallas county, 
Arkansas, in 1848, and there the subject of 
this sketch received a careful education. 
During the Civil war he served as a private 
soldier in the Confederate army. From 
1866 to 1873 he passed a quiet life as a 
planter, but in the latter year was'admitted 
to the bar and began the practice of law. 
About the same time he was elected to the 
Arkansas senate and re-elected in 1874. In 
1877 he was made president of the senate 
and the following year was unsuccessful in 
obtaining a nom.ination as member of con- 
gress. In 1880 he was elected representa- 
tive and his abilit}' at once placed him in a 
foremost position. He WdS re-elected to 
congress in 1882 and in 1884, and served as 
an influential member on the committee of 
ways and means. March 4, 18S5, Mr. Jones 
took his seat in the United States senate to 
succeed James D. Walker, and was after- 
ward re-elected to the same office. In this 
branch of the national legislature his capa- 
bilities had a wider scope, and he was rec- 



172 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



ognized as one of the ablest leaders of his 
party. 

On the nomination of William J. Bryan 
as its candidate for the presidency by the 
national convention of the Democratic 
party, held in Chicago in 1896, Mr. Jones 
was made chairman of the national com- 
mittee. 

THEODORE THOMAS, one of the most 
celebrated musical directors America 
has known, was born in the kingdom of Han- 
over in 1 835, and received his musical educa- 
tion from his father. He was avery apt scholar 
and played the violin at public concerts at 
the age of six years. He came %\ith his 
parents to America in 1845, and joined the 
orchestra of the Italian Opera in New York 
City. He played the first violin in the 
orchestra which accompanied Jenny Lind 
in her first American concert. In 1861 Mr. 
Thomas established the orchestra that be- 
came famous under his management, and 
gave his first symphony concerts in New 
York in 1864. He began his first "summer 
night concerts" in the same city in 1868, 
and in 1869 he started on his first tour of 
the principal cities in the United States, 
which he made every year for many years. 
He was director of the College of Music in 
Cincinnati, Ohio, but resigned in 1880, after 
having held the position for three years. 

Later he organized one of the greatest 
and most successful orchestras ever brought 
together in the city of Chicago, and was 
very prominent in musical affairs during the 
World's Columbian Exposition, thereby add- 
ing greatly to his fame. 



CYRUS HALL McCORMICK, the fa- 
mous inventor and manufacturer, was 
born at Walnut Grove, Virginia, February 
1 5, 1809. When he was seven years old his 



father invented a reaping machine. It was 
a rude contrivance and not successful. In 
1 83 1 Cyrus made his invention of a reaping 
machine, and had it patented three years 
later. By successive improvements he was 
able to keep his machines at the head of 
its class during his life. In 1845 he removed 
to Cincinnati, Ohio, and two years later 
located in Chicago, where he amassed a 
great fortune in manufacturing reapers and 
harvesting machinery. In 1859 he estab- 
lished the Theological Seminary of the 
Northwest at Chicago, an institution for pre- 
paring young men for the ministry in the 
Presbyterian church, and he afterward en- 
dowed a chair in the Washington and Lee 
College at Lexington, Virginia. He mani- 
fested great interest in educational and re- 
ligious matters, and by his great wealth he 
was able to extend aid and encouragement 
to many charitable causes. His death oc- 
curred May 13, 1884. 



DAVID ROSS LOCKE.— Under the 
pen name of Petroleum V. Nasby, this 
well-known humorist and writer made for 
himself a household reputation, and estab- 
lished a school that has many imitators. 

The subject of this article was born at 
Vestal, Broome county, New York, Sep- 
tember 30, 1833. After receiving his edu- 
cation in the county of his birth he en- 
tered the office of the " Democrat," at Cort- 
land, New York, where he learned the 
printer's trade. He was successively editor 
and publisher of the ' 'Plymouth Advertiser, " 
the "Mansfield Herald," the " Bucyrus 
Journal, "and the "Findlay Jeffersonian." 
Later he became editor of the "Toledo 
Blade." In i860 he commenced his 
" Nasby" articles, several series of which 
have been given the world in book form. 
Under a mask of misspelling, and in a auaiot 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



173 



and humorous style, a keen political satire 
is couched — a most effective weapon. 
Mr. Locke was the author of a num- 
ber of serious political pamphlets, and 
later on a more pretentious work, " The 
Morals of Abou Ben Adhem." As a news- 
paper writer he gained many laurels and his 
works are widely read. Abraham Lincoln 
is said to have been a warm admirer of P. 
V. Nasby, of " Confedrit X Roads" fame. 
Mr. Locke died at Toledo, Ohio, February 
15, 1S88. 

RUSSELL A. ALGER, noted as a sol- 
dier, governor and secretary of war, 
was born in Medina county, Ohio, February 
27, 1836, and was the son of Russell and 
Caroline (Moulton) Alger. At the age of 
twelve years he was left an orphan and pen- 
niless. For about a year he worked for 
his board and clothing, and attended school 
part of the time. In 1850 he found a place 
which paid small wages, and out of his 
scanty earnings helped his brother and sister. 
While there working on a farm he found 
time to attend the Richfield Academy, and 
by hard work between times managed to get 
a fair education for that time. The last 
two years of his attendance at this institu- 
tion of learning he taught school during the 
winter months. In 1857 he commenced the 
study of law, and was admitted' to the bar 
in 1859. For a while he found employ- 
ment in Cleveland, Ohio, but impaired 
health induced him to remove to Grand 
Rapids, where he engaged in the lumber 
business. He was thus engaged when the 
Civil war broke out, and, his business suf- 
fering and his savings swept away, he en- 
listed as a private in the Second Michigan 
Cavalry. He was promoted to be captain 
the following month, and major for gallant 
conduct at Boonesville, Mississippi, July i. 



1862. October 16, 1862, he was made 
lieutenant-colonel of the Sixth Michigan 
Cavalry, and in February, 1863, colonel of 
the Fifth Michigan Cavalry. He rendered 
excellent service in the Gettysburg cam- 
paign. He was wounded at Boonesboro, 
Maryland, and on returning to his command 
took part with Sherman in the campaign in 
the Shenandoah Valley. For services ren- 
dered, that famous soldier recommended 
him for promotion, and he was brevetted 
major-general of volunteers. In 1866 Gen- 
eral Alger took up his residence at Detroit, 
and prospered exceedingly in his business, 
which was that of lumbering, and grew 
quite wealthy. In 1884 he was a delegate 
to the Republican national convention, and 
the same year was elected governor of 
Michigan. He declined a nomination for 
re-election to the latter office, in 1887, and 
vas the following year a candid;ite for the 
nomination for president. In 1889 he was 
elected commander-in-chief of the Grand 
Army of the Republic, and at different 
times occupied many offices in other or- 
ganizations. 

In March, 1897, President McKinley 
appointed General Alger secretary of war. 



CYRUS WEST FIELD, the father of 
submarine telegraphy, was the son of 
the Rev. David D. Field, D.D., a Congre- 
gational minister, and was born at Stock- 
bridge, Massachusetts, November 30, 18 19. 
He was educated in his native town, and at 
the age of fifteen years became a clerk in a 
store in New York City. Being gifted with 
excellent business ability Mr. Field pros- 
pered and became the head of a large mer- 
cantile house. In 1853 he spent about six 
months in travel in South America. On his 
return he became interested in ocean teleg- 
raphy. Being solicited to aid in the con- 



174 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



struction of a land telegraph across New 
Foundland to receive the news from a line 
of fast steamers it was proposed to run from 
from Ireland to St. Johns, the idea struck 
him to carry the line across the broad At- 
lantic. In 1S50 Mr. Field obtained a con- 
cession from the legislature of Newfound- 
land, giving him the sole right for fifty years 
to land submarine cables on the shores of 
that island. In company with Peter Cooper, 
Moses Taylor, Marshall O. Roberts and 
Chandler White, he organized a company 
under the name of the New York, New- 
foundland & London Telegraph Company. 
In two years the line from New York across 
Newfoundland was built. The first cable 
connecting Cape Breton Island with New- 
foundland having been lost in a storm while 
being laid in 1855, another was put down in 
1856. In the latter year Mr. Field went to 
London and organized the Atlantic Tele- 
graph Company, furnishing one-fourth of the 
capital himself. Both governments loaned 
ships to carry out the enterprise. Mr. Field 
accompanied the expeditions of 1857 and 
two in 1858. The first and second cables 
were failures, and the third worked but a 
short time and then ceased. The people of 
both continents became incredulous of the 
feasibility of laying a successful cable under 
so wide an expanse of sea, and the v>'ar 
breaking out shortly after, nothing was done 
until 1865-66. Mr. Field, in the former 
year, again made the attempt, and the Great 
Eastern laid some one thousand two hun- 
dred miles when the cable parted and was 
lost. The following year the same vessel 
succeeded in laying the entire cable, and 
picked up the one lost the year before, and 
both were carried to America's shore. After 
thirteen years of care and toil Mr. Field had 
his reward. He v.'as the recipient of many 
medals and honors from both home and 



abroad. He gave his attention after this, 
to establishing telegraphic communication 
throughout the v.'orld and many other large 
enterprises, notably the construction of ele- 
vated railroads in New York. Mr. Field 
died July 1 1, 1892. 



G ROVER CLEVELAND, the twenty- 
second president of the United States, 
was born in Caldwell, Essex county. New 
Jersey, March 18, 1837, and was the son 
of Rev. Richard and Annie (Neale) Cleve- 
land. The father, of distinguished New 
England ancestry, was a Presbyterian min- 
ister in charge of the church at Caldwell at 
the time. 

When Grover was about three years of 
age the family removed to Fayetteville, 
Onondaga count}'. New York, where he 
attended the district school, and was in the 
academy for a short time. His father be- 
lieving that boys should early learn to labor, 
Grover entered a village store and worked 
for the sum of fifty dollars for the first year. 
While he was thus engaged the family re- 
moved to Clinton, New York, and there 
young Cleveland took up h'S studies at the 
academy. The death of his father dashed 
all his hopes of a collegiate education, the 
family being left in straightened circum- 
stances, and Grover started out to battle 
for himself. After acting for a year (1853- 
54) as assistant teacher and bookkeeper in 
the Institution for the Blind at New York 
City, he went to Buffalo. A short time 
after he entered the law office of Rogers, 
Bowen & Rogers, of that city, and after a 
hard struggle with adverse circumstances, 
was admitted to the bar in 1859. He be- 
came confidential and managing clerk for 
the firm under whom he had studied, and 
remained with them until 1863. In the lat- 
ter year he was appointed district attorney 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



175 



of Erie county. It was during his incum- 
bency of this office that, on being nominated 
by tlie Democrats for supervisor, he came 
within thirteen votes of election, although 
the district was usually Republican by two 
hundred and fifty majority. In i866Grover 
Cleveland formed a partnership with Isaac 
V. Vanderpoel. The most of the work here 
fell upon the shoulders of our subject, and 
he soon won a good standing at the bar of 
the state. In 1869 Mr. Cleveland associated 
himself in business with A. P. Laning and 
Oscar Folsom, and under the firm name of 
Laning, Cleveland & Folsom soon built up a 
fair practice. In the fall of 1870 Mr. Cleve- 
land was elected sheriff of Erie county, an 
office which he filled for four years, after 
which he resumed his profession, with L. 1\. 
Bass and Wilson S. Bissell as partners. 
This firm was strong and popular and 
shortly was in possession of a lucrative 
practice. Mr. Bass retired from the firm 
in 1879, and George J. Secard was admit- 
ted a member in 1881. In the latter year 
Mr. Cleveland was elected mayor of Buffalo, 
and in 1882 he was chosen governor by 
the enormous majority of one hundred and 
ninety-two thousand votes. July 11, 1884, 
he was nominated for the presidency by the 
Democratic national convention, and in 
November following was elected. 

Mr. Cleveland, after serving one term as 
president of the United States, in 1888 was 
nominated by his party to succeed himself, 
but he failed of the election, being beaten 
by Benjamin Harrison. In 1S92, however, 
being nominated again in opposition to the 
then incumbent of the presidency, Mr. Har- 
rison, Grover Cleveland was elected pres- 
ident for the second time and served for the 
usual term' of four years. In 1897 Mr. 
Cleveland retired from the chair of the first 
magistrate of the nation, and in New York 



City resumed the practice of law, in which 
city he had established himself in 1889. 

June 2, 1886, Grover Cleveland was 
united in marriage with Miss Frances Fol- 
som, the daughter of his former partner. 



ALEXANDER WINCHELL, for many 
years one of the greatest of American 
scientists, and one of the most noted and 
prolific writers on scientific subjects, was 
born in Duchess county, New York, Decem- 
ber 31, 1824. He received a thorough col- 
legiate education, and graduated at the 
Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connect- 
icut, in 1847. His mind took a scientific 
turn, which manifested itself while he was 
yet a boy, and in 1848 he became teacher 
of natural sciences at the Armenian Semi- 
nary, in his native state, a position which 
he filled for three years. In 1851-3 he oc- 
cupied the same position in the Mesopo- 
tamia Female Seminary, in Alabama, after 
which he was president of the Masonic Fe- 
male Seminary, in Alabama. In 1853 he 
became connected with the University of 
Michigan, at Ann Arbor, at which institu- 
tion he performed the most important work 
of his life, and gained a wide reputation as 
a scientist. He held many important posi- 
tions, among which were the following: 
Professor of physics and civil engineering at 
the University of Michigan, also of geology, 
zoology and botany, and later professor of 
geology and paleontology at the same insti- 
tution. He also, for a time, was president 
of the Michigan Teachers' Association, and 
state geologist of Michigan. Professor 
Winchell was a very prolific writer on scien- 
tific subjects, and published many standard 
works, his most important and widely known 
being those devoted to geology. He also 
contributed a large number of articles to 
scientific and popular journals. 



176 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHl' 



ANDREW HULL FOOTE, of the 
United States navy, was a native of 
New England, born at New Haven, Con- 
necticut, May 4, 1808. He entered the 
navy, as a midshipman, December 4, 1822. 
He slowly rose in his chosen profession, at- 
taining the rank of lieutenant in 1830, com- 
mander in 1852 and captain in 1861. 
Among the distinguished men in the break- 
ing out of the Civil war, but few stood higher 
in the estimation of his brother officers than 
Foote, and when, in the fall of 1861, he 
was appointed'to the command of the flotilla 
then building on the Mississippi, the act 
gave great satisfaction to the service. 
Although embarrassed by want of navy 
yards and supplies, Foote threw himself into 
his new work with unusual energy. He 
overcame all obstacles and in the new, and, 
until that time, untried experiment, of creat- 
ing and maintaining a navy on a river, 
achieved a success beyond the expectations 
•of the country. Great incredulity existed as 
.to the possibility of carrying on hostilities 
on a river where batteries from the shore 
might bar the passage. But in spite of all, 
Foote soon had a navy on the great river, 
and by the heroic qualities of the crews en- 
trusted to him, demonstrated the utility of 
this new departure in naval architecture. 
All being prepared, February 6, 1S62, Foote 
took Fort Henry after a hotly-contested 
action. On the 14th of the same month, 
for an hour and a half engaged the batteries 
of Fort Donelson, with four ironclads and 
two wooden gunboats, thereby dishearten- 
ing the garrison and assisting in its capture. 
April /th of the same year, after several 
hotly-contested actions. Commodore Foote 
received the surrender of Island No. 10, one 
of the great strongholds of the Confederacy 
on the Mississippi river. Foote having been 
wounded at Fort Donelson, and by neglect 



it having become so serious as to endanger 
his life, he was forced to resign his command 
and return home. June 16, 1862, he re- 
ceived the thanks of congress and was pro- 
moted to the rank of rear admiral. He was 
appointed chief of the bureau of equipment 
and recruiting. June 4, 1863, he was 
ordered to the fleet off Charleston, to super- 
cede Rear Admiral Dupont, but on his way 
to that destination was taken sick at New 
York, and died June 26, 1863. 



NELSON A. MILES, the well-known sol- 
dier, was born at Westminster, Massa- 
chusetts, August 8,1839. His ancestors set- 
tled in that state in 1643 among the early 
pioneers, and their descendants were, many 
of them, to be found among those battling 
against Great Britain during Revolutionary 
times and during the war of 18 12. Nelson 
was reared on a farm, received an academic 
education, and in early manhood engaged in 
mercantile pursuits in Boston. Early in 

1861 he raised a company and offered his 
services to the government, and although 
commissioned as captain, on account of his 
youth went out as first lieutenant in the 
Twenty-second Massachusetts Infantry. In 

1 862 he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel 
and colonel of the Sixty-first New York In- 
fantry. At the request of Generals Grant 
and Meade he was made a brigadier by 
President Lincoln. He participated in all 
but one of the battles of the Army of the 
Potomac until the close of the war. During 
the latter part of the time he commanded 
the first division of the Second Corps. 
General Miles was wounded at the battles 
of Fair Oaks, Fredericksburg and Chan- 
cellorsville, and received four brevets for 
distinguished service. During- the recon- 
struction period he commanded in North 
Carolina, and on the reorganization of the 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



177 



regular army he was made colonel of in- 
fantry. In iSSo he was promoted to the 
rank of brigadier-general, and in 1890 to 
that of major-general. He successfully con- 
ducted several campaigns among the In- 
dians, and his name is known among the 
tribes as a friend when they are peacefully 
inchned. He many times averted war 
with the red men by judicious and humane 
settlement of difficulties without the military 
power. In 1892 General Miles was given 
command of the proceedings in dedicating 
the World's Fair at Chicago, and in the 
summer of 1894, during the great railroad 
strike at the same city. General Miles, then 
in command of the department, had the 
disposal of the troops sent to protect the 
United States mails. On the retirement of 
General J. M. Schofield, in 1S95, General 
Miles became the ranking major-general of 
the United States army and the head of its 
forces. 



JUNIUS BRUTUS BOOTH, the great 
<J actor, though born in London (1796), is 
more intimately connected with the Amer- 
ican than with the English stage, and his 
popularity in America was almost un- 
bounded, while in England he was not a 
prime favorite. He presented " Richard III. " 
in Richmond on his first appearance on the 
American stage in 1821. This was his 
greatest role, and in it he has never had an 
equal. In October of the same year he 
appeared in New York. After a long and 
successful career he gave his final perform- 
ance at New Orleans in 1852. He con- 
tracted a severe cold, and for lack of proper 
medical attention, it resulted in his death 
on November 30th of that year. He was, 
without question, one of the greatest tra- 
gedians that ever lived. In addition to his 
professional art and genius, he was skilled 



m languages, drawing, painting and sculp- 
ture. In his private life he was reserved 
and even eccentric. Strange stories are 
related of his peculiarities, and on his farm 
near Baltimore he forbade the use of animal 
food, the taking of animal life, and even the 
felling of trees, and brought his butter and 
eggs to the Baltimore markets in person. 

Junius Brutus Booth, known as the elder 
Booth, gave to the world three sons of note: 
Junius Brutus Booth, Jr.. the husband of 
Agnes Booth, the actress; John Wilkes 
Booth, the author of the greatest tragedy 
in the life of our nation; Edwin Booth, in 
his day the greatest actor of America, if not 
of the world. 

TAMES MONTGOMERY BAILEY, fa- 
<J mous as the "Danbury News Man," 
was one of the best known American humor- 
ists, and was born September 25, 1841, at 
Albany, N. Y. He adopted journalism 'as a 
profession and started in his chosen work on 
the "Danbury Times," which paper he pur- 
chased on his return from the war. Mr. 
Bailey also purchased the "Jeffersonian," 
another paper of Danbury, and consolidated 
them, forming the "Danbury News," which 
paper soon acquired a celebrity throughout 
the United States, from an incessant flow of 
rich, healthy, and original humor, which the 
pen of the editor imparted to its columns, 
and he succeeded in raising the circulation 
of the paper from a few hundred copies a 
week to over forty thousand. The facilities 
of a country printing office were not so com- 
plete in those days as they are now, but Mr. 
Bailey was resourceful, and he put on re- 
lays of help and ran his presses night and 
day, and always prepared his matter a week 
ahead of time. The "Danbury News Man" 
was a new figure in literature, as his humor 
was so different from that of the newspaper 



178 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPUr 



wits — who had preceded him, and he may be 
called the pioneer of that school now so 
familiar. Mr. Bailey published in book 
form "Life in Danbury" and "The Danbury 
News Man's Almanac." One of his most 
admirable traits was philanthrophy, as he 
gave with unstinted generosity to all comers, 
and died comparatively poor, notwithstand- 
ing his ownership of a very profitable busi- 
nesswhich netted him an income of $40,000 
a 3'ear. He died March 4, 1894. 



MATTHEW HALE CARPENTER, a 
famous lawyer, orator and senator, 
was born in Moretown, Vermont, December 
22, 1824. After receiving a common-school 
education he entered the United States 
Military Academy at West Point, but only 
remained two years. On returning to his 
home he commenced the study of law with 
Paul Dillingham, afterwards governor of 
Vermont, and whose daughter he married. 
In 1847 he was admitted to practice at the 
bar in Vermont, but he went to Boston and 
for a time studied with Ruf us Choate. In 1848 
he moved wet-t, settling at Beloit, Wisconsin, 
and commencing the practice of his profes- 
sion soon obtained a wide reputation for 
ability. In 1856 Mr. Carpenter removed to 
Milwaukee, where he found a wider field for 
his now increasing powers. During the 
Civil war, although a strong Democrat, he 
was loyal to the government and aided the 
"Union cause to his utmost. In 1868 he 
was counsel for the government in a test 
case to settle the legality of the reconstruc- 
tion act before the United States supreme 
court, and won his case against Jeremiah S. 
Black. This gave him the election for sen- 
ator from Wisconsin in 1869, and he served 
until 1875, during part of which time he was 
president pro tempore of the senate. Failing 
of a re-election Mr. Carpenter resumed the 



practice of law, and when William W. 
Belknap, late secretary of war, was im- 
peached, entered the case for General 
Belknap, and secured an acquittal. During 
the sitting of the electoral commission of 
1877, Mr. Carpenter appeared for Samuel 
J. Tilden, although the Republican man- 
agers had intended to have him represent 
R. B. Hayes. Mr. Carpenter was elected 
to the United States senate again in 1S79, 
and remained a member of that body until 
the day of his death, which occurred at 
Washington, District of Columbia, Feb- 
ruary 24, i8S£. 

Senator Carpenter's real name was De- 
catur Merritt Hammond Carpenter but about 
1852 he changed it to the one by which he 
was universally known. 



THOMAS E. WATSON, lawyer and 
congressman, the well-known Geor- 
gian, whose name appears at the head of 
this sketch, made himself a place in the his- 
tory of our country by his ability, energy 
and fervid oratory. He was born in Col- 
umbia (now McDuffie) county, Georgia, 
September 5, 1856. He had a common- 
school education, and in 1872 entered Mer- 
cer University, at Macon, Georgia, as fresh- 
man, but for want of money left the college 
at the end of his sophomore year. He 
taught school, studying law at the same 
time, until 1875, when he was admitted to 
the bar. He opened an office and com- 
menced practice in Thomson, Georgia, in 
November, 1876. He carried on a success- 
ful business, and bought land and farmed on 
an extensive scale. 

Mr. Watson was a delegate to the Demo- 
cratic state convention of iSSo, and was a 
member of the house of representatives of 
the legislature of his native state in 1S82. 
In 1888 he was an elector-at-large on the- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



179 



Cleveland ticket, and in 1890 was elected 
to represent his district in the fifty-second 
congress. This latter election is said to have 
been due entirely to Mr. Watson's "dash- 
ing display of ability, eloquence and popular 
power." In his later years he championed 
the alliance principles and policies until he 
became a leader in the movement. In the 
heated campaign of 1896, Mr. Watson was 
nominated as the candidate for vice-presi- 
dent on the Bryan ticket by that part of the 
People's party that would not endorse the 
nominee for the same position made by the 
Democratic party. 



FREDERICK A. P. BARNARD, mathe- 
matician, physicist and educator, was 
born in Sheffield, Massachusetts, May 5, 1809. 
He graduated from Yale College in 1828, and 
in 1830 became a tutor in the same. From 
1837 to 1848 he was professor of mathe- 
matics and natural philosophy in the Uni- 
versity of Alabama, and from 1848 to 1850, 
professor of chemistry and natural history 
in the same educational institution. In 
1854 he became connected with the Univer- 
sity of Mississippi, of which he became 
president in 1856, and chancellor in 1858. 
In 1854 he took orders in the Protestant 
Episcopal church. In 1861 Professor Barna'rd 
resigned his chancellorship and chair in the 
university, and in 1863 and 1864 was con- 
nected with the United States coast survey 
in charge of chart printing and lithography. 
In May, 1864, he was elected president of 
Columbia College, New York City, which 
he served for a number of years. 

Professor Barnard received the honorary 
degree of LL. D. from Jefferson College, 
Mississippi, in 1855, and from Yale College 
in 1859; also the degree of S. T. D. from 
the University of Mississippi in 1861, and 
that of L. H. D. from the regents of the 



University of the State of New York in 1872. 
In i860 he was a member of the eclipse 
party sent by the United States coast sur- 
vey to Labrador, and during his absence 
was elected president of the American Asso- 
ciation for the Advancement of Science. la 
the act of congress establishing the National 
Academy of Sciences in 1863, he was named 
as one of the original corporators. In 1867 
he was one of the United States commis- 
sioners to the Paris Exposition. He was 
a member of the American Philosophical 
Society, associate member of the Amer- 
ican Academy of Arts and Sciences, and 
many other philosophical and scientific 
societies at home and abroad. Dr. Barnard 
was thoroughly identified with the progress 
of the age in those branches. His published 
works relate wholly to scientific or educa- 
tional subjects, chief among which are the 
following: Report on Collegiate Education; 
Art Culture; History of the American Coast 
Survey; University Education; Undulatory 
Theory of Light; Machinery and Processes 
of the Industrial Arts, and Apparatus of the 
E.xact Sciences, Metric System of Weights 
and Measures, etc. 



EDWIN McMASTERS STANTON, the 
secretary of war during the great Civil 
war, was recognized as one of America's 
foremost public men. He was born Decem- 
ber 19, 1 8 14, at Steuben ville, Ohio, where 
he received his education and studied law. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1836, and 
was reporter of the supreme court of Ohio 
from 1842 until 1845. He removed to 
Washington in 1856 to attend to his prac- 
tice before the United States supreme 
court, and in 1858 he went to California as 
counsel for the government in certain land 
cases, which he carried to a successful 
conclusion. Mr. Stanton was appointed 



180 



l,VlIPENni[JM OF BIOGRA. 



attorney-general of the United States in 
December, i860, by President Buchanan. 
On March 4, 1861, Mr. Stanton went with 
the outgoing administration and returned to 
the practice of his profession. He was 
appointed secretary of war by President 
Lincoln January 20, 1862, to succeed Simon 
Cameron. After the assassination of Presi- 
dent Lincoln and the accession of Johnson 
to the presidency, Mr. Stanton was still in 
the same office. He held it for three years, 
and by his strict adherence to the Repub- 
lican party, he antagonized President John- 
son, who endeavored to remove him. On 
August 5, 1867, the president requested him 
to resign, and appointed General Grant to 
succeed him, but when congress convened 
in December the senate refused to concur in 
the suspension. Mr. Stanton returned to 
his post until the president again removed 
him from office, but was again foiled by 
congress. Soon after, however, he retired 
voluntarily from office and took up the 
practice of law, in which he engaged until 
his death, on December 24, 1869. 



ALEXANDER CAMPBELL, the eminent 
theologian and founder of the church 
known as Disciples of Christ, was born in 
the country of Antrim, Ireland, in June, 
1788, and was the son of Rev. Thomas 
Campbell, a Scoth-Irish "Seceder. " After 
studying at the University of Glasgow, he, 
in company with his father, came to America 
in 1808, and both began labor in western 
Pennsylvania to restore Christianity to 
apostolic simplicity. They organized a 
church at Brush Run, Washington county, 
Pennsylvania, in 181 1, which, however, the 
year following, adopted Baptist views, and 
in 1 813, with other congregations joined a 
Baptist association. Some of the under- 
lying principles and many practices of the 



Campbells and their disciples were repug- 
nant to the Baptist church and considerable 
friction was the result, and 1827 saw the 
separation of that church from the Church 
of Christ, as it is sometimes called. The 
latter then reorganized themselves anew. 
They reject all creeds, professing to receive 
the Bible as their only guide. In most mat- 
ters of faith they are essentially in accord with 
the other Evangelical Christian churches, 
especially in regard to the person and work 
of Christ, the resurrection and judgment. 
They celebrate the Lord's Supper weekly, 
hold that repentance and faith should precede 
baptism, attaching much importance to the 
latter ordinance. On all other points they 
encourage individual liberty of thought. In 
1 841, Alexander Campbell founded Bethany 
College, West Virginia, of which he was 
president for many years, and died March 4, 
1866. 

The denomination which they founded 
is quite a large and important church body 
in the United States. They support quite 
a number of institutions of learning, among 
which are: Bethany College, West Virginia; 
Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio; Northwestern 
Christian University, Indianapolis, Indiana; 
Eureka College, Illinois; Kentucky Univer- 
sity, Lexington, Kentucky; Oskaloosa 
College, Iowa; and a number of seminaries 
and schools. They also support several 
monthly and quarterly religious periodicals 
and many papers, both in the United States 
and Great Britain and her dependencies. 



WILLIAM L.WILSON, the noted West 
Virginian, who was postmaster-gener- 
al under President Cleveland's second ad- 
ministration, won distinction as the father 
of the famous " Wilson bill," which became 
a law under the same administration. Mr. 
Wilson was born May 3, 1S43, in Jeffer- 



COMPENDIUM OF B10GRAPH7: 



181 



son county, West Virginia, and received 
a good education at the Charlestown 
Academy, where he prepared himself for 
college. He attended the Columbian Col- 
lege in the District of Columbia, from 
which he graduated in i860, and then 
attended the University of Virginia. Mr. 
Wilson served in the Confederate army dur- 
ing the war, after which he was a professor 
in Columbian College. Later he entered 
into the practice of law at Charlestown. 
He attended the Democratic convention 
held at Cincinnati in 1880, as a delegate, 
and later was chosen as one of the electors 
for the state-at-large on the Hancock 
ticket. In the Democratic convention at 
Chicago in 1892, Mr. Wilson was its per- 
manent president. He was elected pres- 
ident of the West Virginia University in 
1882, entering upon the duties of his office 
on September 6, but having received the 
nomination for the forty-seventh congress 
on the Democratic ticket, he resigned the 
presidency of the university in June, 1883, 
to take his seat in congress. Mr. Wil- 
son was honored by the Columbian Uni- 
versity and the Hampden-Sidney College, 
both of which conferred upon him the de- 
gree of LL. D. In 1884 he was appointed 
regent of the Smithsonian Institution at 
Washington for two years, and at the end 
of his term was re-appointed. He was 
elected to the forty-seventh, forty-ninth, 
fiftieth, fifty-first, fifty-second and fifty- 
third congresses, but was. defeated for re- 
election to the fifty- fourth congress. Upon 
the resignation of Mr. Bisseli from the office 
of postmaster general, Mr. Wilson was ap- 
pointed to fill the vacancy by President 
Cleveland. Hi.'; many years of public serv- 
ice and the prominent part he took in the 
discussion of public questions gave him a 
national reputation. 



CALVIN S. BRICE, a successful and 
noted financier and politician, was 
born at Denmark, Ohio, September 17, 
1845, of an old Maryland family, who trace 
their lineage from the Bryces, or Bruces, of 
Airth, Scotland. The father of our subject 
was a prominent Presbyterian clergyman, 
who removed to Ohio in 1812. Calvin S. 
Brice was educated in the common schools 
of his native town, and at the age of thir- 
teen entered the preparatory department of 
Miami University at 0.\ford, Ohio, and the 
following year entered the freshman class. 
On the breaking out of the Civil war, 
although but fifteen years old, he enlisted in 
a company of three-months men. He re- 
turned to complete his college course, but 
re-enlisted in Company A, Eighty-sixth 
Ohio Infantry, and served in the Virginia 
campaign. He then returned to college, 
from which he graduated in 1863. In 1864 
he organized Company E, One Hundred 
and Eightieth Ohio Infantry, and served 
until the close of hostilities, in the western 
armies. 

On his return home Mr. Brice entered 
the law department of the University of 
Michigan, and in 1866 was admitted to the 
bar in Cincinnati. In the winter of 1870- 
71 he went to Europe in the interests of the 
Lake Erie & Louisville Railroad and pro- 
cured a foreign loan. This road became 
the Lake Erie & Western, of which, irt 
1887, Mr. Brice became president. This 
was the first railroad in which he had a 
personal interest. The conception, build- 
ing and sale of the New York, Chicago & 
St. Louis Railroad, known as the "Nickel 
Plate," was largely due to him. He was 
connected with many other railroads, among 
which may be mentioned the following: 
Chicago &1. Atlantic; Ohio Central; Rich- 
mond & Danville; Richmond & West Point 



182 



coMPEiyDicrM or nioGRAriir. 



Terminal; East Tennessee, Virginia & 
Georgia; Memphis & Cliarleston; Mobile cS: 
Birmingham; Kentucky Central; Duluth, 
South Shore & Atlantic, and the Marquette, 
Houghton & Ontonagon. In 1890 he was 
elected United States senator from Ohio. 
Notwithstanding his extensive business inter- 
ests, Senator Brice gave a considerable 
time to political matters, becoming one of 
the leaders of the Democratic party and one 
of the most widely known men in the 
country. 

BENJAMIN HARRISON, twenty-third 
president of the United States, was 
born August 20, 1833, at North Bend, 
Hamilton county, Ohio, in the house of his 
grandfather. General William Henry Har- 
rison, afterwards president of the United 
States. His great-grandfather, Benjamin 
Harrison, was a member of the Continental 
congress, signed the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence, and was three times elected gov- 
ernor of Virginia. 

The subject of this sketch entered Farm- 
ers College at an early age, and two years 
later entered Miami University, at O.xford, 
Ohio. Upon graduation he entered the 
office of Stover & Gwyne, of Cincinnati, as a 
law student. He was admitted to the bar 
two years later, and having inherited about 
eight hundred dollars worth of property, he 
married the daughter of Doctor Scott, pres- 
ident of a female school at O.xford, Ohio, 
and selected Indianapolis, Indiana, to begin 
practice. In i860 he was nominated by 
the Republicans as candidate for state 
supreme court reporter, and did his first 
political speaking in that campaign. He 
was elected, and after two years in that 
position he organized the Seventieth Indi- 
ana Infantry, of which he was made colonel, 
and with his regiment joined General Sher- 



man's army. For bravery displayed at Re- 
saca and Peach Tree Creek he was made a 
brigadier-general. In the meantime the 
office of supreme court reporter had been 
declared vacant, and another party elected 
to fill it. In the fall of 1864, having been 
nominated for that office. General Harrison 
obtained a thirty-day leave of absence, went 
to Indiana, canvassed the state and was 
elected. As he was about to rejoin his 
command he was stridden down by an attack 
of fever. After his recovery he joined 
General Sherman's army and participated in 
the closing events of the war. 

In 1 868 General Harrison declined to 
be a candidate for the office of supreme 
court reporter, and returned to the practice 
of the law. His brilliant campaign for the 
office of governor of Indiana in 1876, 
brought him into public notice, although he 
was defeated. He took a prominent part 
in the presidential canvass of 1880, and was 
chosen United States senator from Indiana, 
serving six years. He then returned to the 
practice of his profession. In 1S88 he was 
selected by the Republican convention at 
Chicago as candidate for the presidency, and 
after a heated campaign was elected over 
Cleveland. He was inaugurated March 4, 
1889, and signed the McKinle}' bill October 
1 , 1 890, perhaps the most distinctive feature 
of his administration. In 1892 he was 
again the nominee of the Republican party 
for president, but was defeated by Grover 
Cleveland, the Democratic candidate, and 
again resumed the practice of law in Indian- 
apolis. 

JOHN CRAIG HAVEMEYER, the 
kJ celebrated merchant and sugar refiner, 
was born in New York City in 1833. His 
father, William F. Havemeyer, and grand- 
father, William Havemeyer, were both sugar 



1 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHr. 



183 



refiners. The latter named came from 
Buckeburg, Germany, in 1799, and settled 
in New York, establishing one of the first 
refineries in that city. William F. succeeded 
his father, and at an early age retired from 
business with a competency. He was three 
times mayor of his native city, New York. 
John C. Havemeyer was educated in 
private schools, and was prepared for college 
at Columbia College grammar school. 
Owing to failing eyesight he was unable to 
finish his college course, and began his 
business career in a wholesale grocery store, 
where he remained two years. In 1854, 
after a year's travel abroad, he assumed the 
responsibility of the office work in the sugar 
refinery of Havemeyer & Molter, but two 
years later etablished a refinery of his own 
in Brooklyn. This afterwards developed into 
the immense business of Havemeyer & Elder. 
The capital was furnished by his father, 
and, chafing under the anxiety caused by the 
use of borrowed money, he sold out his 
interest and returned to Havemeyer & 
Molter. This firm dissolving the next year, 
John C. declined an offer of partnership 
from the successors, not wishing to use 
borrowed money. For two years he remain- 
ed with the house, receiving a share of the 
profits as compensation. For some years 
thereafter he was engaged in the commission 
business, until failing health caused his 
retirement. In 1871, he again engaged in 
the sugar refining business at Greenport, 
Long Island, with his brother and another 
partner, under the firm name of Havemeyer 
Brothers & Co. Here he remained until 
i88o, when his health again declined. 
During the greater part of his life Mr. 
Havemeyer was identified with many benev- 
olent societies, including the New York 
Port Society, Missionary Society of the 
Methodist Church, American Bible Society, 



New York Sabbath School Society and 
others. He was active in Young Men's 
■Christian Association work in New York, 
and organized and was the first president of 
an affiliated society of the same at Yonkers. 
He was director of several railroad corpo- 
rations and a trustee of the Continental Trust 
Company of New York. 



WALTER QUINTIN GRESHAM, an 
eminent American statesman and 
jurist, was born March 17, 1833, near Cory- 
don, Harrison county, Indiana. He ac- 
quired his education m the local schools of 
the county and at Bloomington Academy, 
although he did not graduate. After leav- 
ing college he read law with Judge Porter 
at Corydon, and just before the war he be- 
gan to take an interest in politics. Mr. 
Gresham was elected to the legislature from 
Harrison county as a Republican; previous 
to this the district had been represented by 
a Democrat. At the commencement of 
hostilities he was made lieutenant-colonel of 
the Thirty-eighth Indiana Infantry, but 
served in that regiment only a short time, 
when he was appointed colonel of the Fifty- 
third Indiana, and served under General 
Grant at the siege of Vicksburg as brigadier- 
general. Later he was utider Sherman in 
the famous "March to the Sea," and com- 
manded a division of Blair's corps at the 
siege of Atlanta where he was so badly 
wounded in the leg that he was compelled 
to return home. On his way home he was 
forced to stop at New Albany, where he re- 
mained a year before he was able to leave. 
He was brevetted major-general at the close 
of the war. While at New Albany, Mr. 
Gresham was appointed state agent, his 
duty being to pay the interest on the state 
debt in New York, and he ran twice for 
congress against ex-Speaker Kerr, but was 



184 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY 



defeated in both cases, although he greatly 
reduced the Democratic majority. He was 
held in high esteem by President Grant, 
who offered him the portfolio of the interior 
but Mr. Gresham declined, but accepted 
the appointment of United States judge for 
Indiana to succeed David McDonald. 
Judge Gresham served on the United States 
district court bench until 1883, when he 
was appointed postmaster-general by Presi- 
dent Arthur, but held that office only a few 
months when he was made secretary of the 
treasury. Near the end of President 
Arthur's term. Judge Gresham was ap- 
pointed judge of the United States circuit 
court of the district composed of Indiana, 
Illinois and contiguous states, which he held 
until 1893. Judge Gresham was one of the 
presidential possibilities in the National Re- 
publican convention in 1888, when General 
Harrison was nominated, and was also men- 
tioned for president in 1892. Later the 
People's party made a strenuous effort to 
induce him to become their candidate for 
president, he refusing the offer, however, 
and a few weeks before the election he an- 
nounced that he would support Mr. Cleve- 
land, the Democratic nominee for president. 
Upon the election of Mr. Cleveland in the 
fall of 1892, Judg^ Gresham was made the 
secretary of state, and filled that position 
until his death on May 28, 1895, at Wash- 
ington, District of Columbia. 



ELISHA B. ANDREWS, noted as an ed- 
ucator and college president, was born 
at Hinsdale, New Hampshire, January 10, 
1844, his father and mother being Erastus 
and Elniira (Bartlett) Andrews. In 1861, 
he entered the service of the general gov- 
ernment as private and non-commissioned 
officer m the First Connecticut Heavy Ar- 
tillery, and in 1863 was promoted to the 



rank of second lieutenant. Returning home 
he was prepared for college at Powers In- 
stitute and at the W^esleyan Academ}', and 
entered Brown University. From here he 
was graduated in 1870. For the succeeding 
two years he was principal of the Connecti- 
cut Literary Institute at Suffield, Connecticut. 
Completing a course at the Newton Theo- 
logical Institute, he was ordained pastor of 
the First Baptist church at Beverly, Massa- 
chusetts, July 2, 1874. The follov/ing 
year he became president of the Denison 
University, at Granville, Ohio. In 1879 
he accepted the professorship of homiletics, 
pastoral duties and church polity at Newton 
Theological Institute. In 18S2 he was 
elected to the chair of history and political 
economy at Brown University. The Uni- 
versity of Nebraska honored him with an 
LL. D. in 1884, and the same year Colby 
University conferred the degree of D. D. 
In 1888 he became professor of political 
economy and public economy at Cornell 
University, but the next year returned to 
Brown University as its president. From 
the time of his inauguration the college work 
broadened in many ways. Many timely 
and generous donations from friends and 
alumni of the college were influenced by 
him, and large additions made ^o the same. 
Professor Andrews published, in 1S87, 
" Institutes of General History," and ia 
188S, " Institutes of Economics." 



JOHN WILLIAM DRAPER, the subject 
of the present biograph}', was, during his 
life, one of the most distinguished chemists 
and scientific writers in America. He was 
an Englishman by birth, born at Liverpool, 
May 5, 181 1, and was reared in his native 
land, receiving an excellent education, 
graduating at the University of London. In 
1833 he came to the United States, and 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



1: 



settled first in Pennsylvania. He graduated 
in medicine at the University of Philadel- 
phia, in 1836, and for three years following 
was professor of chemistry and physiology 
at Hampden-Sidney College. He then be- 
came professor of chemistry in the New York 
University, with which institution he was 
prominently connected for many years. It 
is stated on excellent authority that Pro- 
fessor Draper, in 1839, took the first photo- 
graphic picture ever taken from life. He 
was a great student, and carried on many 
important and intricate experiments along 
scientific lines. He discovered many of the 
fundamental facts of spectrum analysis, 
which he published. He published a number 
of works of great merit, many of which are 
recognized as authority upon the subjects of 
which they treat. Among his work were: 
"Human Physiology, Statistical and Dyna- 
mical of the Conditions and Cause of Life 
in Man," "History of Intellectual Develop- 
ment of Europe," "History of the Ameri- 
can Civil War," besides a number of works 
on chemistry, optics and mathematics. Pro- 
fessor Draper continued to hold a high place 
among the scientific scholars of America 
until his death, which occurred in January, 
1882. 

GEORGE W. PECK, ex-governor of 
the state of Wisconsin and a famous 
journalist and humorist, was born in Jeffer- 
son county. New York, September 28, 1840. 
When he was about three years of age his 
parents removed to Wisconsin, settling near 
Whitewater, where young Peck received his 
education at the public schools. At fifteen 
he entered the office of the "Whitewater 
Register," where he learned the printer's 
art. He helped start the "Jefferson County 
Republican" later on, but sold out his 

interest therein and set type in the office of 
11 



the "State Journal," at Madison. At the 
outbreak of the war he enlisted in the 
Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry as a private, and 
after serving four years returned a second 
lieutenant. He then started the " Ripon 
Representative," which he sold not long 
after, and removing to New York, was on 
the staff of Mark Pomeroy's "Democrat." 
Going to La Crosse, later, he conducted the 
La Crosse branch paper, a half interest in 
which he bought in 1874. He next started 
"Peck's Sun," which four years later he 
removed to Milwaukee. While in La 
Crosse he was chief of police one year, and 
also chief clerk of the Democratic assembly 
in 1874. It was in 1878 that Mr. Peck 
took his paper to Milwaukee, and achieved 
his first permanent success, the circulation 
increasing to 80,000. For ten years he was 
regarded as one of the most original, versa- 
tile and entertaining writers in the country, 
and he has delineated every phase of 
country newspaper life, army life, domestic 
experience, travel and city adventure. Up 
to 1890 Mr. Peck took but little part in 
politics, but in that year was elected mayor 
of Milwaukee on the Democratic ticket. 
The following August he v/as elected gov- 
ernor of Wisconsin by a large majority, 
the "Bennett School Bill" figuring to a 
large extent in his favor. 

Mr. Peck, besides many newspaper arti- 
cles in his peculiar vein and numerous lect- 
ures, bubbling over with fun, is known to 
fame by the following books: "Peck's Bad 
Boy and his Pa," and "The Grocery Man 
and Peck's Bad Boy." 



CHARLES O'CONOR, who was for 
many years the acknowledged leader 
of the legal profession of New York City, 
was also conceded to be one of the greatest 
lawyers America has produced. He was 



188 



COMPENDIUM OF DTOGRAPHr. 



born in New York City in 1S04, his father 
being an educated Irish gentleman. Charles 
received a common-school education, and 
early took up the study of law, being ad- 
mitted to practice in 1824. His close ap- 
plication and untiring energy and industry 
soon placed him in the front rank of the 
profession, and within a few years he was 
handling many of the most important cases. 
One of the first great cases he had and which 
gained him a wide reputation, was that of 
'• Jack, the Fugitive Slave, " in 1835, in which 
his masterful argument before the supreme 
court attracted wide attention and com- 
ment. Charles O'Conor was a Democrat 
all his life. He did not aspire to office- 
holding, however, and never held any office 
except that of district attorney under Presi- 
dent Pierce's administration, which he only 
retained a short time. He took an active 
interest, however, in public questions, and 
was a member of the state (New York) con- 
stitutional convention in 1864. In 1868 he 
was nominated for the presidency by the 
'' Extreme Democrats. " His death occurred 
in May, 1884. 

SIMON BOLIVAR BUCKNER, a noted 
American officer and major-general in 
the Confederate army, was born in Ken- 
tucky in 1823. He graduated from West 
Point Military Academy in 1844, served in 
the United States infantry and was later as- 
signed to commissary duty with the rank of 
captain. He served several years at fron- 
tier posts, and was assistant professor in the 
military academy in 1846. He was with 
General Scott in the Mexican war, and en- 
gaged in all the battles from Vera Cruz to 
the capture of the Mexican capital. He 
was wounded at Cherubusco and brevetted 
first lieutenant, and at Molino del Rey was 
brevetted captain. After the close of the 



Mexican war he returned to West Point as 
assistant instructor, and was then assigned 
to commissary duty at New York. He re- 
signed in 1 85 5 and became superintendent 
of construction of the Chicago custom house. 
He was made adjutant-general, with the 
rank of colonel, of Illinois militia, and was 
colonel of Illinois voliinteers raised for the 
Utah expedition, but was not mustered into 
service. In i860 he removed to Kentucky, 
where he settled on a farm near Louisville 
and became inspector-general in command 
of the Kentucky Home Guards. At the. 
opening of the Civil war he joined the Con- 
federate army, and was given command at 
Bowling Green, Kentucky, which he was 
compelled to abandon after the capture of 
Fort Henry. He then retired to Fort Don- 
elson, and was there captured with sixteen 
thousand men, and an immense store of pro- 
visions, by General Grant, in February, 
1862. He was held as a prisoner of war 
at Fort Warren until August of that year. 
He commanded a division of Hardee's corps 
in Bragg's Army of the Tennessee, and was 
afterward assigned to the third division and 
participated in the battles of Chickamauga, 
and Murfreesboro. He was with Kirby 
Smith when that general surrendered his 
army to General Canby in Ma}', 1865. He 
was an unsuccessful candidate for the vice- 
presidency on the Gold Democratic ticket 
with Senator John M. Palmer in 1896. 



SIMON KENTON, one of the famous pio- 
neers and scouts whose names fill the 
pages of the early history of our country, 
was born in Fauquier county, Virginia, 
Aprils, 1755- In consequence of an affray, 
at the age of eighteen, young Kenton went 
to Kentucky, then the "Dark and Bloody 
Ground," and became associated with Dan- 
iel Boone and other pioneers of that region. 






COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHl'. 



189- 



For a short time he acted as a scout and 
spy for Lord Dunmore, the British governor 
of Virginia, but afterward taking the side 
of the struggling colonists, participated in 
the war for independence west of the Alle- 
ghanies. In 1784 he returned to Virginia, 
but did not remain there long, going back 
with his family to Kentucky. From 
that time until 1793 he participated in all 
the combats and battles of that time, and 
until "Mad Anthony" Wayne swept the 
Valley of the Ohio, and settled the suprem- 
acy of the whites in that' region. Kenton 
laid claim to large tracts of land in the new 
country he had helped to open up, but 
through ignorance of law, and the growing 
value of the land, lost it all and was reduced 
to poverty. During the war with England 
in 1812-15, Kenton took part in the inva- 
sion of Canada with the Kentucky troops 
and participated in the battle of the Thames. 
He finally had land granted him by the 
legislature of Kentucky, and received a pen- 
sion from the United States government. 
He died in Logan county, Ohio, April 29, 
1836. 

ELHIU BENJAMIN WASHBURNE, an 
American statesman of eminence, was 
born in Livermore, Maine, September 23, 
1 8 16. He learned the trade of printer, but 
abandt)ned that calling at the age of eight- 
een and entered the Kent's Hill Academy at 
Rending, Maine, and then took up the study 
of law, reading in Hallowell, Boston, and at 
the Harvard Law School. He began prac- 
tice at Galena, Illinois, in 1840. He was 
elected to congress in 1852, and represented 
his district in that body continuously until 
March, 1869, and at the time of his retire- 
ment he had served a greater number of 
consecutive terms than any other member 
of the house. In 1873 President Grant ap- 



pointed him secretary of state, which posi- 
tion he resigned to accept that of minister 
to France. During the Franco- Prussian 
war, including the siege of Paris and the 
reign of the Commune, Mr. Washburne re- 
mained at his post, protecting the lives and 
property of his countrymen, as well as that 
of other foreign residents in Paris, while the 
ministers of all other powers abandoned 
their posts at a time when they were most 
needed. As far as possible he extended 
protection to unfortunate German residents, 
who were the particular objects of hatred of 
the populace, and his firmness and the suc- 
cess which attended his efforts won the ad- 
miration of all Europe. Mr. Washburne 
died at Chicago, Illinois, October 22, 1887. 



WILLIAM CRAMP, one of the most 
extensive shipbuilders of this coun- 
try, was born in Kensington, then a suburb, 
now a part of Philadelphia, in 1S06. He 
received a thorough English education, and 
when he left school was associated with 
Samuel Grice, one of the most eminent 
naval architects of his day. In 1830, hav- 
ing mastered all the details of shipbuilding, 
Mr. Cramp engaged in business on his own 
account. By reason of ability and excel- 
lent work he prospered from the start, until 
now, in the hands of his sons, under the 
name of William Cramp & Sons' Ship and 
EngineBuilding Company, it has become the 
most complete shipbuilding plant and naval 
arsenal in the western hemisphere, and fully 
equal to any in the v-iorld. As Mr. Cramp's 
sons attained manhood they learned their 
father's profession, and were admitted to a 
partnership. In 1872 the firm was incor- 
porated under the title given above. Until 
i860 wood was used in building vessels, al- 
though pace was kept with all advances in 
the art of shipbuilding. At the opening of 



190 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



the war came an unexpected demand for 
war vessels, which they promptly met. The 
sea-going ironclad "New Ironsides" was 
built by them in 1862, followed by a num- 
ber of formidable ironclads and the cruiser 
"Chattanooga." They subsequently built 
several war vessels for the Russian and 
other governments which added to their 
reputation. When the American steamship 
line was established in 1870, the Cramps 
were commissioned to build for it four first- 
class iron steamships, the '.'Pennsylvania," 
"Ohio," "Indiana" and "Illinois," which 
they turned out in rapid order, some of the 
finest specimens of the naval architecture of 
their day. William Cramp remained at the 
head of the great company he had founded 
until his death, which occurred January 6, 

1879. 

Charles H. Cramp, the successor of his 
father as head of the William Cramp & 
Sons' Ship and Engine Building Company, 
was born in Philadelphia May 9, 1829, and 
received an excellent education in his native 
city, which he sedulously sought to sup- 
plement by close study until he became 
an authority on general subjects and the 
best naval architect on the western hemis- 
phere. Many of the best vessels of our 
new navy were built by this immense con- 
cern. 

WASHINGTON ALLSTON, probably 
the greatest American painter, was 
born in South Carolina in 1779. He was 
sent to school at the age of seven years at 
Newport, Rhode Island, where he met Ed- 
ward Malbone, two years his senior, and 
who later became a pamter of note. The 
friendship that sprang up between them un- 
doubtedly influenced young Allston in the 
choice of a profession. He graduated from 
Harvard in 1800, and went to England the 



following year, after pursuing his studies for 
a year under his friend Malbone at his home 
in South Carolina. He became a student 
at the Royal Academy where the great 
American, Benjamin West, presided, and 
who became his intimate friend. Allston 
later went to Paris, and then to Italy, where 
four years were spent, mostly at Rome. In 
1S09 he returned to America, but soon after 
returned to London, having married in the 
meantime a sister of Dr. Channing. In 
a short time his first great work appeared, 
"The Dead Man Restored to Life by the 
Bones of Elisha," which took the British 
Association prize and firmly established his 
reputation. Other paintings followed in 
quick succession, the greatest among which 
were "Uriel in the Center of the Sun," 
"Saint Peter Liberated by the Angel," and 
"Jacob's Dream," supplemented by many 
smaller pieces. Hard work, and grief at the 
death of his wife began to tell upon his health, 
and he left London in 181 8 for America. 
The same year he was elected an associate 
of the Royal Academy. During the next 
few years he painted "Jeremiah," "Witch 
ofEndor," and "Beatrice." In 1830 Alls- 
ton married a daughter of Judge Dana, and 
went to Cambridge, which was his home 
until his death. Here he produced the 
"Vision of the Bloody Hand," "Rosalie," 
and many less noted pieces, and had given 
one week of labor to his unfinished master- 
piece, "Belshazzar's Feast," when death 
ended his career July 9, 1843. 



JOHN ROACH, ship builder and manu- 
facturer, whose career was a marvel of. 
industrial labor, and who impressed his in- 
dividuality and genius upon the times in 
which he lived more, perhaps, than any 
other manufacturer in America. He was 
born at Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ire- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



191 



land, December 25, 1815, the son of a 
Avealthy merchant. He attended school 
iii.til he was thirteen, when his father be- 
came financially embarrassed and failed 
and shortly after died; John determined to 
come to America and carve out a fortune 
for himself. He landed in New York at the 
age of sixteen, and soon obtained employ- 
ment at the Howell Iron Works in New Jer- 
sey, at twenty-five cents a day. He soon 
made himself a place in the world, and at 
the end of three years had saved some 
twelve hundred dollars, which he lost by 
the failure of his employer, in whose hands 
it was left. Returning to New York he 
began to learn how to make castings for 
marine engines and ship work. Having 
again accumulated one thousand dollars, in 
company with three fellow workmen, he 
purchased a small foundry in New York, 
but soon became sole proprietor. At the 
end of four years he had saved thirty thou- 
sand dollars, besides enlarging his works. 
In 1856 his works were destroyed by a 
boiler explosion, and being unable to collect 
ths insurance, was left, after paying his 
debts, without a dollar. However, his 
credit and reputation for integrity was good, 
and he built the Etna Iron Works, giving it 
capacity to construct larger marine engines 
than any previously built in this country. 
Here he turned out immense engines for 
the steam ram Dunderberg, for the war ves- 
sels Winooski and Neshaning, and other 
large vessels. To accommodate his increas- 
ing business, Mr. Roach, in 1S69, pur- 
chased the Morgan Iron Works, one of the 
largest in New York, and shortly after sev- 
eral others. In 1871 he bought the Ches- 
ter ship yards, which he added to largely, 
erecting a rolling mill and blast furnace, and 
providing every facility for building a ship 
out of the ore and timber. This immense 



plant covered a large area, was valued at 
several millions of dollars, and was known 
as the Delaware River Iron Shipbuilding 
and Engine Works, of which Mr. Roach 
was the principal owner. He built a large 
percentage of the iron vessels now flying 
the American flag, the bulk of his business 
being for private parties. In 1875 he built 
the sectional dry docks at Pensacola. He, 
about this time, drew the attention of the 
government to the use of compound marine 
engines, and thus was the means of im- 
proving the speed and economy of the ves- 
sels of our new navy. In 1883 Mr. Roach 
commenced work on the three cruisers for 
the government, the "Chicago," "Boston" 
and "Atlanta," and the dispatch boat 
" Dolphin." For some cause the secretary 
of the navy refused to receive the latter and 
decided that Mr. Roach's contract would 
r.Dt hold. This embarrassed Mr. Roach, 
as a large amount of his capital Vv'as in- 
volved in these contracts, and for the pro- 
tection of bondsmen and creditors, July 18, 
1885, he made an assignment, but the 
financial trouble broke down his strong con- 
stitution, and January 10, 1887, he died. 
His son, Joim B. Roach, succeeded to the 
shipbuilding interests, while Stephen W. 
Roach inherited the Morgan Iron Works at 
New York. 

JOHN SINGLETON COPLEY, one of 
the two great painters who laid the 
foundation of true American art, was born 
in Boston in 1737, one year earlier than his 
great contemporary, Benjamin West. His 
education was limited to the common schools 
of that time, and his training in art he ob- 
tained by his own observation and experi- 
ments solely. When he was about seven- 
teen years old he had mapped out his future, 
however, by choosing painting as his pro- 



192 



COMPEXDIUM OF BTGGRAPHT. 



fession. If he ever studied under any 
teacher in his early efforts, we have no au- 
thentic account of it, and tradition credits 
the young artist's wonderful success en- 
tirely to his own talent and untiring effort. 
It is almost incredible that at the age of 
twenty-three years his income from his 
works aggregated fifteen hundred dollars 
per annum, a very great sum in those days. 
In 1774 he went to Europe in search of ma- 
terial for study, which was so rare in his 
native land. After some time spent in Italy 
he finall}' took up his permanent residence 
in England. In 1783 he was made a mem- 
ber ot the Royal Academy, and later his 
son had the high honor of becoming lord 
chancellor of. England and Lord Lyndhurst. 
Many specimens of Copley's work are to 
be found in the Memorial Hall at Harvard 
and in the Boston Museum, as well as a few 
of the works upon which he modeled his 
style. Copley was essentially a portrait 
painter, though his historical paintings at- 
tained great celebrity, his masterpiece 
being his " Death of Major Pierson," though 
that distinction has by some been given to 
his "Death of Chatham." It is said that 
he never saw a good picture until he was 
thirty-five years old, yet his portraits prior 
to that period are regarded as rare speci- 
mens. He died in 181 5. 



HENRY B. PLANT, one of the greatest 
railroad men of the country, became 
famous as president of the Plant system of 
railway and steamer lines, and also the 
Southern & Texas Express Co. He was 
born in October, 1819, at Branford, 
Connecticut, and entered the railroad serv- 
ice in 1844, serving as express messenger 
on the Hartford & New Haven Railroad until 
1853, during which time he had entire 
charge of the expr--^.-? lousiness of that road. 



He went south in 1853 and established ex- 
press lines on various southern railways, and 
in 1 86 1 organized the Southern Express 
Co., and became its president. In 1879 he 
purchased, with others, the Atlantic & Gulf 
Railroad of Georgia, and later reorganized 
the Savannah, Florida & Western Railroad, 
of which he became president. He pur- 
chased and rebuilt, in 1880, the Savannah 
& Charleston Railroad, now Charleston & 
Savannah. Not long after this he organ- 
ized the Plant Investment Co., to control 
these railroads and advance their interests 
generally, and later established a steamboat 
line on the St. John's ri\er, in Florida. 
From 1853 until i860 he was general 
superintendent of the southern division of 
the Adams Express Co., and in 1867 be- 
came president of the Texas Express Co. 
The "Plant system" of railway, steamer 
and steamship lines is one of the greatest 
business corporations of the southern states. 



WADE HAMPTON, a noted Confeder- 
ate officer, was born at Columbia, 
South Carolina, in 1S18. He graduated 
from the South Carolina College, took an 
active part in politics, and was twice elected 
to the legislature of his state. In 1861 he 
joined the Confederate army, and command- 
ed the " Hampton Legion " at the first bat- 
tle of Bull Run, in July, 1861. He did 
meritorious service, was wounded, and pro- 
moted to brigadier-general. He command- 
ed a brigade at Seven Pines, in 1862, and 
was again wounded. He was engaged in 
the battle of Antietam in September of the 
same year, and participated in the raid into 
Pennsylvania in October. In 1863 he was 
with Lee at Gettysburg, where he was 
wounded for the third time. He was pro- 
moted to the rank of lieutenant-general, and 
commanded a troop of cavalry in Lee's 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



193 



arm}' during 1864, and was in numerous en- 
gagements. In 1865 he was in South Car- 
oHna, and commanded the cavalry rear 
guard of the Confederate army in its stub- 
born retreat before General Sherman on his 
advance toward Richmond. 

After the war Hampton took an active 
part in politics, and was a prominent figure 
at the Democratic national convention in 
1868, which nominated Seymour and Blair 
for president and vice-president. He was 
governor of South Carolina, and took his 
seat in the United States senate in 1879, 
where he became a conspicuous figure in 
national affairs. 



NIKOLA TESLA, one of the most cele- 
brated electricians America has known, 
was born in 1857, at Smiljau, Lika, Servia. 
He descended from an old and representative 
family of that country. His father was a 
a minister of the Greek church, of high rank, 
while his mother was a woman of remarka- 
ble skill in the construction of looms, churns 
and the machinery required in a rural home. 
Nikola received early education in the 
public schools of Gospich, when he was 
sent to the higher "Real Schule " at Karl- 
stadt, where, after a three years' course, 
he graduated in 1873. He devoted him- 
self to experiments in electricity and 
magnetism, to the chagrin of his father, 
who had destined him for the ministry, 
but giving way to the boy's evident genius 
he was allowed to continue his studies in 
the polytechnic school at Gratz. He in- 
herited a wonderful intuition which enabled 
him to see through the intricacies of ma- 
chinery, and despite his instructor's demon- 
stration that a dynamo could not be oper- 
ated without commutators or brushes, 
began experiments which finally resulted in 
his rotating field motors. After the study 



of languages at Prague and Buda-Pesth, he 
became associated with M. Puskas, who 
had introduced the telephone into Hungary. 
He invented several improvements, but 
being unable to reap the necessary benefit 
from them, he, in search of a wider field, 
went to Paris, where he found employment 
v/ith one of the electric lighting companies 
as electrical engineer. Soon he set his face 
westward, and coming to the United States 
for a time found congenial employment wfth 
Thomas A. Edison. Finding it impossible, 
overshadowed as he was, to carry out his 
own ideas he left the Edison works to join 
a company formed to place his own inven- 
tions on the market. He perfected his 
rotary field principle, adapting it to circuits 
then in operation. It is said of him that 
some of his proved theories will change the 
entire electrical science. It would, in an 
c.rticle of this length, be impossible to ex- 
plain all that Tesla accomplished for the 
practical side of electrical engineering. 
His discoveries formed the basis of the at- 
tempt to utilize the water power of Niagara 
Falls. His work ranges far beyond the 
vast department of polyphase currents and 
high potential lighting and includes many 
inventions in arc lighting, transformers,. 
p}TO and thermo-magnetic motors, new 
forms of incandescent lamps, unipolar dyna- 
mos and many others. 



CHARLES B. LEWIS won fame as an 
American humorist under the name of 
" M. Quad." It is said he owes his 
celebrity originally to the fact that he was 
once mixed up in a boiler explosion on the 
Ohio river, and the impressions he received 
from the event he set up from his case when 
he was in the composing room of an ob- 
scure Michigan paper. His style possesses a 
peculiar quaintness, and there runs through 



194 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRArHi: 



it a vein of philosophy. Mr. Lewis was 
born in 1844, near a town called Liverpool, 
Ohio. He was, however, raised in Lansing, 
Michigan, where he spent a year in an agri- 
cultural college, going from there to the 
composing room of the "Lansing Demo- 
crat. " At the outbreak of the war he en- 
listed in the service, remained during the 
entire war, and then returned to Lansing. 
The explosion of the boiler that " blew him 
into fame," took place two years later, while 
he was on his way south. When he re- 
covered physically, he brought suit for dam- 
ages against the steamboat company, which 
he gained, and was awarded a verdict of 
twelve thousand dollars for injuries re- 
ceived. It was while he was employed by 
the "Jacksonian" of Pontiac, Mich., that he 
set up his account of how he felt while being 
blown up. He says that he signed it " M 
Quad," because "a bourgeoise em quad is 
useless except in its own line — it won't 
justify with any other type." Soon after, 
because of the celebrity he attained by this 
screed, Mr. Lewis secured a place on the 
staff of the " Detroit Free Press," and made 
for that paper a wide reputation. His 
■sketches of the "Lime Kiln Club" and 
" Brudder Gardner " are perhaps the best 
known of his humorous writings. 



HIRAM S. MAXIM, the famous inventor, 
was born in Sangersville, Maine, 
February 5, 1840, the son of Isaac W. 
and Harriet B. Maxim. The town of his 
birlh was but a small place, in the 
woods, on the confines of civilization, 
and the family endured many hardships. 
They were without means and entirely 
•dependent on themselves to make out of 
raw materials all they needed. The mother 
was an expert spinner, weaver, dyer and 
seamstress and the father a trapper, tanner, 



miller, blacksmith, carpenter, mason and 
farmer. Amid such surroundings young 
Maxim gave early promise of remarkable 
aptitude. With the universal Yankee jack- 
knife the products of his skill excited the 
wonder and interest of the locality. His 
parents did not encourage his latent genius 
but apprenticed him to a coach builder. 
Four years he labored at this uncongenial 
trade but at the end of that time he forsook 
it and entered a machine shop at Fitchburg, 
Massachusetts. Soon mastering the details 
of that business and that of mechanical 
drawing, he went to Boston as the foreman 
of the philosophical instrument manufactory. 
From thence he went to New York and with 
the Novelty Iron Works Shipbuilding Co. 
he gained experience in those trades. His 
inventions up to this time consisted of 
improvements in steam engines, and an 
automatic gas machine, which came into 
general use. In 1877 he turned his attention 
to electricity, and in 1878 produced an 
incandescent lamp, that would burn 1,000 
hours. He was the first to design a process 
for flashing electric carbons, and the first 
to "standardize" carbons for electric light- 
ing. In 1880 he visited Europe and exhibit- 
ing, at the Paris Exposition of 1881, a self- 
regulating machine, was decorated with the 
Legion of Honor. In 1883 he returned to 
London as the European representative of the 
United States Electric Light Co. An incident 
of his boyhood, in which the recoil of a rifle 
was noticed by him, and the apparent loss 
of power shown, in 188 1-2 prompted the 
invention of a gun which utilizes the recoil to 
automatically load and fire seven hundred 
and seventy shots per minute. The Maxim- 
Nordenfelt Gun Co., with a capital of nine 
million dollars, grew from this. In 1883 he 
patented his electric training gear for large 
guns. And later turned his attention to fly- 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRArHY. 



195 



ing machines, which he claimed were not an 
impossibiHty. He took out over one hundred 
patents for smokeless gunpowder, and for pe- 
troleum and other motors and autocycles. 



JOHN DAVISON ROCKEFELLER, 
kJ one of America's very greatest financiers 
and philanthropists, was born in Richford, 
Tioga county, New York, July 8, 1839. He 
received a common-school education in his 
native place, and in 1853, when his parents 
removed to Cleveland, Ohio, he entered the 
high school of that city. After a two-years' 
course of diligent work, he entered the com- 
mission and forwarding house of Hewitt & 
Tuttle, of Cleveland, remaining with the 
firm some years, and then began business 
for himself, forming a partnership with 
Morris B. Clark. Mr. Rockefeller was then 
but nineteen years of age, and during the 
year i860, in connection with others, they 
started the oil refining business, under the 
firm name of Andrews, Clark & Co. Mr. 
Rockefeller and Mr. Andrews purchased the 
interest of their associates, and, after taking 
William Rockefeller into the firm, established 
offices in Cleveland under the name of 
William Rockefeller & Co. Shortly after 
this the house of Rockefeller & Co. was es- 
tablished in New York for the purpose of 
finding a market for their products,. and two 
years later all the refining companies were 
consolidated under the firm name of Rocke- 
feller, Andrews & Flagler. This firm was 
succeeded in 1870 by the Standard Oil 
Company of Ohio, said to be the most 
gigantic business corporation of modern 
times. John D. Rockefeller's fortune has 
been variously estimated at from one hun- 
dred million to two hundred million dollars. 
Mr. Rockefeller's philanthropy mani- 
fested itself principally through the American 
Baptist Educational Society. He donated 



the building for the Spelman Institute at 
Atlanta, Georgia, a school for the instruction 
of negroes. His other gifts were to the 
University of Rochester, Cook Academy, 
Peddie Institute, and Vassar College, be- 
sides smaller gifts to many institutions 
throughout the country. His princely do- 
nations, however, were to the University of 
Chicago. His first gift to this institution 
was a conditional offer of six hundred thou- 
sand dollars in 1889, and when this amount 
was paid he added one million more. Dur- 
ing 1S92 he made it two gifts of one million 
each, and all told, his donations to this one 
institution aggregated between seven and 
eight millions of dollars. 



JOHN M. PALMER.— For over a third 
of a century this gentleman occupied a 
prominent place in the political world, both 
in the state of Illinois and on the broader 
platform of national issues. 

Mr. Palmer was born at Eagle Creek, 
Scott county, Kentucky, September 13, 
18 17. The family subsequently removed 
to Christian county, in the same state, where 
he acquired a common-school education, and 
made his home until 1831. His father was 
opposed to slavery, and in the latter year 
removed to Illinois and settled near Alton. 
In 1834 John entered Alton College, or- 
ganized on the manual-labor plan, but his 
funds failing, abandoned it and entered a 
cooper shop. He subsequently was en- 
gaged in peddling, and teaching a district 
school near Canton. In 1838 he began the 
study of law, and the following year re- 
moved to Carlinville, where, in December of 
that year, he was admitted to the bar. He 
was shortly after defeated for county clerk. 
In 1843 he was elected probate judge. In 
the constitutional convention of 1847, Mr. 
Palmer was a delegate, and from 1849 to 



106 



COMPEXDICM OF BIOGRAPfir. 



1851 he was county judge. In 1852 he be- 
came a member of the state senate, but not 
'being with his party on the slavery question 
he resigned that office in 1854. In 1856 
Mr. Palmer was chairman of the first Re- 
publican state convention held in Illinois, 
and the same year was a delegate to the 
national convention. In i860 he was an 
elector on the Lincoln ticket, and on the 
breaking out of the war entered the service 
as colonel of the Fourteenth Illinois Infan- 
try, but was shortly after brevetted brigadier- 
general. In August, 1862, he organized 
the One Hundred and Tv/enty-second Illi- 
nois Infantry, but in September he was 
placed in command of the first division of 
the Army of the Mississippi, afterward was 
promoted to the rank of major-general. In 
1865 he was assigned to the military ad- 
ministration in Kentucky. In 1867 General 
Ppjmer was elected governor of Illinois and 
s-^rved four years. In 1872 he went with 
the Liberal Republicans, who supported 
Horace Greeley, after which time he was 
identified with the Democratic party. In 
1890 he was elected United States senator 
from Illinois, and served as such for six 
years. In 1S96, on the adoption of the sil- 
ver plank in the platform of the Democratic 
party. General Palmer consented to lead, 
as presidential candidate, the National Dem- 
oc rats, or Gold Democracy. 



WILLIAM H. BEARD, the humorist 
among American painters, was born 
at Painesville, Ohio, in 1821. His father, 
James H. Beard, was also a painter of na- 
tional reputation. William H. Beard be- 
gan his career as a traveling portrait 
painter. He pursued his studies in New 
York, and later removed to Buffalo, where 
he achieved reputation. He then went to 



Italy and after a short stay returned to New 
York and opened a studio. One of his 
earliest paintings was a small picture called 
"Cat and Kittens, " which was placed in 
the National Academy on exhibition. Among 
his best productions are "Raining Cats and 
Dogs," "The Dance of Silenus," "Bears 
on a Bender," "Bulls and Bears," " Whoo!" 
" Grimalkin's Dream," " Little Red Riding 
Hood," "The Guardian of the Flag." His 
animal pictures convey the most ludicrous 
and satirical ideas, and the intelligent, 
human expression in their faces is most 
comical. Some artists and critics have re- 
fused to give Mr. Beard a place among the 
first circles in art, solely on account of the 
class of subjects he has chosen. 



WW. CORCORAN, the noted philan- 
throphist, was born at Georgetown, 
District of Columbia^ December 27, 1798. 
At the age of twenty-five he entered the 
banking business in Washington, and in 
time became very wealthy. He was 
noted for his magnificent donations to char- 
ity. Oak Hill cemetery was donated to 
Georgetown in 1847, and ten years later the 
Corcoran Art Gallery, Temple of Art, was 
presented to the city of Washington. The 
uncompleted building was utilized by the 
government as quartermaster's headquar- 
ters during the war. The building was 
completed after the war at a cost of a mil- 
lion and a half dollars, all the gift of Mr. 
Corcoran. The Louise Home for Women 
is another noble charity to his credit. Its 
object is the care of women of gentle breed- 
ing who in declining years are without 
means of support. In addition to this he 
gave liberally to many worthy institutions 
of learning and charity. He died at Wash- 
ington February 24, 1888. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



197 



ALBERT BIERSTADT, the noted paint- 
er of American landscape, was born in 
Dusseldorf, German}', in 1S29, and was 
brought to America by his parents at the 
age of two jears. He received his early 
education here, but returned to Dusseldorf 
to study painting, and also went to Rome. 
On his return to America he accompanied 
Lander's expedition across the continent, in 
1858, and soon after produced his most 
popular work, "The Rocky Mountains — 
Lander's Peak. " Its boldness and grandeur 
were so unusual that it made him famous. 
The picture sold for twenty-five thousand 
dollars. In 1867 Mr. Bierstadt went to 
Europe, with a government commission, 
and gathered materials for his great historic- 
al work, "Discovery of the North River 
by Hendrik Hudson." Others of his great 
works were "Storm in the Rocky Mount- 
ains," " Valley of the Yosemite," "North 
Fork of the Platte," "Diamond Pool," 
"Mount Hood," "Mount Rosalie," and 
"The Sierra Nevada Mountains." His 
"Estes Park" sold for fifteen thousand 
dollars, and "Mount Rosalie" brought 
thirty-five thousand dollars. His smaller 
Rocky mountain scenes, hov.'ever, are vast- 
ly superior to his larger works in execution 
and coloring. 

ADDISON CAMMACK, a famous mill- 
ionaire Wall street speculator, was 
born in Kentucky. When sixteen years old 
he ran away from home and went to New 
Orleans, where he went to work in a ship- 
ping house. He outlived and outworked 
all the partners, and became the head of the 
firm before the opening of the war. At 
that time he fitted out small vessels and en- 
gaged in running the blockade of southern 
ports and carrying ammunition, merchan- 
dise, etc., to the southern people. This 



made him a fortune. At the close of the 
war he quit business and went to New 
York. For two years he did not enter any 
active business, but seemed to be simply an 
on-looker in the great speculative center of 
America. He was observing keenly the 
methods and financial machinery, however, 
and when, in 1867, he formed a partnership 
with the popular Charles J. Osborne, the 
firm began to prosper. He never had an 
office on the street, but wandered into the 
various brokers' offices and placed his orders 
as he saw fit. In 1873 he dissolved his 
partnership with Osborne and operated 
alone. He joined a band of speculative 
conspirators known as the "Twenty-third 
party," and was the ruling spirit in that or- 
ganization for the control of the stock mar- 
ket. He was always on the ' ' bear " side and 
the only serious obstacle he ever encoun- 
tered was the persistent boom in industrial 
stocks, particularly sugar, engineered by 
James R. Keane. Mr. Cammack fought 
Keane for two years, and during the time is 
said to have lost no less than two million 
dollars before he abandoned the fight. 



WALT. WHITMAN.— Foremost among 
thelesserpoetsof the latter part of the 
nineteenth century, the gentleman whose 
name adorns the head of this article takes 
a conspicuous place. 

Whitman was born at West Hills, Long 
Island, New York, May 13, 1809. In the 
schools of Brooklyn he laid the foundation 
of his education, and early in life learned the 
printer's trade. For a time he taught coun- 
try schools in his native state. In 1846-7 
he was editor of the " Brooklyn Eagle," 
but in 1848-9 was on the editorial staff of 
the "Crescent," of New Orleans. He 
made an extended tour throughout the 
United States and Canada, and returned to 



198 



CO:.irENDIUM OF BIOGRAP/ir. 



Brooklyn, where, in 1850, he published the 
"Freeman. " For some years succeeding 
this he was engaged as carpenter and builder. 
During the Civil war, Whitman acted as 
a volunteer nurse in the hospitals at 
Washington and vicinity and from the close 
of hostilities until 1873 he was employed 
in various clerkships in the government 
offices in the nation's capital. In the latter 
year he was stricken with paralysis as a 
result of his labors in the hospital, it is 
said, and being partiall}' disabled lived for 
many years at Camden, New Jersey. 

The first edition of the work which was 
to bring him fame, "Leaves of Grass," was 
published in 1855 and was but a small 
volume of about ninety-four pages. Seven 
or eight editions of "Leaves of Grass" have 
been issued, each enlarged and enriched with 
new poems. "Drum Taps," at first a 
separate publication, has been incorporated 
with the others. This volume and one 
prose writing entitled " Specimen Days and 
Collect," constituted his whole work. 

Walt. Whitman died at Camden, New 
Jersey, March 26, 1892. 



HENRY DUPONT, who became cele- 
brated as America's greatest manufact- 
urer of gunpowder, was a native of Dela- 
ware, born August 8, 18 12. He received 
his education in its higher branches at the 
United States Military Academy at West 
Point, from which he graduated and entered 
the army as second lieutenant of artillery in 
1833. Li 1834 he resigned and became 
proprietor of the extensive gunpowder 
manufacturing plant that bears his name, 
near Wilmington, Delaware. His large 
business interests interfered with his tak- 
ing any active participation in political 
life, although for many years he served 
as adjutant-general of his native '^tate. n"H 



during the war as major-general command- 
ing the Home Guards. He died August 8, 
1889. His son, Henry A. Dupont, also was 
a native of Delaware, and was born July 30, 
1838. After graduating from West Point 
in 1 86 1, he entered the army as second 
lieutenant of engineers. Shortly after he 
was transferred to the Fifth Artillery as first 
lieutenant. He was promoted to the rank 
of captain in 1864, serving in camp and 
garrison most of the time. He was in com- 
mand of a battery in the campaign of 
1863-4. Aschief of artillery of the army of 
West Virginia, he figured until the close of 
the war, being in the battles of Opequan, 
Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, besides 
many minor engagements. He afterward 
acted as instructor in the artillery school at 
Fortress Monroe, and on special duty at 
West Point. He resigned from the army- 
March I, 1875. 



WILLIAM DEERING, one of the fa- 
mous manufacturers of America, and 
also a philanthropist and patron of educa- 
tion, was born in Maine in 1S26. His an- 
cestors were English, having settled in New 
England in 1634. Early in life it was Will- 
iam's intention to become a physician, and 
after completing his common-school educa- 
tion, ^\hen about eighteen years of age, he 
began an apprenticeship with a physician. 
A short time later, however, at the request 
of his father, he took charge of his father's 
business interests, which included a woolen 
mill, retail store and grist mill, after which 
he became agent for a dry goods commission 
house in Portland, where he was married. 
Later he became partner in the firm, and 
removed to New York. The business pros- 
pered, and after a number of years, on ac- 
count of failing health, Mr. Deering sold his 
'" ■••°st- to his partner, a Mr. Milner. The 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



ISO' 



business has since made Mr. Milner a mill- 
ionaire many times over. A few years 
later Mr. Deering located in Chicago. His 
beginning in the manufacture of reapers, 
which has since made his name famous, 
was somewhat of an accident. He had 
loaned money to a man in that business, 
and in 1878 was compelled to buy out the 
business to protect his interests. The busi- 
ness developed rapidly and grew to immense 
proportions. The factories now cover sixty- 
two acres of ground Hnd employ many thou- 
sands of men. 



JOHN McAllister schofield, an 

<J American general, was born in Chautau- 
qua counfv, New York, September 29, 1S31. 
He gradaited at Wer,: Point in 1853, and 
was for five years ;issi^tant professor of nat- 
ural philosophy in t\\w institution. In 1861 
he entered the volunti '.jr service as major of 
the First Missouri \'oiunteers, and was ap- 
pointed chief of staff by General Lyon, under 
whom he fought at the battle of Wilson's 
Creek. In November, 1861, he was ap- 
pointed brigadier general (t volunteers, and 
was placed in command of the Missouri 
militia until November, 1862, and of the 
army of the frontier from that time until 
1863. In 1862 he was made major-general 
of volunteeis, and wa.-- placei; in commtindof 
the Department of thi- ' is.-^ouri, and in 1864 
of the Department ol : Ohio. During the 
campaign through G^ '^la General Siho- 
field was in commai c' the T\\ enty-i hird 

Army Corps, andwiis- nuied in mosi of the 
fighting of that famous ^ .:mpaign. Novem- 
ber 30, 1864, he defeated Hood's army at 
Franklin, Tennessee, ;ind then joined Gen- 
eral Thomas at Nashville He took part in 
the battle of Nashville, where Hood's army 
was destroyed. In January, 1865, he led 
his corps into North Carolina, capinred 



Wilmington, fought the battle of Kingston, 
and joined General Sherman at Goldsboro 
March 22, 1865. He e.xecuted the details 
of the capitulation of General Johnston to 
Sherinan, which practically closed the war. 
In June, 1868, General Schofield suc- 
ceeded Edwin M. Stanton as secretary of 
war, but was the next year appointed major- 
general of the United States army, and order- 
ed to the Department of the Missouri. From 
1 870 to I S76 he was in command of the De- 
partment of the Pacific; from 1S76 to 1S81 
superintendent of the West Point Military 
Academy; in 1883 he was in charge of the 
Department of the Missouri, and in 1886 of 
the division of the Atlantic. In 1888 he 
becaine general-in-chief of the United States 
army, and in February, 1895, was appoint- 
ed lieutenant-general by President Cleve- 
land, that rank having been revived by con- 
gress. In September, 1895, he was retired 
from active service. 



LEWIS WALLACE, an American gen- 
eral and famous author, was born in 
Brookville, Indiana, April 10, 1827. He 
served in the Mexican war as first lieutenant 
of a company of Indiana Volunteers. After 
his return from Mexico he was admitted to 
the bar, and practiced law in Covington and 
Crawfordsville, Indiana, until 1861. At the 
opening of the war he was appointed ad- 
jutant-general of Indiana, and soon after be- 
came colonel of the Eleventh Indiana Vol- 
unteers. He defeated a force of Confeder- 
ates at Romney, West Virginia, and was 
made brigadier-general in September, 1861. 
At the capture of Fort Donelson in 1862 he 
commanded a division, and was engaged in 
the second day's fight at Shiloh. In 1863 
his defenses about Cincinnati saved that city 
from capture by Kirby Smith. At Monoc- 
acv in July, 1864, he was defeated, but 



■200 



COMPEXDICM OF BIOGRAPHr. 



his resistance delayed the advance of Gen- 
eral Early and thus saved Washington from 
capture. 

General Wallace was a member of the 
court that tried the assassins of President 
Lincoln, and also of that before whom Cap- 
tain Henrj' Wirtz, who had charge of the 
Andersonville prison, was tried. In 1881 
General Wallace was sent as minister to 
Turkey. When not in official service he 
devoted much of his time to literature. 
Among his better known works are his 
"Fair God," "Ben Hur," "Prince of 
India," and a " Life of Benjamin Harrison." 



THOMAS FRANCIS BAYARD, an Ameri- 
can statesman and diplom.at, was born 
at Wilmington, Delaware, October 29, 1828. 
He obtained his education at an Episcopal 
academy at Flushing, Long Island, and 
after a short service in a mercantile house in 
New York, he returned to Wilmington and 
entered his father's law office to prepare 
himself for the practice of that profession. 
He was admitted to the bar in 1851. He 
was appointed to the office of United States 
district attorney for the state of Delaware, 
serving one year. In 1 869 he was elected to 
the United States senate, and continuously 
represented his state in that body until 1885, 
and in 1881, when Chester A. Arthur entered 
the presidential chair, Mr. Bayard was 
chosen president pro tempore of the senate. 
He had also served on the famous electoral 
commission that decided the Hayes-Tilden 
contest in 1876-7. In 1S85 President Cleve- 
land appointed Mr. Bayard secretary of 
state. At the beginning of Cleveland's sec- 
ond term, in 1893, Mr. Bayard was selected 
for the post of ambassador at the court of 
St. James, London, and was the first to hold 
that rank in American diplomacy, serving 
.until the beginning of the McKinley admin- 



istration. The questions for adjustment at 
that time between the two governments 
were the Behring Sea controversy and the 
Venezuelan boundary question. He was 
very popular in England because of his 
tariff views, and because of his criticism of 
the protective policy of the United States 
in his public speeches delivered in London, 
Edinburgh and other places, he received, in 
March, 1896, a vote of censure in the lower 
house of congress. 



JOHN WORK GARRETT, for so many 
years at the head of the great Baltimore 
& Ohio railroad system, was born in Balti- 
more, Maryland, July 31, 1820. His father, 
Robert Garrett, an enterprising merchant, 
had amassed a large fortune from a small 
beginning. The son entered Lafayette Col- 
lege in 1834, but left the following year and 
entered his father's counting room, and in 
1839 became a partner. John W. Gar- 
rett took a great interest in the develop- 
ment of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. He 
was elected one of the directors in 1857, 
and was its president from 1858 until his 
death. When he took charge of the road 
it was in an embarrassed condition, but 
within a year, for the first time in its exist- 
ence, it paid a dividend, the increase in its 
net gains being $725,385. After the war, 
during which the road suffered much damage 
from the Confederates, numerous branches 
and connecting roads were built or acquired, 
until it reached colossal proportions. Mr. 
Garrett was also active in securing a regular 
line of steamers between Baltimore and 
Bremen, and between the same port and 
Liverpool. He was one of the most active 
trustees of Johns Hopkins University, and a 
liberal contributor to the Young Men's 
Christian Association of Baltimore. He 
died September 26, 1S84. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



201 



Robert Garrett, the son of John \V. 
•Garrett, was born in Baltimore April 9, 
1847, and graduated from Princeton in 1867. 
He received a business education in the 
banking house of his father, and in 1871 
became president of the Valley Railroad of 
Virginia. He was made third vice-presi- 
dent of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad in 
1879, and first vice-president in 1881. He 
succeeded his father as president in 1884. 
Robert Garrett died July 29, 1896. 



CARLSCHURZ, a noted German-Ameri- 
can statesman, was born in Liblar, Prus- 
sia, March 2, 1829. He studied at the Uni- 
versity of Bonn, and in 1849 was engaged in 
an attempt to excite an insurrection at that 
place. After the surrender of Rastadt by 
the revolutionists, in the defense of which 
Schurz took part, he decided to emigrate to 
America. He resided in Philadelphia three 
years, and then settled in Watertown, Wis- 
consin, and in 1859 removed to Milwaukee, 
where he practiced law. On the organiza- 
tion of the Republican party he became a 
leader of the German element and entered 
the campaign for Lincoln in i860. He was 
appointed minister to Spain in 1861, but re- 
signed in December of that year to enter 
the army. He was appointed brigadier- 
general in 1862, and participated in the 
second battle of I5ull Run, and also at 
Chancellorsville. At Gettysburg he had 
temporary command of the Eleventh Army 
Corps, and also took part in the battle of 
Chattanooga. 

After the war he located at St. Louis, 
and in 1869 was elected United States sena- 
tor from Missouri. He supported Horace 
Greeley for the presidency in 1872, and in 
the campaign of 1876, having removed to 
New York, he supported Hayes and the Re- 
publican ticket, and was appointed secre- 



tary of the interior in 1877. In 1881 he 
became editor of the "New York Evening 
Post," and in 1884 was prominent in his 
opposition to James G. Blaine, and became 
a leader of the "Mugwumps," thus assist- 
ing in the election of Cleveland. In the 
presidential campaign of 1896 his forcible 
speeches in the interest of sound money 
wielded an immense influence. Mr. Schurz 
wrote a "Life of Henry Clay," said to be 
the best biography ever published of that 
eminent statesman. 



GEORGE F. EDMUNDS, an American 
statesman of national reputation, was 
born in Richmond, Vermont, February i, 
1828. His education was obtained in the 
public schools and from the instructions of 
a private tutor. He was admitted to the 
bar, practiced law, and served in the state 
legislature from 1S54 to 1S59, during three 
years of that time being speaker of the lower 
house. He was elected to the state senate 
and acted as president pro tempore of that 
body in 1861 and 1862. He became promi- 
nent for his activity in the impeachment 
proceedings against President Johnson, and 
was appointed to the United .States senate 
to fill out the une.xpired term of Solom.on 
Foot, entering that body in 1866. He was 
re-elected to the senate four times, and 
served on the electoral commission in 1877. 
He became president pro tempore of the 
senate after the death of President Garfield, 
and was the author of the bill which put an 
end to the practice of polygamy in the ter- 
ritory of Utah. In November, 1891, owing 
to impaired health, he retired from the sen- 
ate and again resumed the practice of law. 



LUCIUS Q. C. LAMAR, a promineni 
political leader, statesman and jurist, 
was born in Putnam county, Georgia, Sep- 



202 



COMPEXDTUM OF BIOGRAPHV 



temberi/, 1S25. He graduated from Emory 
College in 1845, studied law at Macon under 
Hon. A. H. Chappell, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1847. He moved to Oxford, 
Mississippi, in 1849, and was elected to a 
professorship in the State University. He 
resigned the next year and returned to Cov- 
ington, Georgia, and resumed the practice 
of lav/. In 1853 he was elected to the 
Georgia Legislature, and in 1854 he removed 
to his plantation in Lafayette county, Mis- 
sissippi, and was elected to represent his 
district in the thirty-fifth and thirty-sixth 
congresses. He resigned in i860, and was 
sent as a delegate to the secession conven- 
tion of the state. He entered the Confed- 
erate service in 1861 as lieutenant-colonel 
of the Nineteenth Regiment, and was soon 
after made colonel. In 1863 President 
Davis appointed him to an important diplo- 
matic mission to Russia. In 1866 he was 
elected professor of political economy and 
social science in the State University, and 
was soon afterward transferred to the pro- 
fessorship of the law department. He rep- 
resented his district in the forty-third and 
forty-fourth congresses, and was elected 
United States senator from Mississippi in 
1877, and re-elected in 1882. In 1885, be- 
fore the expiration of his term, he was 
appointed by President Cleveland as secre- 
tary of the interior, which position he held 
until his appointment as associate justice of 
the United States supreme court, in 1888, 
in which capacity he served until his death, 
jannary 23. 1894. 



BENJAMIN PENHALLOW SHILLA- 
BER won fame in the world of 
humorists under the name of "Mrs. Parting- 
ton." He was born in 1841 at Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, and started out in life as a 
printer. Mr. Shillaber went to Dover, 



where he secured employment in a printing 
office, and from there he went to Demerara, 
Guiana, where he was employed as a com- 
positor in 1835-37. In 1840 he became 
connected with the "Boston Post," and 
acquired quite a reputation as a humorist 
by his "Sayings of Mrs. Partington." He 
remained as editor of the paper until 1850, 
when he printed and edited a paper of his 
own called the "Pathfinder," which he con- 
tinued until 1852. Mr. Shillaber be- 
came editor and proprietor of the "Carpet 
Bag," which he conducted during 1850-52, 
and then returned to the "Boston Post," 
with which he was connected until 1S56. 
During the same time he was one of the 
editors of the "Saturday Evening Gazette," 
and continued in this line after he severed 
his connection with the "Post," for ten 
years. After 1866 Mr. Shillaber wrote for 
various newspapers and periodicals, and 
during his life published the following 
books: "Rhymes with Reason and Without," 
"Poems," "Life and Sayings of Mrs. Part- 
ington," "Knitting Work," and others. 
His death occurred at Chelsea, Massachu- 
setts, November 25, 1890. 



EASTMAN JOHNSON stands first among 
painters of American country life. He 
was born in Lovell, Maine, in 1824, and be- 
gan his work in drawing at the age of eight- 
een years. His first works were portraits, 
and, as he took up his residence in Wash- 
ington, the most famous men of the nation 
were his subjects. In 1846 he went to Bos- 
ton, and there made crayon portraits of 
Longfellow, Emerson, Sumner, Hawthorne 
and other noted men. In 1849 he went to 
Europe. He studied at Dusseldorf, Ger- 
many; spent a year at the Royal Academy, 
and thence to The Hague, where he spent 
four years, producing there his first pictures 



I 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



203 



of consequence, "The Card-Players " and 
"The Savoyard." He then went to Paris, 
but was called home, after an absence from 
America of six years. He lived some time 
in Washington, and then spent two years 
among the Indians of Lake Superior. In 
1858 he produced his famous picture, "The 
Old Kentucky Home." He took up his 
permanent residence at New York at that 
time. His "Sunday Morning in Virginia" 
is a work of equal merit. He was espe- 
cially successful in coloring, a master of 
drawing, and the expression conveys with 
precision the thought of the artist. His 
portrayal of family life and child life is un- 
equalled. Among his other great works are 
"The Confab," "Crossing a Stream,' 
"Chimney Sweep," "Old Stage Coach," 
" The New Bonnet," " The Drummer Boy," 
" Childhood of Lincoln," and a great vari- 
ety of equally familiar subjects. 



PIERCE GUST AVE TOUTANT BEAU- 
REGARD, one of the most distin- 
guished generals in the Confederate arm}-, 
was born near New Orleans, Louisiana, 
May 28, 1 81 8. He graduated from West 
Point Military Academy in 1838, and v/as 
made second lieutenant of engineers. He 
was with General Scott in Mexico, and dis- 
tinguished himself at Vera Cruz, Cerro 
Gordo, and the battles near the City of 
Mexico, for which he was twice brevetted. 
After the Mexican war closed he was placed 
in charge of defenses about New Orleans, 
and in i860 was appointed superintendent 
of the United States Military Academy at 
West Point. He held this position but a 
few months, when he resigned February 20, 
1 86 1, and accepted a commission of briga- 
dier-general in the Confederate army. He 
directed the attack on Fort Sumter, the 

first engagement of the Civil war. He was 
12 



in command of the Confederates at the first 
battle of Bull Run, and for this victory was 
made general. In 1862 he was placed in 
command of the Army of the Mississippi, 
and planned the attack upon General Grant 
at Shiloh, and upon the death of General 
Johnston he took command of the army 
and was only defeated by the timely arrival 
of General Buell with reinforcements. He 
commanded at Charleston and successfully 
defended that city against the combined at- 
tack by land and sea in 1863. In 1864 he 
was in command in Virginia, defeating Gen- 
eral Butler, and resisting Grant's attack 
upon Petersburg until reinforced from Rich- 
mond. During the long siege which fol- 
lowed he was sent to check General Sher- 
man's march to the sea, and was with Gen- 
eral Joseph E. Johnston when that general 
surrendered in 1865. After the close of the 
war he was largely interested in railroad 
management. In 1866 he was offered chief 
command of the Army of Roumania, and in 
1869, that of the Army of E^ypt. He de- 
clined these offers. His death occurred 
February 20, 1893. 



HENRY GEORGE, one of America's 
most celebrated political economists, 
was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
September 2, 1839. He received a common- 
school education and entered the high 
school in 1853, and then went into a mer- 
cantile office. He made several voyages on 
the sea, and settled in California in 1858. 
He then worked at the printer's trade for a 
number of years, which he left to follow the 
editorial profession. He edited in succession 
several daily newspapers, and attracted at- 
tention by a number of strong essays and 
speeches on political and social questions. 
In 1 87 I he edited a pamphlet, entitled ' ' Our 
Land and Policy, " in which he outlined a 



:204 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



theory, which has since made him fo widely 
known. This was developed in " Progress 
and Poverty," a book which soon attained a 
large circulation on both sides of the Atlan- 
tic, which has been extensive!}' translated. 
In 1880 Mr. George located in New York, 
where he made his home, though he fre- 
quently addressed audiences in Great Britain, 
Ireland, Australia, and throughout the 
United States. In 1886 he was nominated 
by the labor organizations for mayor of New 
York, and made a campaign notable for its 
development of unexpectedpower. In 1S87 he 
was candidate of the Union Labor party for 
secretary of state of New York. These cam- 
paigns served to formulate the idea of a single 
tax and popularize the Australian ballot sys- 
tem. Mr. George became a free trader in 
1888, and in 1892 supported the election of 
Grover Cleveland. His political and eco- 
nomic ideas, known as the "single tax," 
have a large and growing support, but are 
not confined to this country alone. He 
wrote numerous miscellaneous articles in 
support of his principles, and also published: 
"The Land Question," " Social Problems," 
"Protection or Free Trade," "The Condi- 
tion of Labor, an Open Letter to Pope Leo 
XIII.," and " Perplexed Philosopher." 



THOMAS ALEXANDER SCOTT. —This 
name is indissolubly connected with 
ihe history and development of the railway 
systems of the United States. Mr. Scott 
was born December 28, 1823, at London, 
Franklin county, Pennsylvania. He was first 
regularly emoloyed by Major James Patton, 
the collector of tolls on the state road be- 
tween Philadelphia and Columbia, Penn- 
sylvania. He entered into the employ of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company in 1850, 
and went through all the different branches 
of work until he had mastered all the details 



of the office work, and in 1858 he was ap- 
pointed general superintendent. Mr. Scott 
was the next year chosen vice-president of 
the road. This position at once brought 
him before the public, and the enterprise 
and ability displayed by him iu its manage- 
ment marked him as a leader among the 
railroad men of the country. At the out- 
bre.ik of the rebellion in 1S61, Mr. Scott 
was selected by Governor Curlin as a mem- 
ber of hi^ staff, and placed in charge of the 
equipment and forwarding of the state troops 
to the seat of war. On April 27, 1861, the 
secretarj' of war desired to establish a new 
line of road between the national capital 
and Philadelphia, for the more expeditious 
transportation of troops. He called upon 
Mr. Scott to direct this work, and the road 
by the way of Annapolis and Perryville was 
completed in a marvelously short space of 
time. On May 3, 1861, he was commis- 
sioned colonel of volunteers, and on the 23d 
of the same month the government railroads 
and telegraph lines were placed in his charge. 
Mr. Scott was the first assistant secretary 
of war ever appointed, and he took charge 
of this new post August i, 1861. In Janu- 
ary, 1862, he was directed to organize 
transportation in the northwest, and in 
March he performed the same service on 
the western rivers. He resigned June i, 
1862, and resumed his direction of affairs on 
the Pennsylvania Railroad. Colonel Scott 
directed the policy that secured to his road 
the control of the western roads, and be- 
came the president of the new company to 
operate these lines in 1871. For one year, 
from March, 1871, he was president of the 
Union Pacific Railroad, and m 1874 he suc- 
ceeded to the presidency of the Pennsyl- 
vania Company. He projected the Texas 
Pacific Railroad and was for many years its 
president. Colonel Scott's health failed 



COMPEXDIL-M OF BIOGRAPHT. 



205. 



him and lie resigned the presidencj' of the 
road June I, 1880, and died at his home in 
D.irby, Pennsylvania, May 2 1, 18S1. 



ROBERT TOOMBS, an American states- 
man of note, was bor:i in Wilkes coun- 
ty. Georgia, July 2, 1810. He attended 
the University of Georgia, and graduated 
from Union College, Schenectady, New 
York, and then took a law course at the 
University of Virginia. In 1830, before he 
Lad attained his majorit}', he was admitted 
to the bar by special act of the legislature, 
and rose rapidly in his profession, attracting 
the attention of the leading statesmen and 
judges of that time. He raised a volunteer 
company for the Creek war, and served as 
captain to the close. He was elected to the 
state legislature in 1837, re-elected in 1842, 
and in i S44 was elected to congress. He 
had been brought up as a Jeffersonian 
Democrat, but voted for Harrison in 1840 
and for Clay in 1844. He made his first 
speech in congress on the Oregon question, 
and immediately took rank with the greatest 
debaters of that body. In 1853 he was 
elected to the United States senate, and 
again in 1S59, but when his native state 
seceded he resigned his seat in the senate 
and was e'cctud to the Confederate con- 
gress. It is stated on the best authority 
that had it not been for a misunderstanding 
which could not be explained till too late he 
would have been elected president of the 
Confederacy. He was appointed secretary 
of state by President Davis, but resigned 
after a few months and was commissioned 
brigadier-general in the Confederate army. 
He v.'on distinction at the second battle of 
Bull Run and at Sharpsburg, but resigned 
his commission soon after and returned to 
Georgia. He organized the militia of 
Georgia to resist Sherman, and was made 



brigadier-general of the state troops. He- 
left the country at the close of the war and 
did not return until 1S67. He died Decem- 
ber I 5, 1SS5. 

AUSTIN CORBIN, one of the greatest 
raihvay magnates of the United States, 
was born July ir, 1827, at Newport, New 
Hampshire. He studied law with Chief 
Justice Gushing and Governor Ralph Met- 
calf, and later took a course in the Harvard 
Law School, where he graduated in 1849. 
He was admitted to the bar, and practiced 
law, with Governor Metcalf as his partner, 
untjl October 12, 185 1. Mr. Corbin then 
removed to Davenport, Iowa, where he re- 
mained until 1865. In 1854 he was a part- 
ner in the banking firm of Mackiot & Cor- 
bin, and later he organized the First Na- 
tional bank "of Davenport, Iowa, which 
commenced business June 29, 1863, and 
which was the first national bank op n for 
business in the United States. Mr. Corbin 
sold out his business in the Davenport bank, 
and removed to New York in 1S65 and com- 
menced business with partners under the 
stjle of Corbin Banking Compan)'. Soon 
after his removal to New York he became 
interested in railroads, and became one of 
the leading railroad men of the country. 
The development of the west half of Coney 
Island as a summer resort first brought him 
into general prominence. He built a rail- 
road from New York to the island, and 
built great hotels on its ocean front. He 
next turned his attention to Long Island, 
and secured all the railroads and consoli- 
dated them under one management, became 
president of the system, and under his con- 
trol Long Island became the great ocean 
suburb of New York. His latest public 
achievement was the rehabilitation of the 
Reading Railroad, of Pennsylvania, and 



20C 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



during the same time he and his friends 
purchased the controlling interest of the 
New Jersey Central Railroad. He took it 
out of the hands of the receiver, and in 
three years had it on a dividend-pacing 
basis. Mr. Corbin's death occurred June 
4. 1896. 

JAMES GORDON BENNETT, Sr., 
kJ was one of the greatest journalists of 
America in his day. He was born Septem- 
ber I, 1795, at New Mill, near Keith, Scot- 
land. At the age of fourteen he was sent 
to Aberdeen to study for the priesthood, 
but, convinced that he was mistaken in his 
vocation, he determined to emigrate. He 
landed at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1819, 
where he attempted to earn a living by 
teaching bookkeeping. Failing in this he 
went to Boston and found employment as a 
proof reader. Mr. Bennett went to New 
York about 1822 and wrote for the news- 
papers. Later on he became assistant 
editor in the office of the "Charleston 
Courier, "but returned to New York in 1824 
and endeavored to start a commercial 
school, but was unsuccessful in this, and 
again returned to newspaper work. He 
continued in newspaper work with varying 
success until, at his suggestion, the "En- 
quirer" was consolidated with another 
paper, and became the "Courier and En- 
quirer," with James Watson Webb as 
editor and Mr. Bennett for assistant. At 
this time this was the leading American 
newspaper. He, however, severed his con- 
nection with this newspaper and tried, 
without success, other ventures in the line 
of journalism until May 6, 1835, when he 
issued the first number of the "New York 
Herald. " Mr. Bennett wrote the entire 
paper, and made up for lack of news by his 
own imagination. The paper became popu- 



lar, and in 1838 he engag^^d European jour- 
nalists as regular correspondents. In 1841 
the income derived from his paper was at 
least one hundred thousand dollars. Dur- 
ing the Civil war the " Herald " had on its 
staff sixty-three war correspondents and the 
circulation was doubled. Mr. Bennett was 
interested with John W. Mackay in that great 
enterprise which is now known as the Mac- 
kay-Bennett Cable. He had collected for use 
in his paper over fifty thousand biographies, 
sketches and all manner of information re- 
garding every well-known man, which are 
still kept in the archives of the "Herald" 
office. He died in the city of New York in 
1S72, and left to his son, James Gordon, 
Jr., one of the greatest and most profitable 
journals in the United States, or even in the 
world. 

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES, a 
noted American, won distinction in the 
field of literature, in which he attained a 
world-wide reputation. He was born at 
Cambridge, Massachusetts, August 29, 1809. 
He received a collegiate education and grad- 
uated from Harvard in 1829, at the age of 
twenty, and took up the study of law and 
later studied medicine. Dr. Holmes at- 
tended several years in the hospitals of 
Europe and received his degree in 1836. 
He became professor of anatomy and phys- 
iology in Dartmouth in 1838, and re- 
mained there until 1847, when he was 
called to the Massachusetts Medical School 
at Boston to occupy the same chair, which 
position he resigned in 1882. The first 
collected edition of his poems appeared in 
1836, and his "Phi Beta Kappa Poems," 
"Poetry," in 1836; "Terpsichore," in 1843; 
"Urania," in 1846, and "Astrsea," won for 
him many fresh laurels. His series of 
papers in the "Atlantic Monthly," were: 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



207 



"Autocrat of the Breakfast Table," "Pro- 
fessor at the Breakfast Table," "Poet at 
the Breakfast Table," and are a series of 
masterly wit, humor and pathos. Among 
hismedical papers and addresses, are: "Cur- 
rents and Counter-currents in the Medical 
Science," and "Borderland in Some Prov- 
inces of Medical Science." Mr. Holmes 
edited quite a number of works, of which 
we quote the following: "Else Venner, " 
"Songs in Many .Keys," "Soundings from 
the Atlantic," "Humorous Poems," "The 
Guardian Angel," "Mechanism in Thoughts 
and Morals," "Songs of Many Seasons," 
"John L. Motley" — a memoir, "The Iron 
Gate and Other Poems," "Ralph Waldo 
Emerson," "A Moral Antipathy." Dr. 
Holmes visited England for the second time, 
and while there the degree of LL. D. 
was conferred upon him by the University 
of Edinburgh. His death occurred October 
7, 1894- 

RUFUS CHOATE, one of the most em- 
inent of America's great lawyers, was 
born October i, 1799, at Essex, Massachu- 
setts. He entered Dartmouth in 1815, 
and after taking his degree he remained as 
a teacher in the college for one year. He 
took up the study of law in Cambridge, and 
subsequently studied under the distinguished 
lawyer, Mr. Wirt, who was then United 
States attorney-general at Washington. Mr. 
Choatcbegan the practice of lav/ in Danvers, 
Massachusetts, and from there he went to 
Salem, and afterwards to Boston, Massa- 
chusetts. While living at Salem he was 
elected to congress in 1832, and later, in 
1 84 1, he was chosen United States senator 
to succeed Daniel Webster, Mr. Webster 
having been appointed secretary of state 
under William Henry Harrison. 

After the death of Webster, Mr. Choate 



was the acknowledged leader of the Massa- 
chusetts bar, and was looked upon by the 
younger members of the profession with an 
affection that almost amounted to a rever- 
ence. Mr. Choate's powers as an orator 
were of the rarest order, and his genius 
made it possible for him to enchant and in- 
terest his listeners, even while discussing the 
most ordinary theme. He was not merely 
eloquent on the subjects that were calculated 
to touch the feelings and stir the passions 
of his audience in themselves, but could at 
all times command their attention. He re- 
tired from acti\'e life in 1858, and was on 
his way to Europe, his physician having 
ordered a sea voyage for his health, but had 
only reached Halifax, Nova Scotia, when 
he died, July 13, 1858. 



D WIGHT L. MOODY, one of the most 
noted and effective pulpit orators and 
evangelists America has produced, was born 
in Northfield, Franklin county, Massachu- 
setts, February 5, 1837. He received but 
a meager education and worked on a farm 
until seventeen years of age, when he be- 
came clerk in a boot and shoe store in 
Boston. Soon after this he joined the Con- 
gregational church and went to Chicago, 
where he zealously engaged in missionary 
work among the poor classes. He met 
with great success, and in less than a year 
he built up a Sunda^'-school which numbered 
over one thousand children. When the 
war broke out he became connected with 
what was known as the "Christian Com- 
mission," and later became city missionary 
of the Young Men's Christian Association at 
Chicago. A church was built there for his 
converts and he became its unordained pas- 
tor. In the Chicago fire of 1871 the church 
and Mr. Moody's house and furniture, which 
had been given him, were destroyed. The 



208 



COMrEXBIi'M OF BIOGRAPHT. 



church edifice was afterward replaced by a 
new church erected on the site of the old 
one. In 1873, accompanied by Ira D. 
Sankey, Mr. Moody went to Europe and 
excited great religious awakenings through- 
out England, Ireland and Scotland. In 
1S75 they returned to America and held 
large meetings in various cities. They 
afterward made another visit to Great 
Britain for the same purpose, meeting with 
great success, retarning to the United States 
in r884. Mr. Moody afterward continued 
his evangelistic work, meeting everywhere 
with a warm reception and success. Mr. 
Moody produced a number of works, some 
of which had a wide circulation. 



JOHN PIERPONT MORGAN, a financier 
of world-wide reputation, and famous 
as the head of one of the largest banking 
houses in the world, was born April 17, 
1837, at Hartford, Connecticut. He re- 
ceived his early education in the English 
high school, in Boston, and later supple- 
mented this with a course in the University 
of Gsttingen, Germany. He returned to 
the United States, in 1857, and entered the 
banking firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co., 
of New York, and, in i860, he became 
agent and attorney, in the United States, for 
George Peabody & Co., of London. He 
became the junior partner in the banking 
firm of Dabney, Morgan & Co., in 1864, 
and that of Drexel, Morgan & Co., in 1871. 
This house was auiong the chief negotiators 
of railroad bonds, and was active in the re- 
organization of the West Shore Railroad, 
and its absorption by the New York Central 
Railroad. It was conspicuous in the re- 
organization of the Philadelphia ct Read- 
ing Railroad, in 1887, which a syndicate of 
capitalists, formed by Mr. Morgan, placed 
on a sound financial basis. After that time 



many other lines of railroad and gigantic 
financial enterprises were brought under Mr. 
Morgan's control, and in some respects it 
maybe said he became the foremost financier 
of the century. 



THOMAS BRACIvETT REED, one of 
the most eminent of American states- 
men, was born October 18, 1839, at Port- 
land, Maine, where he received his early 
education in the common schools of the 
city, and prepared himself for college. Mr. 
Reed graduated from Bowdoin College in 
i860, and won one of the highest honors of 
the college, the prize for e.xcellence in Eng- 
lish composition. The following four years 
were spent by him in teaching and in the 
study of law. Before his admission to the 
bar, however, he was acting assistant pay- 
master in the United States navy, and 
served on the " tinclad " Sybil, which pa- 
trolled the Tennessee, Cumberland and 
Mississippi rivers. After his discharge in 
1865, he returned to Portland, was admit- 
ted to the baf, and began the practice of his 
profession. He entered into political life, 
and in 1868 was elected to the legislature 
of Maine as a Republican, and in 1869 he 
was re-elected to the house, and in 1870 
was made state senator, from which he 
passed to attorney-general of the state. 
He retired from this office in 1873, and 
until 1877 he was solicitor for the city 
of Portland. In 1876 he was elected to 
the forty-fifth congress, which assembled 
in 1877. Mr. Reed sprung into prominence 
in that body by one of the first speeches 
which he delivered, and his long service in 
congress, coupled with his ability, gave him 
a national reputation. His influence each 
year became more strongly marked, and the 
leadership of hi^ party was finally conceded 
to him, and in tte forty- ninth and fiftieth 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAl'Iir 



209 



congresses the complimentary nomination 
for the speakership was tendered him by the 
Republicans. That party having obtained 
the ascendency in the fifty-first congress he 
was elected speaker on the first ballot, and 
he was again chosen speaker of the fifty- 
fourth and fifth- fifth congresses. As a 
writer, Mr. Reed contributed largely to the 
maga^ines and periodicals, and his book 
upon parliamentary ruks is generally rec- 
ognized as authority on that subject. 



CLARA BARTON is a celebrated char- 
acter among what might be termed as 
the highest grade of philanthropists Amer- 
ica has produced. She was born on a farm 
at Oxford, Massachusetts, a daughter of 
Captain Stephen Barton, and was educated 
at Clinton, New York. She engaged in 
teaching early in life, and founded a free 
school at Bordentown, the first in New Jer- 
sey. She opened with si.x pupils, but the 
attendance had grown to six hundred up to 
1854, when she went to Washington. She 
was appointed clerk in the patent depart- 
ment, and remained there until the out- 
break of the Civil war, when she resigned 
her position and devoted herself to the al- 
leviation of the sufferings of the soldiers, 
serving, not in the hospitals, but on the bat- 
tle field. She was present at a number of 
battles, and after the war closed she origi- 
nated, and for some time carried on at lier 
own expense, the search for missing soldiers. 
She then for several years devoted her time 
to lecturing on "Incidents of the War." 
About 1868 she went to Europe for her 
health, and settled in Switzerland, but on the 
outbreak of the Franco-German war she ac- 
cepted the invitation of the grand duchess 
of Baden to aid in the establishment of her 
hospitals, and Miss Barton afterward fol- 
lowed the German army She was deco- 



rated with the golden cross by the grand 
duke of Baden, and with the iron cross by 
the emperor of Germany. She also served 
for many years as president of the famous 
Red Cross Society and attained a world- 
wide reputation. 



CARDINAL JAiMES GIBBONS, one of 
the most eminent Catholic clergymen 
iu America, was born in Baltimore, Mary- 
land, July 23, 1834. He was given a 
thorough education, graduated at St. Charles 
College, Maryland, in 1857, and studied 
theology in St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, 
Maryland. In 1861 he became pastor of 
St. Bridget's church in Baltimore, and in 
.1868 was consecrated vicar apostolic of 
North Carolina. In 1872 our subject be- 
came bishop of Richmond, Virginia, and 
five years later was made archbishop of Bal- 
timore. On the 30th of June, 1886, he 
was admitted to the full degree of cardmal 
and primate of the American Catholic 
church. He was a fluent writer, and his 
book, "Faith of Our Fathers," had a wide 
circulation. 

CHAUNCEY MITCHELL DEPEW.— 
This name is, without doubt, one of 
the most widely known in the United States. 
Mr. Depevv was born April 23, 1834, at 
Peekskill, New York, the home of the Depew 
family for two hundred years. He attended 
the common schools of his native place, 
where he prepared himself to enter college. 
He began his collegiate course at Yale at 
the age of eighteen and graduated in 1856. 
He early took an active interest in politics 
and joined the Republican party at its for- 
mation. He then took up the study of law 
and Vvcnt into the office of the Hon. Will- 
iam Nelson, of Peekskill, for that purpose, 
and in 1858 he was admitted to the bar. 



210 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT 



He was sent as a dele;:;ate by the new party 
to the Repabhcan state convention of that 
year. He began the practice of his profes- 
sion in 1859, but though he was a good 
worker, his attention was detracted by the 
campaign of i860, in which he took an act- 
ive part. During this campaign he gained 
his first laurels as a public speaker. Mr. 
Depew was elected assembl3man in 1862 
from a Democratic district. In 1863 he se- 
cured the nomination for secretary of state, 
*nd gained that post by a majority of thirty 
thousand. In 1866 he left the field of pol- 
itics and entered into the active practice 
•of his law business as attorney for the 
New York & Harlem Railroad Company, 
and in 1869 when this road was consoli- 
dated with the New York Central, and 
called the New York Central & Hudson 
River Railroad, he was appointed the attor- 
ney for the new road. His rise in the rail- 
road business was rapid, and ten years after 
his entrance into the Vanderbilt system as 
attorney for a single line, he was the gen- 
veral counsel for one of the largest railroad 
systems in the world. He was also a 
director in the Lake Shore & Michigan 
Southern, Michigan Central, Chicago & 
Northwestern, St. Paul & Omaha, West 
Shore, and Nickel Plate railroad companies. 
In 1874 Mr. Depew was made regent of 
the State University, and a member of the 
■commission appointed to superintend the 
•erection of the capitol at Albany. In 1882, 
on the resignation of \V. H. Vanderbilt 
from the presidency of the Nev; York Cen- 
tral and the accession to that office by 
James H. Rutter, Mr. Depew was made 
second vice-president, and held that posi- 
tion until the death of Mr. Rutter in 18S5. 
In this jear Mr. Depew became the execu- 
tive head of this great corporation. Mr. 
Depew's greatest fame grew from his ability 



and eloquence as an orator and " after-din- 
ner speaker," and it has been said by emi- 
nent critics that this country has never pro- 
duced his equal in wit, fluency and eloquence. 



PHILIP KEARNEY.— Among the most 
dashing and brilliant commanders in 
the United States service, few have outshone 
the talented officer whose name heads this 
sketch. He was born in New York City, 
June 2, 18 1 5, and was of Irish ancestry and 
imbued with all the dash and bravery of the 
Celtic race. He graduated from Columbia 
College and studied law, but in 1837 ac- 
cepted a commission as lieutenant in the 
First United States Dragoons, of which his 
uncle, Stephen W. Kearney, was then colo- 
nel. He was sent by the government, 
soon after, to Europe to examine and report 
upon the tactics of the French cavalry. 
There he attended the Polytechnic School, 
at Samur, and subsequently served as a vol- 
unteer in Algiers, winning the cross of the 
Legion of Honor. He returned to the 
United States in 1840, and on the staff of 
General Scott, in the Mexican war, served 
with great gallantry. He was made a cap- 
tain of dragoons in 1846 and made major 
for services at Contreras and Cherubusco. 
In the final assault on the City of Mexico 
at the San Antonio Gate, Kearney lost an 
arm. He subsequently served in California 
and the Pacific coast. In 185 i he resigned 
his commission and went to Europe, where 
he resumed his military studies. In the 
Italian war, in 1859, he served as a volun- 
teer on the staff of General Maurier, of the 
French army, and took part in the battles 
of Solferino and Magenta, and for bravery 
was, for the second time, decorated with 
the cross of the Legion of Honor. On the 
opening of the Civil war he hastened home, 
and, offering his services to the general gov- 



COMPEXDIL'M OF BIOGRAPHl". 



211 



erntrent, was made brigadier-general of 
volunteers and placed in command of a bri- 
gade of New Jersey troops. In the cam- 
paign under McClellan he commanded a di- 
vision, and at Williamsburg and Fair Oaks 
his services were valuable and brilliant, as 
well as in subsequent engagements. At 
Harrison's Landing he was made major-gen- 
eral of volunteers. In the second battle of 
Bull Run he was conspicuous, and at the 
battle of Chantilly, September i, 1862, 
while leading in advance of his troops, Gen- 
eral Kearney was shot and killed. 



RUSSELL SAGE, one of the financial 
giants of the present century and for 
more than an average generation one of the 
most conspicuous and celebrated of Ameri- 
cans, was burn in a frontier hamlet in cen- 
tral New York in August, 1816. "While Rus- 
sell was still a boy an elder brother, Henry 
Risley Sage, established a small grocery 
store at Troy, New York, and here Russell 
found his first employment, as errand boy. 
He served a five-years apprenticeship, and 
then joined another brother, Elisha M. Sage, 
in a new venture in the same line, which 
proved profitable, at least for Russell, who 
soon became its sole owner. Next he 
formed the partnership of Sage & Bates, 
and greatly extended his field of operations. 
At twenty-five he had, by his own exertions, 
amassed what was, in those days, a consid- 
erable fortune, being worth about seventy- 
five thousand dollars. He had acquired an 
influence in local politics, and four years 
later his party, the Whigs, elected him to 
the aldermanic board of Troy and to the 
treasuryship of Rensselaer county. In 1848 
he was a prominent member of the New 
York delegation to the Whig convention at 
Philadelphia, casting his first votes for Henry 
Clay, but joining the "stampede" which 



nominated Zachary Taylor. In 1850 the 
Whigs of Troy nominated him for congress, 
but he was not elected — a failure which he 
retrieved two years later, and in 1854 he 
was re-elected by a sweeping majority. At 
Washington he ranked high in influence and 
ability. Fame as a speaker and as a polit- 
ical leader was within his grasp, when he 
gave up public life, declined a renomination 
to congress, and went back to Troy to de- 
vote himself to his private business. Six 
years later, in 1863, he removed to New 
York and plunged into the arena of Wall 
street. A man of boundless energy and 
tireless pertinacity, with wonderful judg- 
ment of men and things, he soon took his 
place as a king in finance, and, it is said, 
during the latter part of his life he con- 
trolled more ready money than any other 
single individual on this continent. 



ROGER QUARLES MILLS, a noted 
United States senator and famous as the 
father of the "Mills tariff bill, " was born 
in Todd county, Kentucky, March 30, 1832. 
He received a liberal education in the com- 
mon schools, and removed to Palestine, 
Texas, in 1849. He took up the study of 
law, and supported himself by serving as an 
assistant in the post-office, and in theofflces 
of the court clerks. In 1850 he was elected 
engrossing clerk of the Texas house of rep- 
resentatives, and in 1852 was admitted to> 
the bar, while still a minor, by special act 
of the legislature. He then settled at Cor- 
sicana, Texas, and began the active prac- 
tice of his profession. He was elected to 
the state legislature in 1859, and in 1872 he 
was elected to congress from the state at 
large, as a Democrat. After his first elec- 
tion he was continuously returned to con- 
gress until he resigned to accept the posi- 
tion of United States senator, to -which he 



212 



COMPENDIUM OF BJOGRAPIIT. 



was elected March 23, 1S92, to succeed 
Hon. Horace Chilton. He took his seat in 
the senate March 30, 1892; was afterward 
re-elected and ranked among the most use- 
ful and prominent members of that bo.dy. 
In 1S76 he opposed the creation of the elec- 
toral commission, and in 1887 canvassed 
the state of Texas against the adoption of 
a prohibition amendment to its constitution, 
which was defeated. He introduced into 
the house of representatives the bill that was 
known as the "Mills Bill," reducing duties 
on imports, and extending the free list. 
The bill passed the house on July 21, 1888, 
and made the name of ' ' Mills " famous 
throughout the entire country. 



HAZEN S. PINGREE, the celebrated 
Michigan political leader, was born in 
Maine in 1842. Up to fourteen years of 
age he worked hard on the stony ground of 
his father's small farm. Attending school 
in the winter, he gained a fair education, 
and when not laboring on the farm, he 
found employment in the cotton mills in the 
vicinity. He resolved to find more steady 
work, and accordingly went to Hopkinton, 
Massachusetts, where he entered a shoe fac- 
tory, but on the outbreak of the war he en- 
listed at once and was enrolled in the First 
Massachusetts Heavy Artillery. He partici- 
pated in the battle of Bull Run, which was 
his initial fight, and served creditably his 
early term of service, at the expiration of 
which he re-enlisted. He fought in the 
battles of Fredricksburg, Harris Farm, 
Spottsylvania Court House and Cold Har- 
bor In 1864 he was captured by Mosby, 
and spent five months at Andersonville, 
Georgia, as a prisoner, but escaped at the 
end of that time. He re-entered the service 
and participated in the battles of Fort 
Fisher, Boyden, and Sailor's Creek. He 



was honorably mustered out of service, and 
in 1866 went to Detroit, Michigan, where 
he made use of his former experience in a 
shoe factory, and found work. Later he 
formed a partnership with another workman 
and started a small factor3% which has since 
become a large establishment. Mr. Pin- 
gree made his entrance into politics in 1889, 
in which year he was elected by a surpris- 
ingly large majority as a Republican to the 
mayoralty of Detroit, in which office he was 
the incumbent during four consecutive terms. 
In November, 1896, he was elected gov- 
ernor of the state of Michigan. While 
mayor of Detroit, Mr. Pingree originated 
and put into execution the idea of allowing 
the poor people of the city the use of va- 
cant city lands and lots for the purpose of 
raising potatoes. The idea was enthusiast- 
ically adopted b^' thousands of poor families, 
attracted wide attention, and gave its author 
a national reputation as "Potato-patch Pin- 
gree." 

THOMAS ANDREW HENDRICKS, an 
eminent American statesman and a 
Democratic politician of national fame, was 
born in Muskingum county, Ohio, Septem- 
ber 7, 1 8 19. In 1822 he removed, with his 
father, to Shelby county, Indiana. He 
graduated from the South Hanover College 
in 1841, and two years later was admitted 
to the bar. In 185 1 he was chosen a mem- 
ber of the state constitutional convention, 
and took a leading part in the deliberations 
of that body. He was elected to congress 
in 1 85 1, and after serving two terms was 
appointed commissioner of the United States 
general land-office. In 1863 he was elected 
to the United States senate, where his dis- 
tinguished services commanded the respect 
of all parties. He was elected governor of 
Indiana in 1872, serving four years, and in 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHr 



213 



1876 was nominated by the Democrats as 
candidate for the vice-presidency with Til- 
den. The returns in a number of states 
were contested, and resulted in the appoint- 
ment of the famous electoral commission, 
which decided in favor of the Republican 
candidates. In 1884 Mr. Hendricks was 
again nominated as candidate for the vice- 
presidency, by the Democratic party, on the 
ticket with Grover Cleveland, was elected, 
and served about six months. He died at 
Indianapolis, November 25, 1885. He was 
regarded as one of the brainiest men in the 
party, and his integrity was never ques- 
tioned, even by his political opponents. 



GARRETT A. HOBART, one of the 
many able men who have held the 
liigh office of vice-president of the United 
States, was born June 3, 1844, in Mon- 
mouth county, New Jersey, and in i860 en- 
tered the sopliomore class at Rutgers Col- 
lage, fi-om which he graduated in 1863 at 
the age of nineteen. He then taught 
school until he entered the law office of 
Socrates Tuttle, of Paterson, New Jersey, 
with whom lie studied law, and in 1869 
was admitted to the bar. He immediately 
began the active practice of his profession 
i 1 the office of the above named gentleman. 
He became interested in political life, and 
€s oused t e cause of the Republican party, 
and in 1865 he'd his first office, serving as 
clerk for the grind jury. He was also city 
coinisel of Paterson in 1871, and in May, 
1872, was elected counsel for the board of 
chosen freeholders. He entered the state 
legislature in 1873, and was re-elected to 
the assembly in 1S74. Mr. Hobart was 
made speaker of the assembly in 1876, and 
and in 1879 was elected to the state senate. 
After serving three years in the same, he 
was elected president of that body in 18S1, 



and the following year was re-2lected to 
that office. He was a delegate-at-large to 
the Republican national convention 'a 1876 
and 1880, and was elected a member of the 
national committee in 1884, which pos'tion 
he occupied continuously until 1896. He 
was then nominated for vice-president by 
the Republican national convention, ani^ 
was elected to that office in the fall of 1896 
on the ticket with William McKinley. 



WILLIAM MORRIS STEWART, noted 
as a political leader and senator, was 
born in Lyons, Wayne county, New York, 
August 9, 1S27, and removed with his par- 
ents while still a small child to Mesopota- 
mia township, Trumbull county, Ohio. He 
attended the Lj'ons Union school and Farm- 
ington Academy, where he obtained his ed- 
ucation. Later he taught mathematics in 
the former school, while yet a pupil, and 
with the little money thus earned and the 
assistance of James C. Smith, one of the 
judges of the supreme court of New York, 
he entered Yale College. He remained 
there until the winter of 1849-50, when, at- 
tracted by the gold discoveries in California 
he wended his way thither. He arrived at 
San Francisco in May, 1S50, and later en- 
gaged in milling with pick and shovel in Ne- 
vada county. In this way he accumulated 
some money, and in the spring of 1852 he 
took up the study of law under John R. 
McConnell. The following December he 
was appointed district attorney, to which 
office he was chosen at the general election 
of the next year. In 1854 he was ap- 
pointed attorney-general of California, and 
in i860 he removed to Virginia City, Ne- 
vada, where he largely engaged in early 
mining litigation. Mr. Stewart was also in- 
terested in the development of the "Corn- 
stock lode," and in 1S61 was chosen a 



214 



COMPEXDJUM OF BlOGRAI'Hr. 



niembei of the territorial council. He was 
elected a member of the constitutional con- 
vention in 1863, and was elected United 
States senator in 1864, and re-elected in 
1S69. At the expiration of his term 'in 
1875, he resumed the practice of law in 
Nevada, California, and the Pacific coast 
generally. He was thus engaged when he 
was elected again to the United States sen- 
ate as a Republican in 1887 to succeed the 
late James G. Fair, a Democrat, and took 
his seat March 4, 1887. On the expiration 
of his term he was again re-elected and be- 
came one of the leaders of his party in con- 
gress. His ability as an orator, and the 
prominent part he took in the discussion of 
public questions, gained him a national rep- 
utation. 



GEORGE GRAHAM VEST, for many 
years a prominent member of the 
United States senate, was born in Frank- 
fort, Kentucky, December 6, 1848. He 
graduated from Center College in 1868, and 
from the law department of the Transyl- 
vania University of Lexington, Kentucky, 
in 1853. In the same year he removed to 
Missouri and began the practice of his pro- 
fession. In 1 860 he was an elector on the 
Democratic ticket, and was a member of 
the lower house of the Missouri legislature 
in 1860-61. He was elected to the Con- 
federate congress, serving two years in the 
lower house and one in the senate. He 
then resumed the practice of law, and in 
1 879 was elected to the senate of the United 
States to succeed James Shields. He was 
re-elected in 1885, and again in 1891 and 
1897. His many years of service in the 
National congress, coupled with his ability 
as a speaker and the active part he took in 
the discussion of public questions, gave him 
a witle reputation. 



HANNIBAL HAMLIN, a noted American 
statesman, whose name is indissoiubly 
connected with the history of this country, 
was born in Paris, Maine, August ij , 1809- 
He learned the printer's trade and followed 
that calling for several years. He then 
studied law, and was admitted to practice 
in 1833. He was elected to the legislature 
of the state of Maine, where he was several 
times chosen speaker of the lower house. 
He was elected to congress by the Demo- 
crats in 1843, and re-elected in 1845. In 
1848 he was chosen to the United States 
senate and served in that body until 1861. 
He was elected governor of Maine in 1857 
on the Republican ticket, but resigned when 
re-elected to the United States senate 
the same year. He was elected vice-presi- 
dent of the United States on the ticket with 
Lincoln in i860, and inaugurated in March, 
1861. In 1865 he was appointed collector 
of the port of Boston. Beginning with 
1869 he served two six-year terms in the 
United States senate, and was then ap- 
pointed by President Garfield as minister to 
Spain in 1881. His death occurred July 4, 
1891. 

TSHAM G. HARRIS, famous as Confed- 
1 erate war governor of Tennessee, and 
distinguished by his twenty years of service 
in the senate of the United States, was 
born in Franklin county, Tennessee, and 
educated at the Academy of Winchester. 
He then took up the study of law, was ad- 
mitted to the bar, and commenced practice 
at Paris, Tennessee, in 1841. He was 
elected to the state legislature in 1847, was 
a candidate for presidential elector on the 
Democratic ticket in 1848, and the next 
year was elected to congress from his dis- 
trict, and re-elected in 1851. In 1853 he 
was renominated by the Democrats of 1;:3- 



COMPEXDIUM OF BIOGRAPIir. 



215 



district, but declined, and removed to Mem- 
phis, where he took up the practice of law. 
He was a presidential elector-at-large from 
Tennessee in 1856, and was elected gov- 
ernor of the state the next year, and again 
in 1S59, and in 1861. He was driven from 
Nashville by the advance of the Union 
armies, and for the last three years of the 
war acted as aid upon the staff of the com- 
manding general of the Confederate army 
of Tennessee. After the war he went to 
Liverpool, England, where he became a 
merchant, but returned to Memphis in 1867, 
and resumed the practice of law. In 1877 
he was elected to the United States senate, 
to which position he was successively re- 
elected until his death in 1897. 



NELSON DINGLEY, Jr., for nearly a 
quarter of a century one of the leaders 
in congress and framer of the famous 
" Dingley tariff bill," was born in Durham, 
Maine, in 1832. His father as well as all 
his ancestors, were farmers, merchants and 
mechanics and of English descent. Young 
Dingley was given the advantages first of 
the common schools and in vacations helped 
his father in the store and on the farm. 
^^'hcn iwelve years of age he attended high 
school and at seventeen was teaching in a 
country school district and preparing him- 
self for college. The following year he en- 
tered Waterville Academy and in 185 i en- 
tered Colby University. After a year and a 
half in this institution he entered Dart- 
mouth College and was graduated in 1855 
with high rank as a scholar, debater and 
writer. He next studied law and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1856. But instead of 
practicing his profession he purchased the 
" Lewistown (Me.) Journal," which be- 
came famous throughout the New England 
states as a leader in the advocacy of Repub- 



lican principles. About the same time Mr. 
Dingley began his political career, although 
ever after continuing at the head of the 
newspaper. He was soon elected to the 
state legislature and afterward to the lower 
house of congress, where he became a 
prominent national character. He also 
served two terms as governor of Maine. 



OLIVER PERRY MORTON, a distin- 
guished American statesman, was born 
in Wa3'ne county, Indiana, August 4, 1823. 
His early education was by private teaching 
and a course at the Wayne County Seminary. 
At the age of twenty years he entered the 
Miami University at Oxford, Ohio, and at 
the end of two years quit the college, began 
the study of law in the office of John New- 
man, of Centerville, Indiana, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in 1847. 

Mr. Morton was elected judge on the 
Democratic ticket, in 1852, but on th'. 
passage of the " Kansas-Nebraska Bill " he 
severed his connection with that party, and 
soon became a prominent leader of the Re- 
publicans. He was elected governor of In- 
diana in i86[, and as war governor became 
well known throughout the country. He 
received a paralytic stroke in 1865, which 
partially deprived him of the use of his 
limbs. He was chosen to the United States 
senate from Indiana, in 1867, and wielded 
great influence in that body until the time 
of his death, November i, 1877. 



JOHN B. GORDON, a brilliant Confeder- 
ate officer and noted senator of the United 
States, was born in Upson county, Georgia, 
February 6, 1832. He graduated from the 
State University, studied law, and took up 
the practice of his profession. At the be- 
ginning of the war he entered the Confederate 
service as captain of infantry, and rapidly 



216 



COMPEXDJUM OF BIOGRAPHY. 



rose to the rank of lieutenant-general, 
commanding one wing of the Confederate 
army at the close of the war. In 1868 he 
was Democratic candidate for governor of 
Georgia, and it is said was elected by a large 
majority, but his opponent was given the 
office. He was a delegate to the national 
Democratic conventions in 1868 and 1872, 
and a presidential elector both years. In 
1873 he was elected to the United States 
senate. In 1886 he was elected governor 
of Georgia, and re-elected in 1888. He 
was again elected to the United States 
senate in 1890, serving until 1897, when he 
was succeeded by A. S. Clay. He was 
regarded as a leader of the southern Democ- 
racy, and noted for his fiery eloquence. 



STEPHEN JOHNSON FIELD, an illus- 
trious associate justice of the supreme 
court of the United States, was born at 
Haddam, Connecticut, November 4, 1816, 
being one of the noted sons of Rev. D. 
D. Field. He graduated from Williams 
College in 1837. took up the study of law 
with his brother, David Dudley Field, be- 
coming his partner upon admission to the 
bar. He went to California in 1849, and at 
once began to take an active interest in the 
political affairs of that state. He was 
elected alcalde of Marysville, in 1850, and 
in the autumn of the same year was elected 
to the slate legislature. In 1857 he was 
elected judge of the supreme court of the 
state, and two years afterwards became its 
chief justice. In 1863 he was appointed by 
President Lincoln as associate justice of the 
supreme court of the United States. During 
his incumbencj', in 1873, he was appointed 
by the governor of California one of a com- 
mission to examine the codes of the state 
and for the preparation of aniendnients to 
the same for submission to the legislature. 



In 1877 he was one of the famous electoral 
commission of fifteen members, and voted 
as one of the seven favoring the election of 
Tilden to the presidency. In 1880 a large 
portion of the Democratic party favored his 
nomination as candidate for the presidency. 
He retired in the fall of 1897, having 
served a greater number of years on the 
supreme bench than any of his associates or 
predecessors. Chief Justice Marshall coming 
ne.xt in length of service. 



JOHN T. MORGAN, whose services in 
the United States senate brought him 
into national prominence, was born in 
Athens, Tennessee, June 20, 1824. At the 
age of nine years he emigrated to Alabama, 
where he made his permanent home, and 
where he received an academic education. 
He then took up the study of law, and was 
admitted to the bar in 1845. He took a 
leading part in local politics, was a presi- 
dential elector in i860, casting his ballot 
for Breckenridge and Lane, and in 1861 
was a delegate to the state convention which 
passed the ordinance of secession. In May, 
of the same year, he joined the Confederate 
army as a private in Company I, Cahawba 
Rifles, and was soon after made major and 
then lieutenant-colonel ofthe Fifth Regiment. 
In 1862 he was commissioned colonel, and 
soon after made brigadier-general and as- 
signed to the command of a brigade in Vir- 
ginia. He resigned to join his old regiment 
whose colonel had been killed. He was 
soon afterward again made brigadier-gen- 
eral and given command of the brigade that 
included his regiment. 

After the war he returned to the prac- 
tice of law, and continued it up to the time 
of his election to the United States senate, in 
1877. He was a presidential elector in 1876, 
and cast his vote for Tilden and Hendricks. 



COMPENDIUM OF BIOGRAPHT. 



2ir 



He was re-elected to the senate in 1883, 
and again in 18S9, and 1895. His speeches 
and the measures he introduced, marked 
as they were by an intense Americanism, 
brought him into national prominence. 



WILLIAM McKINLEY, the twenty-fifth 
president of the United States, was 
born at Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, Jan- 
uary 29, 1844. He was of Scotch-Irish 
ancestry, and received his early education 
in a Methodist academy in the small village 
of Poland, Ohio. At the outbreak of the 
war Mr. McKinley was teaching school, 
earning twenty-five dollars per month. As 
soon as Fort Sumter was fired upon he en- 
listed in a company that was formed in 
Poland, which was inspected and mustered 
in by General John C. Fremont, who at 
first objected to Mr. McKinley, as being too 
young, but upon examination he was finally 
accepted. Mr. McKinley was seventeen 
when the war broke out but did not look his 
age. He served in the Twenty-third Ohio 
Infantry throughout the war, was promoted 
from sergeant to captain, for good conduct 
on the field, and at the close of the war, 
for meritorious services, he was brevetted 
major. After leaving the army Major Mc- 
Kinley took up the study of law, and was 
admitted to the bar, and in 1869 he took 
his initiation into politics, being elected pros- 
ecuting attorney of his county as a Republi- 
can, although the district was usually Demo- 
cratic. In 1 876 he was elected to congress, 
and in a call upon the President-elect, Mr. 
Hayes, to whom he went for advice upon the 
way he should shape his career, he was 
told that to achieve fame and success he 
must take one special line and stick to it. 
Mr. McKinley chose tariff legislation and 
he became an authority in regard to import 
duties. He was a member of congress for 



many years, became chairman of the ways 
and means committee, and later he advo- 
cated the famous tariff bill that bore his 
name, which was passed in 1S90. In the 
ne.xt election the Republican party was 
overwhelmingly defeated through the coun- 
try, and the Democrats secured more than; 
a two thirds majority in the lower house, 
and also had control of the senate, Mr. 
McKinley being defeated in his own district 
by a small majority. He was elected gov- 
ernor of Ohio in 1891 by a plurality of 
twenty-one thousand, five hundred and 
eleven, and two years later he was re-elected 
by the still greater plurality of eighty thou- 
sand, nine hundred and ninety-five. He was 
a delegate-at-large to the Minneapolis Re^ 
publican convention in 1892, and was in- 
structed to support the nomination of Mr. 
Harrison. He was chairman of the con^ 
vention, and was the only man from Ohio 
to vote for Mr. Harrison upon the roll call. 
In November, 1892, a number of prominent 
politicians gathered in New York to discuss 
the political situation, and decided that the 
result of the election had put an end to Mc- 
Kinley and McKinleyism. But in less than 
four years from that date Mr. McKinley was 
nominated for the presidency against the 
combined opposition of half a dozen rival 
candidates. Much of the credit for his suc- 
cess was due to Mark A. Hanna, of Cleve- 
land, afterward chairman of the Republican 
national committee. At the election which 
occurred in November, 1896, Mr. McKinley 
was elected president of the United States 
by an enormous majority, on a gold stand- 
ard and protective tariff platform. He was 
inaugurated on the 4th of March, 1897, 
and called a special session of congress, to 
which was submitted a bill for tariff reform, 
which was passed in the latter part of July- 
of that vear. 



218 



C OMPENDI UM OF BIO GRA PHT. 



C>INCINNATUS HEINE MILLER, 
^ known in the literary world as Joaquin 
Miller, " the poet of the Sierras," was born 
at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1841. When only 
about thirteen years of age he ran away 
from home and went to the mining regions 
in California and along the Pacific coast. 
Some time afterward he was taken prisoner 
by the Modoc Indians and lived with them 
for five years. He learned their language 
and gained great influence with them, fight- 
ing in their wars, and in all modes of living 
became as one of them. In 1858 he left 
the Indians and went to San Francisco, 
where he studied law, and in i860 was ad- 
mitted to the bar in Oregon. In 1866 he 
was elected a county judgjs in Oregon and 
served four years. Early in the seventies 
he began devoting a good deal of time to 
literary pursuits, and about 1874 he settled 
in Washington, D. C. He wrote many 
poems and dramas that attracted consider- 
able attention and won him an extended 
reputation. Among his productions may be 
mentioned " Pacific Poems," " Songs of the 
Sierras," "Songs of the Sun Lands," 
' ' Ships in the Desert, " ' ' Adrianne, a Dream 
of Italy," "Danites, " "Unwritten History," 
" First Families of the Sierras " (a novel), 
" One Fair Woman " y^ novel), " Songs of 
Italy," " Shadows of Shasta," "The Gold- 
Seekers of the Sierras," and a number of 
others. 

GEORGE FREDERICIv ROOT, a 
noted music publisher and composer, 
was born in Sheffield, Berkshire county, 
Massachusetts, on August 30, 1820. While 
working on his father's farm he found time 
to learn, unaided, several musical instru- 
ments, and in his eighteenth year he went 
to Boston, where he soon found employ- 
ment as a teacher of music. From 1839 



until 1844 he gave instructions in music in 
the public schools of that cit\', and was also 
director of music in two churches. Mr. 
Root then went to New York and taught 
music in the various educational institutions 
of the city. He went to Paris in 1850 and 
spent one year there in study, and on his re- 
turn he published his first song, "Hazel 
Dell." It appeared as the work of " Wur- 
zel," which was the German equivalent of 
his nime. He was the originator of the 
nornral musical institutions, and when the 
first one was started in New York he 
was one of the faculty. He removed to 
Chicago, Illinois, in i860, and established 
the firm of Root & Cady, and engaged in 
the publication of music. He received, in 
1872, the degree of "Doctor of Music" 
from the University of Chicago. After the 
war the firm becauie George F. Root & Co., 
of Cincinnati and Chicago. Mr. Root did 
much to elevate the standard of music in this 
country by his compositions and work as a 
teacher. Besides his numerous songs he 
wrote a great deal of sacred music and pub- 
lished many collections of vocal and instru- 
mental music. For many years he was the 
most popular song writer in America, and 
was one of the greatest song writers of the 
war. He is also well-known as an author, 
and his work in that line comprises: " Meth- 
ods for the Piano and Organ," " Hand- 
book on Harmony Teaching, " and innumer- 
able articles for the musical press. Among 
his many and most popular songs of the 
war time are : ' ' Rosalie, the Prairie-flower, " 
"Battle Cry of Freedom," " Just Before the 
Battle," "Tramp, Tramp, Tramp, the Boys 
are Marching," ' ' The Old Folks are Gone, " 
"A Hundred Years Ago," "Old Potomac 
Shore, "and " There's Music in the Air." Mr. 
Root's cantatas include " The Flower Queen" 
and "The Haymakers." He died in 1S96. 



PART II. 



A GENEALOGICAL 



AND 



BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD 



OF 



MIAMI COUNTY, 



OHIO. 



MIAMI COUNTY, OHIO. 



PROMINENT DEAD OF MIAMI COUNTY 



By E. S. \\'illiams. 




HE Lewis I'uljlisliing Company, of 
Chicago, has assigned to the writer 
the duty of preparing a brief bio- 
graphical sketch of the prominent 
citizens of Miami county who are slumbering 
in the "windowless palaces" of the dead. The 
dut}- was gladly accepted, not for the money 
consideration in the employment, but for the 
])leasant reason that to the writer it is a 
labor of love. In beginning the work, we 
find that many of the best citizens of Miami 
■county, who have lived honored and re- 
spected by the people, and whose deaths were 
mourned as a public misfortune, as well as 
a sad bereavement, there are but few data 
from which to gather a sketch that will do 
justice to their life and full honor to their 
memory. How much more satisfactory 
would it have been to the student of the 
liistory of first settlers of Miami county, if 

*The Lewis Publishing Company gratefully ac- 
knowledges its indebtedness to Captain Williams, 
who not only prepared the article on the " Prominent 
Dead," but is also the author of a number of biogra- 
phies in this volume, the authorship being accredited 
him by placing his initials after those which came from 
his pen. 



their deeds of virut and their lives of self- 
flenial and pri\atiun had been written Ijefore 
the memory of their heroic lives liad faded 
into misty tales of tradition handed down 
from father and son, from mother to her 
children, growing each generation more 
mystical and uncertain, because human mem- 
ory is defective. We are living in an age 
of progress, the mighty demands of the pres- 
ent command absorbing attention, the rec- 
ords of the past receive but little interest, 
while only philosophers and Utopian dream- 
ers anxiously scan the future. Statesmen 
have degenerated into politicians and party 
bosses. The scriptural injunction of "Suf- 
ficient unto the day is the evil thereof," is 
being literally accepted, and industriously 
followed in the mad race for wealth and per- 
sonal pleasure. The work that is being 
quietly and effectually accomplished by the 
enterprise of the Lewis Publishing Com- 
pany will he appreciated much more in the 
futiu'e than in the present. For there will 
come an era when the people will love to read 
the records of their family ancestors. 

Prompted by a reasonable desire to know 



224 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



something of tlie brave pioneers of Miami 
county, the writer has gathered from old 
books and newspapers, and the traditions of 
family history, some records of the promi- 
nent men and women of Miami county, who 
came here in the dawn of the century that 
has just closed its record in the book of 
time. 

ABRAHAM THOMAS. 

The first character to which we call the 
attention of the readers is that of the brave 
old hunter and Indian fighter. Abraham 
Thomas. He was born in Culpeper county, 
Virginia, in 1755. His father took his fam- 
ily to the frontiers of \Trginia. and Abra- 
ham, while yet a boy, became a hunter and a 
splendid rifle shot. He had no opportunity 
for even the crude education of those early- 
days, but the boy grew to manhood full of 
the restless energy of the border hunter and 
frontiersman, and hence it was not a mat- 
ter of surprise that, without permission of 
his parents, he enlisted before he was nine- 
teen years of age, in 1774, in Captain 
Michael Cressap's company to fight the In- 
dians. Captain Cressap and his brt)ther 
were noted Indian fighters, and it was the 
men under their cummand that killed the 
family of the celebrated Indian Chief Logan. 
His pathetic and eloquent recital of that sad 
event was written by Thomas Jefferson, and 
now stands as one of the ablest specimens 
of Indian eloquence. Captain Cressap, aft- 
erwards colonel, enlisted his men in the 
neighborhood of old Redstone Fort on the 
Monongahela ri\er. He led his men into 
the Ohio territory up the Muskingum river. 
The border men met the Indians, had a se- 
yere battle, and defeated the red-skinned 
warriors and pushed on up the Muskingum 
valley until they reached the Indian town of 



W'apatomica. which Cressap's men captured 
and destroyed. 

In the fall of 1774 another expedition, 
led by Governor Dunmore and General Lew- 
is, went^into the Ohio territory, the objective 
point of attack being the Indian towns of 
old Chillicothe. on the Scioto ri\er. Again 
young Thomas left home without leave and 
joined the border army. There was trouble 
and dissensions in this army because the men 
doubted the good faith and patriotism of 
(iovernor Dunmore. but the Indians were met 
in battle and defeated. In 1775 the fort and 
settlement near Wheeling, Virginia, (now 
\\'est A'irginia), was threatened by the In- 
dians, and an appeal for help was sent out to 
the bra\e frontiersmen of Pennsylvania and 
X'irginia. Aliraham Thomas, with twenty 
others from old Redstone settlement, went 
to their relief. The Indians came, but found 
the fort too well garrisoned for an open at- 
tack. They, however, lurked around in the 
bushes to capture or kill any straggler that 
might wander from the fort. After a 
week's confinement in the fort, the alarm had 
subsided, and the settlers were making "ar- 
rangements tt> return to their homes, when 
the following incident occurred, which we 
copy from "Abraham Thomas' Recollec- 
tions," a series of newspaper articles pub- 
lished in the Troy Times, in 1839, and writ- 
ten by Hon. William Bosson, formerly of 
Troy, afterward a resident of Tennessee, 
and in his old age a resident of Greencastle, 
Indiana. These narratives throw much 
light on the early history of Miami county, 
and are referred to in a number of histories 
of Ohio, which indicate how much has been 
lost by the neglect of the early settlers in 
having no one to preserve their experience 
in printer's ink. Miami county owes a 
debt of gratitude to William Bosson, whose 



I 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



225 



father owned tlie mills south of Troy, now 
operated and owned by Edwards Brothers. 
The reader will pardon this digression; and 
the writer will resume the narrative : "Han- 
nah Wheat, an intrepid girl, having gone 
to her father's cabin for some purpose, saw 
Indians approaching it. She at once seized 
a feather bed, threw it over her back and ran 
for the fort, several shots were fired into 
the bed, but it proved an efficient shield for 
her person." The luflians remained for 
some time around the fort, but finding the 
settlers watchful and ready for a fight, with- 
drew. 

In December, 1775, Abraham Thomas, 
when nineteen }'ears of age, was married and 
commenced housekeeping in the primiti\'e 
style of pioneers of that day. From 1776 
to 1779 the Revolutionary war was fiercely 
raging and the war spirit reached the fron- 
tier, and the British aided and encouraged 
the Indians to war upon the border men of 
the colonies. Young Thomas bore a manly 
part in all the bitter contests of the border, 
against the British, Tories and Indians. In 
the meantime the fame of the rich soil and 
splendid bunting grounds of Ohio and Ken- 
tucky spread among the settlers of Virginia 
and Pennsylvania, and early in the spring of 
1780 Abraham Thomas was one of a com- 
pany of brave and enterprising adventurers 
who, with their families, descended the Ohio 
ri\er in flat boats, to the falls of the river, 
where the city of Louisville now stands and 
where, at that time. General George Rogers 
Clark had established a strong fort. The 
journey was dangerous and exciting, but the 
party safely reached the fort. They left 
their families at the fort and went into the 
interior to select homes. They were at- 
tacked by the Indians and two of the party 
killed. The Indians o-reatlv outnumbered 



them, and they retreated to the nearest 
blockhouse, which was then called Fisher's 
Station. Soon after, the Indians returned 
across the Ohio, and the party went to the 
woods, built cabins, planted corn and re- 
turned to Louisville for their families. In 
the summer of 1780 General Clark organized 
an expedition with the object of destroying 
the Indian villages on Mad river, situated 
about four miles southwest of Springfield, 
the county seat of Clark county. These 
villages were called Piqua, and it was there, 
in 1768, the celebrated Indian chief, Tecum- 
seh, was born. Abraham Thomas joined 
the expedition and as one of the best evi- 
dences of his standing among the Indian 
fighters of Kentucky, he was, although only 
twenty-five years of age, selected by General 
Clark to act with the celebrated Daniel 
Boone as a scout for the army. TIt; anny 
reached the mouth of Licking river, and 
here the writer follows the narrative of Abra- 
ham Thomas. "Before the boats crossed to 
the Indian side, Daniel Boone and myself 
were taken in the foremost boat, and landed 
above a small cut in the bank, opposite the 
mouth of the Licking; we were required to 
spy the woods for Indian signs. I was much 
younger than Boone, and ran up the bank 
in great glee and cut into a beech tree with 
my tomahawk, which I verily believe was the 
first tree cut into by a white man on the pres- 
ent site of Cincinnati." After establishing 
a fort and cabins for a small garrison and 
stores for the same, the army under General 
Clark started for Mad river. After a hard 
march they reached the Indian towns and in 
a severe battle defeated the Indians, and de- 
stroyed their villages and corn fields in such 
a complete manner that the Indians forever 
abandoned the site of their old homes. The 
expedition returned to the fort at the falls 



22(5 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ot the Oliio, and Abraham Thomas returned 
to his family. After corn-]3lanting in 1782. 
he vohinteered in an expedition under Gen- 
eral Clark for the purpose of destroying the 
Indian villages on the Great Miami river, 
near the present site of Piqua, Miami county, 
Ohio. The army consisted of one thousand 
men, and after a weary march they crossed 
Mad river, near the present site of Dayton, 
and marched on the east side of the Miami 
river until they reached a ford not far from 
the present site of Allen's Mills. There the 
army was discovered by a party of Indians 
traveling from Indian villages near the pres- 
ent site of Greenville to the Piqua towns. 
The Indians fled, leaving their squaws and 
pappooses in the hands of the soldiers, and 
among them was a white woman by the name 
of McFall wlio had been captured by the 
Indians in Kentucky. She was restored to 
her friends. When the army reached the 
Piqua towns the Indians, panic stricken, 
had fled, but General Clark destroyed the 
towns and corn fields, and also sent a party, 
of \\bich Thomas was one, to ])urn and de- 
stroy a store on the Loramie ri\-er, kept by 
a Frenchman. Captain William Barbee, 
afterward a prominent citizen of Miami 
county, was with this expedition. There 
were five Indian warriors killed, and two 
soldiers of Clark's army. Here, as on Mad 
river, Clark made clean wnrk of destroying 
the towns, which were built by the Shaw- 
nees and Miami tribes. Fisher's Station, 
where Mr. Thomas had his family, was often 
attacked by the Indians and a number killed. 
Mr. Thomas did his full share of the fight- 
ing. 

In 1783 he again \c)lunteeretl and went 
with an army of mounted riflemen under the 
command of Colonels Harrod and McGara 
on an expedition against the ]\Iacacheeks 



towns near the head waters of ]\Iad ri\er, 
not far from where ^^'est Liberty, in Cham- 
paign county, is now situated. The expedi- 
tion was a complete success, and, with but 
little loss to the army, a number of Indians 
were killed, towns and corn fields destroyed. 
The success of these invasions of the Indian 
towns, and their destruction, had the effect 
of disheartening the Indians, and the set- 
tlers of Kentucky lived for a few years in 
comparati\-e security. In 1808, with a 
small party of neighbors, ]\Ir. Thomas em- 
igrated to Ohio, and settled on a farm of one 
hundred and si.xt}- acres, two miles south of 
Troy, on what is now called North-Cutt 
pike. On his farm he established a grave- 
yartl. known as Thomas cemetery. Here 
the dust of the old Indian fighter rests in 
sight of the "Blue Miami," and within a 
few miles of the trace he marched with 
Daniel Boone, as one of the scouts of 
the bra\e General George Rogers Clark. 
Above his grave, on a plain marble slab, is 
this modest inscription: "'Abraham Thomas 
died April 5, 1843, ^g^d 88 years; a Suldier 
of the Revolution." Many of his descend- 
ants are here and there in Ohio and Indiana, 
but in the hard grind of existence none of 
them ga\'e attention to preserving the mem- 
ory and history of their «ld pioneer ances- 
tor, and it was only because of the curiositv 
and interest of the young man, \\ illiam 
Bosson, in the old Indian fighter that there is 
preserved to Ohio and Miami county these 
"recollections," briefly given in a newspaper 
article. 

Abraham Thomas was a type of Daniel 
Boone, a splendid marksman, a good hunter, 
a reliable and trusty scout, a brave Indian 
lighter, and he was one of the pioneers of 
Miami county t(3 whom posterity owes a debt 
of gratitude. The writer will close this 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



227 



sketch liy giving tlie description of the old 
pioneer written by Hon. W'ilham Bosson, 
Marcii 2~, 1S39, and pubhshed in the Troy 
Times : "In this neighborhood Hves one who 
manfully bears up under the experience of 
eighty-four years. He is yet playful and 
facetious, though dignified and tolerant ; 
and is altogether one of nature's finished no- 
blemen, such as is rarely to be met with 
in the more pretending, more polished and 
higher educated walks of life. This gentle- 
man has been a pioneer in the western forests 
from his earliest boyhood days. He bore 
himself manfully in the savage conflicts of 
early history ; and is now the contented pro- 
prietor of a small farm where those who can 
appreciate him love to partake of his frugal 
though liberally dispensed hospitality, while 
they listen with delight to his cheerful de- 
tails of past exposure to the privations and 
dangers of the wilderness. Books have 
never been the instructors of this sylvan 
warrior. Other and more hardy objects of 
care anil solicitude claimed his attention, yet 
the accuracy of his perceptions, the gener- 
osity of his sentiments, and the liberality of 
his mind, redeem him from the usual destiny 
of those who, like him, have passed the best 
years of life amidst the toils and dangers of 
primitive and belligerent settlements. This 
is Abraham Thomas, familiarly and endear- 
ingly called 'Father Thomas.' " 



JOHX KXOOP & BROTHERS. 

. Among the first emisTants to Miami 
county were the Knoop brothers, consisting 
of John, Benjamin. Christian and Daniel. 
John was the eldest. He was born in Cum- 
berland county, Pennsylvania, Noveml^er 8, 
1767. They emigrated to Ohio, then the 



Northwest Territory, in 1797, and came 
down the Ohio in a flat boat to Fort Wash- 
ington, afterwards Cincinnati. Their fa- 
ther was of German descent and died some 
years before his sons removed to the west. 
Their mother was a native of Switzerland 
and emigrated to America in 173 J. When 
they came to Fort \Vashington early in the 
spring of 1797 they planted a crop of corn 
on Zeigler's stone-house farm about f(jur 
miles above Cincinnati, on land then belong- 
ing to John Smith. During the summer John 
Knoop made two excursions into the Indian 
country with sur\-eying parties and at that 
time selected the land on which he lived and 
died. The above statement is from an article 
called "Miami County Traditions," written 
by \\'illiam Bosson and published in the 
Troy Times of April 10, 1839, but notes 
prepared by William R. Saunders, who mar- 
ried the daughter of William Knoop and 
who li\es on the settled by John Knoop in 
1797, state that the Knoop brothers came 
to Fort Washington in 1796 and located a 
tract of land in Warren county, and that in 
1797, wiien, on a second excursion into the 
Indian country, he located on what is now 
section 4, Staunton township, in this coun- 
ty. On his return to Fort Washington they 
immediately made preparations for their re- 
moval, and in connection with other families 
made the journe}' up the Miami river, fol- 
lowing the trace road over which General 
Clark traveled in 1872 in his expeditions 
against the Indian towns of Piqua, on the 
Miami river, until they came to the bend of 
the river where the village of Staunton is 
now located, antl there John Knoop, his 
brothers Henry Girard, Benjamin Hamlet 
and John Tilders established a station for 
the security of their families. This station 
was called Dutch Station. It \\as a stockade 



228 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



built so as to enclose the cabins of the above 
named settlers, and for those days it was 
a rather strong fort, proving an effectual 
protection against the Indians. It was the 
first permanent settlement made in Miami 
county. It became the stopping point for 
new emigrants to this portion of the Miami 
valley and here Jacob Knoop was born in 
1798. He was the first white child born 
within what is now Miami county, and was 
the son of John and Barbara Knooji. The 
families in tliis station remained there until 
1800. In the meantime they raised crops 
across the river, opposite the stockade on a 
prairie that had been cultivated liy the In- 
dian's, and was afterwards known as Gaha- 
gan's prairie. In the spring of 1800 the set- 
tlers commenced improving their land by 
building cabins and clearing the ground. John 
Kn(x>p erected on his land in 1800 a cabin 
with a loft to it, which is still standing, and 
which the writer visited a few days prior to 
writing this sketch. It is the oldest cabin 
now standing in the county of Miami and is 
kept in good ])reservation by Mr. Saunders 
and his wife. It may be a matter i>f inter- 
est to the readers of this sketch, to state 
where each of the Knoop brothers located. 
John settled on section 4, where the old cabin 
stands, near the beautiful home now occu- 
pied by Mr. Saunders and his wife. Ben- 
jamin Knoop located on the farm adjoining. 
Lost creek dividing the farms, and his place 
is owned at the present time by George and 
Mary Sheets. Christian Knoop located on 
the farm now owned l)y Presley Sayers, 
while Daniel Knoop located on the farm 
where S. D. Green at present resides. There 
was, and is yet, a good spring of water on 
each farm named. After John Knoop had 
Iniilt his cabin he went back to Pennsylvania 
after his aged mother and brought her to 



his new home, making the trip of fi\e hun- 
dred miles through the wilderness on horse- 
back. She died in 1805, and was burietl 
on the ground selected by herself only a 
short time before her death. Thfs was the 
beginning of the Knoop cemetery, where 
now sleep the old pioneer Knoops and their 
.sons and daughters, by the side of the emi- 
grant woman from the mountains of Switz- 
erland, who raised her boys in the shadow 
of the Alleghanies. The subject is one 
worthy of the poet's song as well as of the 
historian's pen. In the old house built in 
1800 were raised seven children : Five were 
born beneath its clapboard roof; one son. 
Cieorge, the eldest, was born in Pennsylvania 
ii' 1795, and Jacob, the second son, in the 
stockade at Dutch Station. All the family 
— father, mother and seven children — sleep 
side by side "waiting the judgment day" 
in the beautiful Knoop cemetery on the bank 
of Lost creek, close l)y the old cabin of 1800; 
and over their graves grow the Bowers that 
were first propagated froTu the .seeds brought 
from Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, 
in 1797. Each one of the jjionecrs and 
their sons and daughters filled a place in the 
early settlement of tliis county and are en- 
titled to the gratitude of the present genera- 
tion. George, the eldest son, died in 1862. 
He was never married. He was a genial, 
generous, practical man and was the head 
of the firm of "Knoop Brothers," or, 
as they were usually called, "The 
Bachelor Knoops," the rest of the 
bachelors being Jacob and John H. 
Thomas, another son, died in the vear 
18 — : William, the ytnmgest son, was born 
in 1812, married to Rachael A. Kerr, and 
reared a family of eight children. Xancy 
Knoop was born in 1801. and was marrieil 
tc Isaac Sheets in 18J4. She was the 



GEXEALOGICAL.AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



229 



motlier of six children, three l^oys and tliree 
girls. Elizabeth was married to George 
Statler, in the year of 1829, and was the 
mother of two boys and one girl — Samuel 
K., W. S. and Harriet Statler. 

John Knoop, the pioneer, was an active, 
energetic, enterprising business man, and 
did much in his modest, unassuming way 
towards building up and improving Miami 
county. At an early day he erected a saw- 
mill and gristmill; also a distillery, and his 
whisky was noted for its purity. In 1816 he 
erected a two-story brick liuuse as a resi- 
dence, near the log cabin he erected in 1800. 
His wife, Mrs. Barbara Knoup, planted 
apple seeds and raised her own trees for a 



large orchard. 



One tree grew to an enor- 



mous size, being ten feet in circumference 
and branches shading over seventy feet. The 
fruit was similar in color and shape to the 
popular Maiden Blush apple, but was more 
acid. Pinks are growing in the cemetery 
in the spring and summer of 1900, the seed 
of which was brought to Miami comity in 
1797. John and Benjamin Knoup married 
sisters by tlie name of Holstine. Benjamin 
raised a large family of sons and daughters. 
Daniel, a son of Benjamin Knoop, was a 
merchant and at an early day opened a 
store in Casstown. Jacob Knoop, Jr., was 
a surveyor by profession; was elected mayor 
of Troy and justice of the peace. He also 
was elected and served as auditor and treas- 
urer of Miami county. Andrew, another 
son, was an active business man, and be- 
came quite a large land holder. Jacob 
Knoop, Sr., the son of John Knoop, was 
twice elected countv commissioner; George 
Knoop, when only seventeen years of age, 
enlisted in the army and ser\ed against the 
British and the Indians in the war of 181 2. 
The Knoop brothers brought the first' sheep 



to Miami county, and in everything pertain- 
ing to agriculture and pulilic enterprise they 
took an active part and (hcl much to lay 
wide and deep the foundations for the pres- 
ent prosperity of this county. The whole 
generation were Whigs in politics, and were 
stanch supporters of Henry Clay. The 
family sent many soldiers to the front to 
battle for the Union and the old flag during 
the late Rebellion. Mrs. Henry Carver, of 
Troy, and Henry Knoop, of Dayton, are 
the only survivors of the first generation of 
Knoops born in Miami county. 

John Knoop and Colonel John Johnson, 
the Indian agent, a sketch of whom appears 
in this book, were fast friends and often vis- 
ited each other. The sons of John Knoop, 
Jacob and John H. Knoop, in 1873, pur- 
chased the Statler farm lying in Elizabeth 
township, consisting of one lumdred and 
sixty-three acres of land. After making 
some necessarv improvements, they trans- 
ferred it to the county of Miami in June, 
1877, for a home for orphan children pro- 
vided the county would erect the necessary 
buildings. Miami county has now upon 
this donation of the "Bachelor Knoops" one 
of the finest county children's homes in the 
state of Ohio. The Bachelor Knoops added 
to the competence left them by their father, 
the pioneer of 1796, and when they died they 
left to their heirs the snug fortune of four 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, yet they 
were generous to all worthy charities. 
Jacob was one of the originators of the 
old State Bank oi Troy, which, under 
the national banking act, was organized 
into the First National Bank of Troy. 

In preparing this sketch of a family that 
had had so marked an influence upon the 
past of Miami county the writer is under 
many obligations to W. R. Saunders. 



i:80 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



BARTON' S. KYLE. 

Lieuteiiaiit-Culonel Barton S. Kyle was 
born in Elizabeth township, Miami county, 
April 7, 1825. In 1803 two brothers, Sam- 
uel and Thomas B. Kyle, came tii Miami 
county, Ohio, from Kentuck}-. each one 
bringing with him a Bible and an ax. They 
were backwoods preachers and pioneer farm- 
ers. In one of the first records of the Miami 
court of common pleas, held in Staunton, on 
the 4th day of Jul\-. 1807, in which Hon. 
Francis Dunlavy was presiding, the Judge 
recites : "There was produced in open court 
a certificate certif_\'ing that Thomas B Kyle 
was a regularly ordained minister, and on ap- 
plication a license was duly granted to said 
Thiimas B. Kyle to solemnize marriages ac- 
cording to the law." This Thomas B. Kyle 
was an uncle of Colonel Kyle, and Rev. 
Samuel Kyle was his father. Colonel Bar- 
ton S. Kyle had the usual experience of a 
boy raised on a farm in Miami county at that 
early day, but he managetl to procure a good 
education, for he was for a number of years 
county school examiner, serving on the board 
of examiners with Prof. William Edwards, 
whose name is yet a sacred memory with 
many of the leading citizens of Miami 
county. Colonel Kyle was a man of fine ap- 
pearance, large and portly, and possessed a 
generous, genial disposition, and was \-ery 
popular in this count}-. He was a very 
bright Mason and rec(jgnized in southern 
Ohio as one of the leading memliers of that 
ancient order. He was,a man of much more 
than ordinar\- ability. For six years he 
was chief clerk in the auditor's office of 
Mia:ni count}-, and at the early age of twen- 
ty-three years he was appointed deputy 
United States marshal Un- the southern dis- 



trict of Ohio. In 1859 he was electeil as 
clerk of the common-pleas court, ar.d served 
in that office until he entered the army. He 
was president of the board of education in 
Troy. In 1856 he was a member of the na- 
tional convention that nominated Gen. John 
C. Fremont for president. In the summer 
and fall of 1861 he was active in recruiting a 
regii-nent for the Union army, with head- 
quarters at Troy, Ohio. In October. 1861, 
the Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry 
was organized and on the 2nd of October, 
1 86 1, he was commissioned lieutenant-colo- 
nel of that regiment. It was due to his 
patroitism, energy and untiring zeal that 
the Seventy-first Ohio \'olunteer Infantry 
was enlisted, organized and sent to the front. 
He declined the colonelcy of the regiment, 
and was appointed lieutenant-colonel. He 
reported Avith his regiment at Paducah, 
Kentucky, in February, 1862, and soon after- 
ward that reginient was ordered to Pitts- 
burg Landing. He was a \-ig-ilant and pop- 
ular officer, beloved by his men. In the 
bloody battle of Shiloh. on the tith da}- of 
April, 1862, while at his post of duty, he 
was niortally wounded with a minie ball 
in his breast. He was warned by one of 
his officers, when the bullets were falling- 
thick and fast, that he was right in the 
range of the enemy's fire, but he would not 
leaxe his place. Soon after he recei\ed the 
fatal shot. He was conveyed to a hospital 
boat and died in a few hours. He died as 
a hero dies ; his death lamented l,y every 
man in his regiment. His military ser\-ice 
was brief, InU in that short time he won the 
love and confidence of his nien. Whitelaw 
Reid said of him, on that fatal da}' : "Ohio 
lost no truer, braver man that day than 
Lieutenant-Colduel Kvle." 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



231 



COLONEL JAMES HARVEV HART. 

James Harvey Hart, the tliird son of 
Le\i Hart, a pioneer of Miami county, was 
born in Troy, Ohio, October i, 1814. He 
was educated in the Troy schools and Miami 
University, nf Oxford. He studied law 
with his brother. Judge Ralph S. Hart, and 
for twent}'-tive years was a pruminent law- 
yer in Miami county. He excelled perhaps 
in criminal law, both on account of his 
sharp insight into human nature and his elo- 
quence as an advocate. He had a state 
reputation as an orator of much more than 
ordinary eloquence. In 1H50 he was 
elected from the senatorial district of Miami, 
Darke and Shelby counties, as a Whig, to 
the Ohio state senate. In 1857 he was nom- 
inated for congress in the fourth con- 
gressional district of Ohio, but was defeated 
by Hon. William Allen, of Darke count\', it 
being impossible to overcome the large 
Democratic majority of the districf. in 
October, i86r, he enlisted in the Se\enty- 
first Ohio \'olunteer Regiment, and was 
commissioned first lieutenant and adjutant 
of the regiment October 7, 1861. He was 
promoted to major April 6, 1862, for gal- 
Irmtry on the bloody battlefield of Shiloh, 
and promoted to lieutenant-colonel on April 
2, 1864. On the 15th of December, 1864, 
he was desperately wounded, while leading 
his regiment on the gallant charge up Over- 
ton's hill in the battle of Nashville, He 
was promoted to colonel of the regiment 
November 29, 1865, but not mustered in as 
such, for on the 30th of November, 1865, 
the regiment was mustered out, after a ser- 
vice of four years and two months. 

Thic is in brief the military history of 
Colonel Hart, but the writer served for many 
months under his command, and from per- 



sonal knowledge writes of his ciualities as a 
man and a soldier. He was one of tho.se 
generous-hearted men tliat ne\er knew tl;e 
value of a dollar, only as a medium of pro- 
curing pleasure for himself and friends. He 
was not gifted in military knowledge, and 
the iron rule of military discipline was irk- 
some to him. It was a task for him when 
adjutant to learn enougli of military tactics 
to form a regiment into line on dress parade, 
and when promoted to major he was much 
of the time on detached dut\" with a separate 
command. The men and company officers 
respected him for his bravery and good heart, 
and kept order in camp antl on the march, 
but Major Hart ne\er enforced a rigid dis- 
cipline. In time of battle he nex'er had but 
one command and that was "Forward," and 
he led the way. On the 25th of August, 
1862, with four companies of the Sexerity- 
first stationed in rifie pits in the town of 
Dover, Tennessee, lie defeatetl the rebel 
Colonel Woodward, who had under h's com- 
mand at the time a force estimated from 
eight ti_) twehe liundrcd soldiers. It was 
the same force to which Colonel Rodney 
Mason had on the 17th of August surren- 
dered six companies of the regiment at 
Clarksville, Tennessee. Major Hart did 
not have more than one hundred and fifty 
effectual men in time of battle, yet without 
hesitation he engaged the rebel force and 
defeated them. He was in command of the 
regiment at the battle of Nashville, and 
when the order came to take Overton's hill, 
he formed the regiment, and with his usual 
command of "Forward," he led them on, and 
up the steep ascent of Overton's hill until he 
was shot from his horse and one-third of the 
regiment was wounded and killed. The 
men never stopped until the order to fall 
back was given by the general commanding, 



232 



GENEALOGICAL JXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



but the rebels were in retreat, and the hill 
was soon after in possession of the Federal 
troops. He went with the regiment to 
Texas and remained there with it through 
the long hot summer of 1865, and was mus- 
tered out with the regiment at San Antonio, 
Texas: but tlie regiment was not actually 
disbanded until its return to Camp Chase, 
Ohio, when the men and officers were sent 
home, in January, 1866. Colonel Hart was 
married in December. 1843. to Miss Mary 
H. Powers, daughter of Judge B. F. Powers, 
of Troy. His wife died many years before 
the war. leaving one daughter. !Mrs. Kate 
Hart Barnett, of Piqua. Ohio, a lady who 
inherits much of her father's talent. Colonel 
Hart did not long survive the war. but died 
in Piqua on the 20th day of December 1867. 
His memory is yet green and fresh in the 
hearts of the old veterans of the Seventv- 
first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. 

CAPT.\IN JOHN C. DRURV. 

John C. Drury was born in Colerain. 
Franklin county, Massachusetts. Of his 
early life the writer has but little informa- 
tion, but he was a man of good education, 
fine business capacity, with a heart full of 
patriotism, and as brave as he was patriotic. 
He served a term in the Massachusetts leg- 
islature. He moved with his family to Troy, 
Ohio, in 1855, about the time the D. & M. 
Railroad was built to Troy. Here he en- 
gaged in the mercantile business with the 
firm of Drury, Coolidge & Jones. He 
raised Company H, Eleventh Ohio \'olun- 
teer Infantry, under President Lincoln's first 
call for troops, and was commissioned cap- 
tain of Company H, April 20. 1861. He 
re-enlisted for three years. June 17, 1861, 
but resigned from that regiment December 



19. i86r. In 1862 he raised Company B, 
Ninety-fourth Ohio \"olunteer Infantry, 
and was commissioned captain of that com- 
pany July 22. 1862. On the 28th of Au- 
gust, 1862, the regiment, without uniform 
or camp equipage, and without drill, was 
ordereil into Kentucky as part of the force 
to oppose General Kirby Smith's army. The 
Xinety-fourth in less than foriy days from its 
organization was in battle, and Captain 
Drury was therein highly commended for 
his bravery. On the 8th of October, 1862, 
he was shot dead at the head of his company 
in the battle of Perryville, Kentucky. 

The military record of Captain Drury is 
indeed brief, and fateful, but like many 
other records of the war of 1861, it is that 
of a man in the prime of life, comfortably 
situated in a good home, enlisting, fighting 
and dying for his country and fiag. Miami 
county cherishes the memory of Captain 
Drurv as one. of her heroes who fell at 
his ]3ost of dut_\- and died on the Ijattle- 
field. 

COLONEL AUGLSTUS H. COLEMAN. 

One of the heroes of the war of the Re- 
bellion whose memorv is proudly cherished 
by 'the citizens of Miami county is Augus- 
tus H. Coleman, the son of Dr. Asa and 
Mary Kiefer Coleman. His ancestors were 
of Re\olutionary stock, and in every war 
of the nation from that of 1776 some of 
the famil}' ha\e been soldiers. Colonel 
Coleman was born in Troy. October 29, 
1829, and recei\ed his elementary educa- 
tion in the Trov s.chools. In June. 1847, 
he entered as a cadet the Military Academy 
at West Point, from which he graduated a 
fine scholar, and a thorough soldier in 1851. 
After his graduation he returned home, and 
occupied himself in the peaceful life of a 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



■im 



farmer. \\'hen President Lincoln issued 
his call f(jr seventy-five thousand men, A. 
H. Coleman responded, and in forty-eight 
iiours he raised Company D, Eleventh Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, and went with them to 
Columbus, Ohio, where he was unanimously 
chosen captain of the company, when they 
reached Columbus April 26, 1861. Upon 
the organization of the regiment he was 
made major, his commission hearing date 
April 29, 1 86 1. The regiment re-enlisted 
for three years, and was mustered into ser- 
vice on the 20th of June, 1861, and on the 
/th of Julv was ordered to the Kanawha 
valley, and attached to the division of troops 
commanded by General J. D. Cox. Major 
Coleman was promoted to the rank of lieu- 
tenant-colonel on the 9th of January, 1862. 
His military education was of great benefit 
to the regiment, for he was a good drill 
master, and in a short time had brought the 
command to such a high standard of drill 
and discipline that its reputation extended all 
through the army, and it was always called 
upon to serve when the duty was hard, and 
demanded the best drilled troops. There 
was some dissatisfaction at ihe rigid disci- 
pline, but when the experience of war made 
the men veterans they appreciated the mili- 
tary instructions of- the officer, and loved the 
man for his thoughtful care of his men 
and his gallant bravery. In time of danger 
and peril he was especially vigilant and 
watchful, and took every precaution against 
surprise, visiting his picket lines in person, 
and remaining near the most exposed posi- 
tions. On the I2th of September, 1862, 
the Kanawha division, under the command 
of General Cox, was moving on the rebel 
lines near Frederick City, Maryland, and 
in the battle the rebels captured two pieces 
of artillery. General Cox called to Colonel 



Coleman : "Will the Eleventh recover those 
guns?" The colonel formed his men, gave 
the orders, led the attack, and with a shout 
of defiance the gallant Ohio boys dashed at 
the rebels, drove them from the guns, and 
with the spirit of battle upon them they 
pressed on the rebel lines, adxanced into 
the city, and only halted in their bra\e and 
gallant charge when the enemy was de- 
feated and in hasty retreat. The next day 
the battle of South Mountain was fought, 
and the regifnent and its colonel won new 
laurels for splendid work on the field of 
battle. In that engagement circumstances 
were such that Colonel Coleman not only 
showed that he was an efficient commander 
of a regiment, Init he displayed the ability 
that marks a successful commander, and 
had his life been spared he would have soon 
been trusted as a general. 

In the l)attle of Antietam this flower of 
the chivalry of Miami county died while 
leading his regiment across the famous stone 
bridge. On the 7th of September an as- 
sault was ordered on the stone bridge, but 
the enemy's fire was so severe that the 
troops wavered and fell back. Then Lame 
an order from General McClellan, "Carry 
the bridge at all hazards." The troops were 
reformed, and the Eleventh Regiment was 
placed in front, to lead the storming party. 
Steadily, swiftly and with the resolution to 
conquer or die, Coleman led his gallant men 
on the bullet-swept bridge, and there was 
mortally wounded. Seeing their colo- 
nel fall, the regiment wavered for a mo- 
ment, and then to revenge their colonel's 
death, they rallied,- pressed on, crossed the 
bridge, scaled the bluffs and drove the rebels 
from their position. And thus died on the 
field of honor one of the bravest soldiers 
Miami county ever sent forth to battle for 



2U 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the Union and the flag. Before the war he 
was married to Miss Clara Shaffer, and by 
this union had two children, Rachael Au- 
gusta and George Edwin, both of theni mar- 
ried and living in the state of Washington. 
His widow, after the war, married A. R. 
Byrkett, an able lawyer, and they are also 
living in the state of Washington. The 
Grand Army Post of Troy bears the name 
of the A. H. Coleman Post. The Women's 
Relief Corps bears the name of Coleman, 
and some time in the future the writer hopes 
that a monument will be erected in the pub- 
he square of Troy to the memory of the 
gallant soldiers of Miami count}- wln) fell 
upon the field of battle. 



CAPTAIN E. S. \\TLLIAMS. 

Elihu S. Williams was born in Bethel 
township, Clark county, Ohio, on the 24th 
of January, 1835, and is the eldest son of 
Rev. Henrv Williams and Elizabeth ( Petti- 
grew) \\'illiams. He worked upun the 
farm until sixteen years of age, when he 
started in life for himself. His education 
was such as could be obtained in the winter 
schools of the country district in which his 
parents resided. He worked for Major ]\Ic- 
Cain and Joshua Peck and John Peck, Jr., 
farmers, residing near Troy, until he got 
money enough to pay his board for a few 
months in Troy, when he studied and re- 
cited to Prof. Arnett, of Troy, until he was 
able to pass an examination entitling him 
to a teacher's certificate, which he obtained 
from Professor Edwards and Barton S. 
Kyle, county examiners for Miami county. 
He taught school in the winter of 1851-52 
in Brandt, and in the meantime he continued 
his studies, reciting to Professor Thomas 



Harrison, of Xew Carlisle. After the end 
of the term he attended the academy in New 
Carlisle during the spring term. In the 
summer months he worked among the farm- 
ers, and then obtained another certificate 
from the same examiners in Troy, and 
taught school in the Kepper school-house 
during the winter of 1852-53. At the close 
of his term he again attended Linden Hill 
Academy, in New Carlisle, during the spring 
and fall terms, when he again went to work 
until he earned money enough to pay his 
tuition for the first and second years in the 
preparatory school at Antioch College, when 
his mone}' gave out, and he became discour- 
aged and gave up (much to his regret in af- 
ter life) his plan or rather hope of obtain- 
ing a collegiate education. He went to 
v.ork again until he earned and sa\'ed some 
money, when in 1858 he commenced read- 
ing law in the ofifice of F. P. Cuppy, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, antl by working in harvest fields 
and teaching in the winter he supported him- 
self until February, 1861, when he was ad- 
mitted to practice Iiy the supreme court of 
Ohio. He then went to Illinois, prospect- 
ing for a location, and while there Fort 
Sumter was fired upon. He returned to 
Ohio for the purpose of enlisting in an 
Ohio regiment, but before he reached home 
Ohio's quota was full. He then located in 
Celina, Mercer county, Ohio. W'hen the 
second call for troops was made he enlisted 
and helped raise Company A, Seventy-first 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and on the 5th of 
October, 1861, he was elected first lieuten- 
ant of the company and was commissioned 
February 14, 1862, and promoted to captain 
February 10, 1863. He was in the battle 
of Shiloh. His captain being slightly 
wounded on Sunday morning, he had com- 
mand of the company during the bloody bat- 




(r 



(^y\lJ^~^K^(kyVy'^ 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



235 



tie of that day, and fought with his troops 
until night closed the fierce contest. Cap- 
tain Williams was with the brave Major 
Hart at Fort Donelson when the rebel 
colonels, Woodward and Johnston, with 
their commands, attacked four companies 
of the Seventy-first and were repulsed. He 
was with the regiment in all its marches and 
skirmishes -until September, 1863, when, 
although he was the fifth captain in the line 
of his regiment, he was sent by General 
Payne with three companies of the regiment 
and a section of artillery to take charge of 
the post at Carthage, Tennessee. The post 
was established by General George Crook 
with a division, and afterwards held by Gen- 
eral Spears with a brigade. There was a 
large accumulation of government stores 
there for the use of the army, which could 
not be moved on account of the low 
water in the Cumlierland river. The post 
was thirty-six miles from any other 
military post, and the Confederate com- 
mands of Colonel Hughes and Colonel Ham- 
ilton, estimated from one thousand to fif- 
teen hundred men, were in striking distance, 
but Captain Williams held the post until the 
river rose, so that the gox'ernment stores 
could be removed to Nashville and thus 
saved. His troops not only held the post, 
but a part of them, mounted upon horses, 
captured and "pressed" irom the rebels, 
rendered efficient service in driving the 
guerrillas out of the coun'try and protecting 
the loyal citizens of that part of Tennessee. 
His camp was made a recruiting station for 
loyal Tennesseeans and Kentuckians and by 
the spring of 1864 a regiment was recruited, 
which under the command of Colonel A. E. 
Garrett did effective service for the Fed- 
eral cause. By the request of Andrew 
Johnston, then military governor of Tennes- 



see, Captain Williams was detailed for or- 
ganizing troops in Tennessee, and remained 
in Carthage until the close of the war. 

After the close of the war Captain Wil- 
liams remained in Smith countv, Tennes- 
see, and engaged in the iiractice of law. He 
also took an active part in the reconstruc- 
tion of that state, and was a member of the 
first convention held in Xashville for that 
purpose. In April, 1865, he was commis- 
sioned attorney general of the sixth judicial 
district of the state, and held that position 
until the summer of iSf)", when he resigned 
to accept the Republican nomination for the 
legislature to represent the legislati\'e dis- 
trict of Sumner, Smith and Macmi coun- 
ties. The cami)aign which followed was 
exciting and at times dangerous, but he was 
elected bv a handsome majority, and re- 
ceived the largest vote ever given to a Re- 
publican in those counties. He served two 
years in what is known as the radical Re- 
publican legislature of Tennessee. He 
took an active part in the legislation of what 
history calls the Brownlow legislature of 
Tennessee, and retired at the close of the 
term with the confidence of his party and 
the respect of the people. He declined a 
renomination, and refused to become a can- 
didate for any political office. He re- 
mained in Tennessee until 1875, and was 
an acti\e worker in the Republican party, 
fighting the battles all the more earnestly, 
because the party in middle Tennessee was 
proscribed, persecuted and in a hopeless mi- 
nority. 

In January, 1875, he returned to Ohio 
and formed a partnership with his brother. 
Judge H. H. Williams, of Troy, to practice 
law, and has resided in Troy up to the pres- 
ent time. He continued the practice of 
law after Judge Williams was elected com- 



236 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



moii-pleas judge until 1886, when lie was 
nominated by the Republicans of the third 
congressional district of Ohio as a candi- 
date for congress. The district was then 
regarded as Democratic by a majority of 
from five to eight hundred. The Demo- 
crats nominated Hon. R. M. Murray, a 
popular man, who represented the district 
from 1882 to 1884. After a hard-fought 
campaign Captain Williams was elected 
over Mr. Murray' by a majority of eleven 
hundred and thirty-three. In 1888 he was 
nominated by acclamation, the Democratic 
candidate being Hon. George W. Houk, a 
very talented and popular man, a leading 
citizen and a lawyer of Dayton, Ohio. Again 
there was a close campaign, and it was ex- 
pected that Mr. Houk would l)e elected by 
a fair majority : but, to the surprise of all 
parties, Cajjtain \Mlliams received twenty 
thousand nine hundred and twelve and Mr. 
Houk twenty thousand four hundred and 
ninety-seven votes. 

In the fifty-first congress Captain W'd- 
liams was a prominent member of the mili- 
tary committee, and made the record of an 
able, watchful, industrious member. At 
the end of the second term the district was 
gerrymandered, throwing Miami county in 
a district Democratic by thirty-five hundred 
majority. Captain \\'illiams was not a 
candidate, and has not since then been a can- 
didate for any office in the gift of the peo- 
ple. His career in congress was such that 
he won the reputation of being devoted to 
his constituents and untiring in his work 
for the interests of his district. 

When he returned to private life he en- 
gaged to some extent in the practice of law, 
but devoted most of his time to journalism, 
being, since the spring of 1891, engaged in 
the publication of the Troy Buckeye until 



September, 1899. when it was sold to W. C. 
O'Kane and A. S. Hoffman. Under his 
editorial management the Buckeye jjros- 
pered and became a valuable newsjiaper 
plant. It is for the present generation of 
the citizens of Miami county to judge of 
his ability as an editorial writer. 

In Smith county, Tennessee, Captain 
Williams was married, on the 31st of May, 
1866, to Alice Gordon, the daughter of Dr. 
Wiley B. and Virginia ( Russwurm ) (jor- 
don. Dr. Gordon's father, before the war, 
was a planter and owned a large number of 
slaves. His wife's father was General John 
S. Russwurm, of Rutherford county, Ten- 
nessee. Dr. Gordon was a soldier in the 
Seminole war and a soldier innler General 
Sam Houst(jn in the war of Texas with. 
Mexico. He was a physician, earnestly 
devoted to his profession and died of cholera 
in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1849. His wife 
died in Rutherford county, Tennessee, in 
1 84 1. Two children came to the home of 
Captain Williams : 01i\'e Gordon and 
Henry, both of whom were born in Tennes- 
see. The son died in Troy, December 5, 
1885. The daughter, Olive G. Williams, is 
a graduate of the Troy High School, and 
for a number of years had charge of the lo- 
cal columns of the Buckeye. She has trav- 
eled extensively for a yoimg lady, and with 
her uncle. Judge Williams, made a trip 
around the world, traveling east until she 
arrived at her home in Troy. She is a 
writer of more than ordinary ability. 

This biographical sketch is the record 
of an active, busy life, full of disappoint- 
ments, with here and there a gleam of suc- 
cess. Whatever has been accomplished by 
Captain Williams has been due to energy, 
perseverance and hard work, for nature did 
not give him genitis, nor schools an educa- 



GEXB.iLOGICAL .l.XD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



237 



tioii. He was never ashamed of the pov- 
erty of his youth, or the fact that he was a 
day laborer. For liim the energy of youtli 
and the \'igor of manhood liave passed ; tliere 
remains t)nly the years of old age and the 
hope that his life has not been a failure. 



JACOB ROHRER. 

There are heroes whose names are not 
inscribed upon historic page, or chanted in 
sweet lines of poetry, because to them never 
came the opportunitv for the wdtUI tn know 
tlieir true worth. Such men, unconscious of 
their own powers, do well the things that 
come in their way simply as a matter of 
duty. Their names may not awaken the 
admiration of the people of a state, but their 
neighbors and the cnmnumity in which they 
live recognize their abilit}- and respect and 
honor their judgment. 

Such a man is Jacob Rohrer, who is now 
a resident of Tippecanoe City, Miami coun- 
ty, Ohio, and was born on the 15th day of 
October, 18 15, in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania. He is the son of Christian and 
Maria (Farrer) Rohrer. They had nine 
children, all of whom became useful and re- 
spected citizens. His father and grand- 
father, each of whom was named Christian, 
were born on the same farm as the subject 
of this sketch, which land was purchased by 
an ancestor from the agent of William Penn, 
and the farm remained in the family for one 
hundred and fifty years, and passed from 
the name of Rohrer in No\'-ember, 1878, 
by the death of an elder brother of Jacob 
Rohrer. 

The ancestors of Mr. Rohrer emigrated 

to America early in the seventeenth century. 

They left the mountains of Switzerland and 
14 



came to the colony of Pennsylvania on ac- 
count of the persecution of their religious 
lielief. .\t that time many in Europe were 
called to suffer and die at the stake, or to 
slowl}- rot and die in deep, dark dungeons, 
unless sooner released from their imprison- 
ment and life by the rack and torture so 
freely used by a cruel, bigoted priesthood 
on all who dared to worship God according 
to the dictates of their own heart and con- 
science. The Rohrers had heard of Will- 
iam Ponn, the Quaker, whose name is still 
remembered and will be as long as the Golden 
Rule is taught and a prayer for the brother- 
hood of man is offered to the God of peace 
and love. 

When Jacol) Rohrer was a boy opportu- 
nities for education to a country boy con- 
sisted in subscription schools, and fortunate 
was the farmer's boy who learned to "read, 
write and cipher to the 'Single Rule of 
Three." " His father died before Jacob 
Rohrer reached his tenth year, and his wid- 
owed mother needed her boys on the farm; 
hence his education was very limited. How- 
ever, he was fortunate in possessing a vigor- 
ous constitution, and when he grew to man- 
hood he was noted for his strength and 
ability to endure the hard work of the farm 
in those early days. -^ 

In May, 1835, Mr. Rohrer came with 
his mother to Ohio, and settled on a farm 
four miles east of Dayton, where he re- 
mained for seven years. In 1842 he re- 
moved to Miami county, and located on a 
farm in Monroe township, near Tippeca- 
noe, then a stragglin? village, which farm 
he had purchased from Joseph Jones in 
1837 for the sum of five thousand dollars, 
on which he made a payment and gave his 
note for the balance, which he paid when 
due. This was his start in life, the begin- 



238 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ning of a long and prosperous career. He 
was a successful farmer, and is now one of 
the largest land owners in Miami county. 

On Christmas day, in 1838, he was mar- 
ried to Elizabeth Kendig, who was l:)orn in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and was 
the daughter of John Kendig, an old neigh- 
bor in that state. When a boy Mr. Rohrer 
often rocked the cradle in which the baby, 
who afterward was his wife, slept. She was 
his little playmate, but in those days there 
was little time for romance; however, when 
j\Ir. Kendig moved to Ohio, it was not long 
until the subject of our sketch was his son- 
in-law. Their home was humble, and their 
ambition was to pay for the farm on which 
tliey settled. He \\orked on the farm and 
she in the house, and both attended Dayton 
market and sold eggs at three cents per dozen 
and butter at five cents per pound, while his 
farm products were sold at thirty-se\-en 
cents per bushel for wheat, corn at tweh'e 
cents per bushel, and hogs at one dollar per 
hundred weight. Those were the times that 
tried men's fortitude and perseverance. There 
was no income then in a farmer's home for 
extravagance; self-denial and strict economy 
was necessary to live and save a small sum 
for the future; but little by little this young 
couple accumulated until the farm was paid 
for and money to buy another was in bank, 
and thus was laid the foundation of what 
afterward grew into a comfortable fortune. 

His beloved wife, the companion of his 
life, who shared with him the hardships of 
those early days, and who was \\ith him 
from early manhood to a ripe old age, passed 
away February 2, 1894, and her body 
"softly lies and sweetly sleeps" in the beau- 
tiful cemetery near the farm where fifty- 
two years before was her first home in Miami 
county. They had three children : Mary, 



the wife of T. C. Leonard; Ida, the wife of 
A. R. Garver; and John, who married Miss 
Rose Benham, and is now living on the old 
iiome farm. 

Mr. Rohrer was a very successful farmer 
and a splendid judge of land. He is now- 
one of the largest land owners in ]Miami 
county. He has no poor farms, and when- 
ever he purchased a farm that was not well 
improved, his first building would be a large 
bank barn. His career as an agriculturist 
is evidence strong and convincing that while 
the profits of a farm, judiciously managed, 
are not large, yet they are always sure, and 
with proper management during the active 
years of life a competence for old age can 
always be obtained by culti\ating the soil. 

Although Air. Rohrer devoted the most 
of his time to agriculture, yet he lias given 
much attention to, and is largely identified 
with, the manufacturing interests of ]\Iiami 
county. He has for many years owned a 
controlling interest in Ford & Company's 
W heel Works of Tippecanoe City, and ser\ed 
for many years as the ])resident of the com- 
pan}-. He is also interested in the furni- 
ture factory and strawboard company of the 
same pake. He is a stockholder in the Troy 
Buggy Works and also in the Troy Carriage 
Works, and has also been identified with 
manufacturing interests in the city of i'ifiua. 

Mr. Rohrer's reputation as a man of 
sound, careful business judgment was the 
moving principle that caused him to be as- 
sociated with the banks of this county. For 
thirty-seven years he has been a director in 
the First National Bank, of Troy, and for 
a number of years he was the vice-president 
of the bank. He is also a director of the 
Tippecanoe National Bank, and for a num- 
ber of years the president of that bank. 
He was a director in the Firemen's Lisur- 



ll 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



239 



ance Company, of Dayton, Ohio. He served 
f(_ir many years as a trustee in the Knoop's 
Children's Home, of Miami county, and has 
filled other positions of trust in his county, 
township and church. 

In politics he was a Whig, and cast his 
first vote for William H. Harrison, in 183G; 
but when that party passed into the history 
of "has beens" he united with the Republi- 
can party, in 1856, antl cast his vote for 
Cieneral John C. Fremont, "The Pathfinder." 
and has from that time to the present been 
an active, earnest, devoted Republican. In 
■ 1S59 he was elected county commissioner, 
and again re-elected, and served the people 
of this county in that office to Novemi)er, 
1865. His record in that office was char- 
acterized by the same practical sense and 
good judgment for which he has been not 2d 
all his life; and it is yet a trite saying in 
this county that "if the candidate will only 
make such a commissioner as Jacob Rohrer 
we will be satisfied." It was during his 
term of office that iNIiami county commenced 
the system of good roads, and now the 
county is noted in this state for her good 
roads, well graveled and cared for under 
the free-turnpike laws of Ohio. 

His ancestors were followers of Simon 
Meao, but for many years Mr. Rohrer has 
been a member of the Evangelical Lutheran 
church of Tippecanoe. In 1846 he hired 
the brick made and practically built the first 
Lutheran church in Tippecanoe, and he h.is 
been a church official e\-er since, and largely 
instrumental in building the present beauti- 
ful church edifice of that city, to wdiich he 
was a generous contributor, personally on 
his own account and because he regarded it 
as an offering to the memory of his beloved 
wife, who was a devoted Christian woman 
-and a member of that church. 



The 15th day of October, of this year, 
Mr. Rohrer will be oighty-five years of age. 
What changes have occurred in this nation, 
state and county, it is needless to dwell 
upon ; but it is a satisfaction to sketch an in- 
dividual life that has in it so much of that 
which is good and so little of that which is 
evil as the life of our subject. A man sin- 
gularly free from ambition, whose charac- 
ter for integrity is without a stain, wdiose 
honesty is without cjuestion, whose word has 
always been as good as his bond, whose 
judgment is respected wherever he is known. 
In his old age he can look back upon a life 
in which mistakes were few ; its pathway is 
not decorated with the flowers of fame, but 
all along its way are the little for-get-me- 
nots of a record of an earnest, honest, con- 
scientious man. E. S. \\'. 



LEVI HUESTOX BUCHANAN. 

"The proper study of mankind is man," 
said Pope, and aside from this, in its broader 
sense, what base of study and information 
Iiave we? Genealogical research, then, has 
its value, — be it in the tracing" of an ob- 
scure and broken line, or the following back 
of the course of a noble and illustrious 
lineage, whose men have been valorous, 
whose women of gentle refinement. We of 
this twentieth century, democratic type can- 
not afford to scoff at or to hold in light 
esteem the bearing up of a scutcheon upon 
whose fair face appears no sign of blot, and 
he should thus be the more honored who 
honors a noble name and the memory of no- 
ble deeds. The lineage of the subject of this 
review is one of most distinguished and in- 
teresting order, and no apology need be 



240 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



made in reverting to this in connection witli 
tlie individual accomplislinients of tlie sub- 
ject himself. 

His ancestry can be traced directl}' jjack 
to the royal families of Europe. Hugh 
Capet, king of France, had a son, Robert, 
who also ascended the throne and was the 
father of the princess Adela. \\ho married 
Baldwin \', of Flanders, and their daughter, 
Princess Matilda, became the wife of Will- 
iam, the Conqueror, the first king of Eng- 
land. Their daughter. Princess Guidred of 
Normandy, married William de \\'arren, 
who was knighted earl of Surrey by Will- 
iam Rufus, king of England. They had a 
son, \^'illiam, the second earl of Warren and 
Surry, Vib.o married Lady Isabel dc \'er- 
mantlois. widow of Rcjbert, earl of Mellent, 
and daughter of Hubert, fourth count de 
Vermandois, by Lady .-Mice, his wife, and 
the daughter of Hugh the Great, count de 
Vermandois, son of Henry, first king of 
France, .\mong their children was Lady 
Adaline, nr .\da de Warren, who marrried 
Henry, prince of Scotland. In another 
branch the ancestry is traced down from 
Alfred, king of England, through Edward, 
Edmund, Edgar, Ethelred H, Edmund H, 
and Edward, the exiled jsrince of England, 
whose daughter, Margaret, became the wife 
of Malcolm HI of Scotland and the mother 
of St. Da\-id, king of Scotland, who married 
Lady Adaline de Warren. Their .son, David, 
earl of Huntington, was the father of Isa- 
bel, wlio married Robert, lord of Annandale, 
and they were the parents of Robert 
Bruce, earl of Carrick, whose son, Robert 
Bruce, became king of Scotland. The last 
named was the father of Mary, wife of \\'al- 
ter, lord high steward, and their son became 
Robert II, king of Scotland, who married 
Lady Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Adam 



Mure, knight of Rt)walton. Their son, Rob- 
ert Stuart, duke of All^any and earl of Mon- 
teith and Fife and regent of Scotland, was 
born in 1339 and died in 1419. He married 
Lady Margaret, granddaughter of .Man, 
earl of Montieth,and their son.Murdcck Stu- 
art, became second duke of Albaijy and 
goxernor of Scotland. He married Lady 
Isabel, daughter of Duncan, earl of Leno.x, 
and their daughter. Lady Isabel Stuart, be- 
came the wife of Sir Walter Buchanan, 
twelfth laird of Buchanan. 

Forgallus, the one hundred and fifty- 
sixth monarch of all Ireland, who was killed 
718, A. D., by Moroch, king of Leinster, 
had a son, Conchobhar, prince of Leiman, 
Modaidh and Londonderry, brother of Mall 
Frasach, one hundred and sixty-second 
monarch of Ireland. He died A. D. jj;^. 
and from him the line is traced down 
through Hruagain, Dungan. Cathain and 
Cathusach O'Cathain or O'Kyan to Der- 
mond O'Kyan, king of the southern part of 
L'lster. His son was .Vnselan Buey O'Kyan 
or O'Bocainain, which name has been angli- 
cized to the form Buchanan. He succeeded 
as provincial king of south Ulster and took 
part as a soldier of Turgesius, the Danish 
general, and his army at Limerick, and with 
his followers was compelled to flee to Scot- 
land, in 1016. Soon afterward he entered 
the service of King Malcolm II against the 
Danes. He so signalized himself in his 
monarch's service that he gained from him 
many grants of lanil in the northern part of 
Scotland as a reward, among which were 
the lands of Pitwhonidy and Strathyre, and 
was recognized as the first laird of Buchan- 
an. He married the daughter of the laird 
of Denniestown and their son, John, the sec- 
ond laird of Buchanan, w-as the next in the 
line of descent, which is traced down 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



241 



thnnigh Anselan, Walter, Gerald, McBeath 
and Anselan, all of whom were lairds of 
Buchanan. The last named was chamher- 
lain to Maldwin, earl of Lenox, in 1225, 
and obtained a charter from him for an island 
in Loch Lomond, which he called Clare- 
inch, the slnghorn or war cry of the family 
of Buchanan. His son, Gilbert Buchanan, 
the eighth laird of Buchanan, was the first to 
assume the surname. He succeeded his father 
as seneschal or chamberlain to the earl of 
Lenox. His son, Sir Maurice Buchanan, 
knight and the ninth laird, was the father of 
Sir Maurice Buchanan, who became the 
tenth laird and married the second daughter 
of Sir John de Menteith, who died in 1324, 
and was the second son of Walter Stuart, 
earl of Menteith in 1258. The third son of 
Walter Stuart was lord high steward of 
Scotland, and his wife, Lady Beatrice, daugh- 
ter of Gilchrist, earl of Angus, and his wife, 
daughter of Maritius, earl of Menteith. 
Walter Buchanan, knight, and eleventh laird 
of Buchanan, had a son, John Buchanan 
He married Lady Janet, the daughter of 
John Buchanan, laird of Lenny, and their 
son. Sir Walter Buchanan, knight and laird 
of Buchanan and of Lenny, married Lady 
Isabella Stewart, granddaughter of Mur- 
doch, second duke of Albany and governor 
of Scotland. Thomas Buchanan was the 
third son and younger brother of Patrick, 
thirteenth laird of Buchanan, from whom 
he had, in 1461, a grant of the lands of 
Gartincober. In 1476 he was the first laird 
of Carbeth. His son, John Buchanan of 
Easter-Ballat, is a second son and the 
younger brother of Thomas, second laird of 
Carl>eth, died before his brother, leaving a 
son, Thomas Buchanan, who succeeded as 
th'rd laird of Carbeth, in 1555. By his sec- 
ond wife, Janet, a daughter of the laird of 



Buchanan, he had a son, John Buchanan, 
of Gartincober, eldest son, who was a half 
brother of Thomas, fourth laird of Carbeth 
and a brother of William Buchanan of 
Blairnborn, whose grandson, Archibald Bu- 
chanan, settled in Virginia. 

Among the members of the family there 
is a tradition that at an early date there 
came from Scotland to America three broth- 
ers: \\'illiam Buchanan, who settled in 
Pennsylvania ; James, who took up his aliode 
in Virginia, and John or George, who be- 
came a resident of Tennessee. James Bu- 
chanan, of Rockbridge county, Virginia, 
married Isabella Hall and lived on land 
which was part of the Ben Burden grant 
from the crown of England. They had 
eleven children, as follows: William lived 
and died on the old homestead ; James, who 
located near the present site of Lockington, 
Shelby count}', Ohio, was married and about 
1840 removed to Elkhart, Noble county, 
Indiana, where he and his wife died; An- 
drew emigrated to Kentucky and served in 
a company of mounted volunteers in the 
service of the L'nited States for seventy 
days in the expedition under command of 
Major-General William Henry Harrison 
near Canada in the war of 18 12, when that 
company was attached to the Fourth Regi- 
ment of Kentucky Volunteers, performing 
his duties faithfully as a soldier, and was 
honorably discharged from the service on 
the 8th of November, 181 3. Later he re- 
moved to Missouri. He w-as married and 
his son, James Archibald, resided in Indian- 
apolis, Indiana, in the early '60s. Later he 
lived for a short time in Piqua, but after- 
ward returned to Indiana. George was the 
next of the famil>-. John, who remained 
on the old homestead in Virginia, married 
Rhoda Corby, of Augusta county. Virginia, 



242 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and had a family of eight children. In 1859- 
60 he visited Ohio, accompanied b}- his son, 
John Rice. Jane became the wife of James 
Parks. Mary became Mrs. Walker and aft- 
erward married John Rice. Isabel became 
Mrs. Scroggan. Hannah married Adam 
Reed, of Eaton, Ohio. Xancy married John 
Acton, of Eaton. Paxi \\'asliington mar- 
ried Samuel Pettigrew. 

Colonel George Buchanan, the grandfa- 
ther of our subject, was born in Rockbridge 
county, \''irginia, not far from the natural 
bridge, April 27,. 1781. He was the fourth 
son of James and Isabel ( Hall ) Buchanan. 
On the 23d of June; 1803, he married Nancy 
Cassady, who was born in Rockbridge coun- 
ty December 16, 1782. They came across 
the mountains on horseback and settled in 
Marietta. Ohio, whence they removed to 
Deerfield, W'arren county, where their first 
child, James Harvey, was born December 
20, 1804. The following year they removed 
to \^'est Milton, Miami county, where they 
remained until after the Indian war of 1812. 
During the t'me of that war George Bu- 
chanan raised a company of ^•olunteers and 
received a commission as captain, having 
his company enrolled, drilled and ready for 
ser\ice before the formal declaration of war 
was made. For the protection of the settlers 
he built a block house or fort, which was 
called Fort Buchanan, cm the present site 
of Covington. For some time he and his 
command occupied that fort. He was also 
stationed at Greenville for a part of the time 
and after the war he served as an officer in 
the militia in the early days of Miami coun- 
ty. He was a man of great courage and in- 
tegrity, strong and fearless and of decided 
character, and a natural leader, who was rec- 
ognized as a very energetic and useful man 
in ci\il as well as military circles. He pur- 



chased a farm on section 6. Newberry town- 
ship, whither he removed his family in 1830, 
there residing until July 20, 1862, when he 
died, respected by all who knew him. Th.e 
old sword and epaulets worn by Colonel 
George Buchanan are now in ])ossession of 
George David Buchanan, of Sidney, Ohio. 
Their presentation to the present owner was 
made in a very impressive manner. In the 
summer of 1861, just a few weeks before 
his death, when he had grown too feeble to 
walk without help, he left his bed and crept 
on his hands and knees up the stairway. 
True to the character of the successful army 
officer, he did not make known to any one 
the purpose of his mission up stairs, but a 
little later he came into the room where the 
family were assembled and addressing his 
grandson, whom he always called ly his 
middle name, said : "David, I have brought 
down my sword and epaulets, which I car- 
ried in the war of 181 2, and placed them 
in the bureau drawer of the west room. You 
will find them in the second drawer from 
the l)(itt<;im. I jiresent them to you as a 
keepsake to remember me by. I want \ou 
to keep them as long as you li\'e. The sword 
is in its scabbard and I want you never 
to unsheath it unless in defense of vour 
country." 

The children of Cofonel George and 
Xancy (Cassady) Buchanan were: James, 
who was Ixirn December 20, 1804, and was 
married January 5, 1826, to Joanna Hall, 
eldest daughter of \\"illiam and Mary ( Cam- 
mack) Hall: George Washington, who was 
born December 21, 1805, and died in in- 
fancy: William Madison, who was bom 
r'ebruarv 10, 1807, and died in infancy; 
.\lexander Hueston. who was born Octo- 
ber 26, 1809. and died in infancy: Isabella, 
who was born Tanuarv 11. i8ii, and be- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



243 



came the wife of Xathan W. Perry April 

30. 1829. and (lied Ma}' \2. 1854: Mary, 
of Rochester. Indiana, who married Fred- 
erick Sinks, and after his death wedded 
-Adolphus Stone; John Harrison, who was 
a twin brother of Mary, and died in in- 
fancy; Eliza Jane, who was born Januar)' 

31, 1815, and is the deceased wife of George 
Dively, her death having; occurred May j8, 
1892: Nancy, who was horn April 16, 1816, 
and died in November. 1886. and was the 
wife of James McClary ; David Jackson; 
Hannah La\inia. of Macy. Indiana, who 
was born Ma}- 21, 1819, and became the wife 
of Job Stahl, and after his tleath wedded 
AV. A. Horton ; and Cynthia Ann, who was 
horn May 15, 1822. and died October 18. 
1848. 

James Har\ey Buchanan, the eldest child 
of Colonel George Buchanan, was married 
January 5, 1826. to Joanna, the eldest 
daughter nf William and Mary (Cammack) 
Hall. Her father was born in the Newberry 
district of South Carolina March 29. 1763. 
and died March 3. 1858. when nearly ninety- 
five years of age. His wife, born October 
12, 1775, died March 4, 1850. in her sev- 
ent}-fifth }-ear. They were married in Oc- 
tober, 1792. in North Carolina, and their 
children were James, who was born De- 
cember 2y, 1794, and died December 13, 
1854; John, who \\as born January 8, 1797, 
and died February 12, 181 2; Joanna, born 
November i, 1799, and died April 17, 1S78; 
Dorothy, Ijorn May 20, 1 802, and died Feb- 
ruary 17, 1859; Mary, liorn February 20, 
1805, and died October 18, 1874; Hannah, 
born No\ember i, 1807. and died April 2t,, 
1850; Samuel, born March 12. 1812. and 
died March 27,. 1864; Sarah Ann. born 
September 14, 1814, and died March 12. 
1874; A\'illiam Hall, born December 2y, 



181 7. and died April 2, 1846. The Bu- 
chanan-Hall marriage was celebrated at the 
residence of the bride's parents in Mont- 
gomery county. Ohio, and on the i6th of 
Noxember. of the same year, tbey removed 
to a farm which they had previously pui^ 
chased in Newberry township, Miami coun- 
'tv, on a part of which the Union church 
now stands, while adjoining this is the old 
liurying ground. Only a few acres of the 
land had been cleared and the improvements 
consisted of a log house of one room, in 
which, however, was a fireplace with a 
liearth of large dimensions, over which hung 
a long frame, which was a source of curios- 
ity to the children in later years. Here the 
young couple Ijved. developing not only 
their farm but also characters worthy of the 
highest respect. Their home was frequently 
the place of entertainment for ministers who 
visited the settlement, and oftentimes relig- 
icus meetings were held in their dwelling. 
As the years went by several additions were 
made to the house, a story was added and 
portions built, until now it is a large and 
roomy old homestead, rich in its memories, 
standing on a hill among tall trees, many of 
which were planted by the grandfather ; but 
whether the house was large or small the 
hearts of the inmates always extended a 
warm welcome to visitors and the bounti- 
fullv spread board furnished many an in- 
viting meal, for Grandmother Buchanan 
was well known throughout this and ad- 
joining counties for her superior ability as 
a cook, — a talent which has been inherited 
by her daughters. James Harve}' Buchanan 
was a carpenter, and in addition to building 
his (.)wn house and making his own furniture 
he frequently worked at his trade in his vi- 
cinity and also near West Milton, while his 
good wife managed the affairs of the family 



244 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and farm unti-l his return. Slie was a 
woman of excellent executive ability, well 
qualified for her work. Both lived to an 
advanced age and witnessed the remarkable 
growth and im])ro\ement of the C(junty. 
Here amidst the \icissitudes inseparable 
from the pioneer life, in a home which soon 
became the center of art and culture, they 
reared the majority oi tlieir si.x children. 

The children of Colonel Buchanan's 
youngest child are: William Warren \'ol- 
ney, who married Phoebe Dye and has chil- 
dren ; George Preston, who married Eliza 
Gibson and afterward Susanna Tobias. ha\- 
ing children by both marriages: Marv, wife 
of John Xicholson. by whom she has two 
children: Mary, wife of Wesley M. Deboe; 
James Harvey, who died in 1848; and Xanc}- 
Jane, who became the wife of J. King and 
has children. 

The children of William W. \'. and 
Phcebe (Dye) Buchanan are: Alvin Cur- 
tis, who married Anabel Siioemaker and has 
children ; James Dorsey, who married Em- 
n.azetta Cox and has children : Carra Belle, 
wife of Jeremiah S. Shearer, by whom she 
lias children ; Anne Catherine, deceased ; and 
P'rank and Lulu, twins. The former mar- 
ried Olive Orchard. 

The children of A. C. and Anabel ( Shoe- 
maker ) Buchanan are : \\"arren Thomas. 
Mary Belle, Eva \'iola. Kate Dye. Augusta 
Rebecca, William Leonard. Charles Frank- 
lin, Marguerite, (jeorge Da\id and luuma 
Lstella. 

J. D. and lunmazetta (,Cox) Buchanan 
ha\e fi\e children: Bessie Pearl: John 
Rol)inson. deceased; Herbert Ward: Mary 
Helen and Edna ]\Iarie. 

J. S. and Belle C. Buchanan ha\e three 
children: J. Warren antl E.va Lulu, buth 
deceased, and Florence Katrina. 



Frank and Olive (Orchard) Buchanan 
have two children : Lenore and Ralph. 

G. P. and Mary Eliza (Gibson) Bu- 
chanan had three children: William Insco, 
who married Lulu ^^'illiams and has two 
children. Florence and William Donald : 
Ralph Lane, who married Charlotte Koster 
and they have a daughter. Lillian; and 
Alexander, the young^est, deceasetl. After 
the death of the mother George P. Buchanan 
married Susanna Tobias and has one son. 
who married Bessie Thompson and has three 
children, Jean, Hazel and James. 

John and Henrietta (Xicholson) Bu- 
chanan had two children : Emma Isadore, 
deceased wife of AMlliam Hart, by whom 
she had two children, Clarence and Eva 
Florence; William Preston, who married 
Carrie Shipley and has two daughters, 
Maude Blanche and Glenna Marie. 

A. J. and N. Jennie (Buchanan) King 
had a daughter, Mabel Adale. 

David Jackson Buchanan, the father of 
our subject, was born October 5, 181 7, at 
Milton, Miami county, and when about 
tweh'e years of age went with his parents to 
Xewberry township, where he grew to man- 
hood. He aided in the operation of the 
home farm, and when his father became too 
old to care for the property he asstuiied its 
management and continued its cultivation 
until 1875, when he remo\-ed to Coxington, 
where he lix'ed until the death of his wife, 
October 16, 1885, when he moved liack on 
the old farm, where he lived imtil his death. 
July 18. 1899. He married Minerva Hersh- 
barger. the wedding taking place in 1846. 
The lady was born in .\ugusta county. \'ir- 
ginia. in 1818. and with her parents came 
to Miami county. Oliio. when a little maiden 
of six summers. She was a daughter of 
John and Rachel Hershbarger. bnth natives 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



245 



of Virginia, wlience they emigrated t(i 
Miami county in 1824, locating in New- 
berry township, where the fatlier entered a 
tract of canal land, now owned by Uriah 
Rhodes. He died in March. 1858. in his 
seventieth year, anfl his wife died May 6, 
1859. at the age of sixty-nine years. Their 
children were as follows : Rachel .\nn. who 
died at the age of three years : Levi Hues- 
ton ; John A.; George David, a resident of 
Boston, Massachusetts; James E.. wlio is 
living in Toledo. Ohio : and ^^'illiam Perry, 
of Philadelphia. 

Levi H. Buchanan, whose name intro- 
duces this review, was born Februarv 10. 
1849. ^"^1 ^^'''s reared amid pleasant home 
surroundings. He acquired his preliminary 
education in the Hart school. Xo. 13. and 
completed his studies in Covington. He 
was reared in the usual manner of farmer 
lads, early becoming familiar with the labors 
of the 'field and meadow, and in his youth 
he also learned the blacksmith's trade, which 
he followed for a time. As a companion 
and helpmeet on life's JDurney he chose Miss 
Susanna Seas, the marriage taking place in 
Newberry town.ship January 11. 1872. She 
was born March 17. 1850. near George- 
town. ■Miami county, and is a daughter of 
Jacob and Christina (Mishler) Seas, who 
resided in Newberry townsiiip. The mar- 
riage of Mr. and Mrs. Buchanan has lieen 
blessed with four children : Oren Francis, 
who was born June 2. 1873. ^^'^^^ is living 
in Newberry township, married Cammie 
Zimmerman and has one child. Otis Ray; 
Elmer Ray, born October 16. 1877. is at 
home; a son born January 9. 1881, died in 
infancy; Alpha Earl, bom February 4, 1890, 
is now attending school. 

About 1875 Mr. Buchanan located on 
his share of the old homestead farm and 



resides in the picturesque old residence which 
for many years has looked t\)rth on the sur- 
n unding country, a mute \\itne.~s of the 
changes that have occurred through the 
past decades. \Vhen his father died, in Cov- 
ington, Mr. Buchanan assumed the manage- 
ment of the entire farm of one hundred and 
sixty acres and operated it until it was di- 
vided, about 1882. He is an enterprising 
and progressive farmer and is an esteemed 
citizen, who is found true to every relation 
of life. He and his wife hold member- 
ship in the Dunkard church, and in his pol- 
itics he is a Democrat. 



SAMUEL S. WELLS. 

Samuel S. Wells is now living a retired 
life in Tippecanoe City and well merits the 
rest that is accorded him, for his life has 
been an active, useful and honorable one. 
He is numbered among the native sons of 
Miami count)- and is one of its oldest resi- 
dents, for his birth occurred in Monroe 
township, on the 8th of February, 1821, so 
that the period of his connection with the 
county covers seventy-nine years. His fa- 
ther. Silas A\'ells. was born in Albemarle 
count}^, ^'irginia, and spent his boyhood 
days in the Old Dominion. He was mar- 
ried there to Miss Elsie Skinner. They 
had two children, born in Virginia, Thomas 
and Richard, the latter now deceased. De- 
termined to seek a home in the Buckeye 
state, they journeyed by team to Miami 
cduntv in 18 19, locating in Monroe town- 
ship. They first lived with his father, Sam- 
uel Wells, who had come to Ohio a few 
years previous. Later Silas Wells removed 
to a wild tract of land, upon which he erected 
a log cabin, containing one room. The 



246 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



upper story or loft was reached by a lad- 
der, the doors were hung on wooden hinges 
and the furniture was not only primitive, 
but scanty. They experienced the various 
hardships and trials of pioneer life, but 
e\entually their labors brought to them cap- 
ital which enabled them to add many com- 
forts and conveniences to their home. The 
father died in the eighty-second year of 
his age. In his family were ten children, 
eight sons and two daughters. 

Samuel S. Wells was reared on the old 
homestead farm until he had attained his ma- 
jority. He worked in the fields and meadows 
through the summer months and in the win- 
ter season pursued his education in the sub- 
scription schools, having to walk a mile and 
a half to the school house. There were also 
social pleasures enjoyed by the pioneers 
that are unknown to the citizens of this day 
and their busy lives were thus not unmi.xed 
with joy. On leaving the pareiUal roof 
J\lr. \\ ells began learning the cooper's trade 
and became an expert workman. He fol- 
lowed that business for altout eighteen years 
and then returned to the old homestead 
farm where he lived for three years. On 
the expiration of that ]ieriod he went to 
Shelby county, Ohio, but after a few months 
returned to the old homestead, where he 
continued for two years. He then traded 
his farm for property in Tippecanoe City, 
but afterward moved to another farm in 
iMonroe township, where he remained for 
four years. Subse(|uently he li\-ed upon still 
another farm, and a part of the year 1897 he 
spent in Tippecanoe City. Once more he 
became identified with agricultural pursuits, 
but in November, 1899, again came to Tip- 
pecanoe City, where he is now lixing re- 
tired, enjoying the rest which he has truly 
earned and richlv deserves. 



In 1843 ^I""- ^Vells was married to ]\Iiss 
Caroline Lavy, and to them have been born 
eight children : Harriet, Matilda, Emma, 
Margaret, Libbey, Jefferson, Walter Grant 
and Eva. Mr. Wells is still the owner of 
sixty acres of land. He has served as trus- 
tee of Monroe township for one term, and 
in politics he has long been a Democrat. 
He holds membership in the Christian 
church and takes an active interest in its 
work. His life has been an honorable one 
over which there falls no shadow of wrong 
or suspicion of evil. He is undoubtedly 
one of the oldest native sons of ]\Ionroe 
township and through the passing years 
has watched the continual growth and im- 
provement of the community, bearing his 
part in the work of adxancement wherever 
he has found an opportunity. He receives 
the respect of young and old, rich and poor, 
and this work would be incomplete with- 
out the record of his life. 



DAXIEL H. KXOOP. 

No name is more inseparably connected 
with the history of Miami county than that 
of the Knoop family, for its representatives 
have been identified with tlie growth and 
development of this section throughout the 
century. Mr. Knoop, whose name intro- 
duces this review, was one of the most ex- 
tensix'e and successful farmers in Lost Creek 
township, and was prominently identified 
with other interests and public affairs 
which contributed to the general prosperity 
and welfare of the communty. He was 
born at Dillsburg, near Williams Mills, in 
Adams county, Pennsyhania, Noxember 6, 
1806, and was a son of Jacob and Frances 
(Hursh) Knoop, who were also natives of 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



241 



the Keystone state. His grandparents were 
American born, but his great-grandparents 
were natives of Germany. Jacob Knoop 
Hved and died in Pennsylvania, hut tlie 
mother came to Oliio with her son, Daniel, 
and died in the Buckeye state. In their 
family were six children. Init all ha\e now 
passed away. 

Daniel H. Knoop spent the first twenty- 
four years of his life on the farm in Penn- 
sylvania, but in 1830 he came to Ohio. 
His brother, Christopher, had already come 
to this state, having located in Wayne coun- 
ty. Daniel H. Knijop made the journey on 
foot and returned to Pennsyh'ania in the 
same manner. In 1832 he again came to 
Ohio, this time accompanied by his mother 
and sister .\nn. His mother actetl as his 
housekeeper until his marriage. She died in 
Clark county, Ohio, and was buried in Black 
cemetery, north of New Carl'sle. The sister 
became the wife of Jacob Fortney and both 
she and her husband died in Clark county. 
On the first trip Mr. Knoou. of this review, 
joined a man at Columbus, who was a 
drover taking cattle to Baltimore, and 
worked for him for eight dollars per month. 
He and his mother had sold the old home- 
stead in Pennsylvania, but as he did not report 
favorably on Ohio they decided to re-pur- 
chase it and gave five hundred dollars more 
than they had received for it. In 1832, 
however, Mr. Knoop again came to Ohio 
with his mother and -sister, having the sec- . 
ond time sold the Pennsylvania homestead. 
They made the journey by wagon, bring- 
ing with them their household goods, con- 
taining an old barrel churn, which had been 
purchased in Baltimore in 1816 and was 
used in the family until after the marriage 
of Albert Knoop, in 1880, and it is still m 
his possession. 



Daniel Knoop purchased land in Lost 
Creek township, which had been entered 
from the government, in September, 1807, 
by Richard Palmer, and came into posses- 
sion of our subject on the 17th of Septem- 
ber, 1832, the transfer price being five hun- 
dred dollars. There has been but one trans- 
fer of the title, the original patent being 
written on parchment and signed by Thomas 
Jefferson, president, and James Madison, 
secretary of state, and is now in possession 
of Albert Knoop. Their first home was a 
frame residence, built on a stone basement. 
Mr. Knoop had some capital and ener- 
getically went forward with the work of 
improving his farm, his mother acting as 
his housekeeper until after his marriage. 
She then spent a portion of her time with 
her daughter, Ann, the wife of Jacob Fort- 
ney, of Clark county, where she died when 
well ad\-anced in years. 

In 1842 Mr. Knoop was married to ]\Iiss 
Cassa Jackson, of Elizabeth township, who 
was born March i, 1810, and was a daughter 
of William and Elizabeth ( Criddhbaugh ) 
Jackson, who were natives of Pennsylvania 
and came to Ohio at an early day. They 
had a family of eight children. Mr. Knoop 
was in the possession of a fine farm at the 
time of his marriage and thereon he and his 
wife resided throughout his business career. 
He, of course, carried on his farming opera- 
tions in primitive style in that early day. 
His son, Albert Knoop, can remember how 
the father with a few of his neighbors, 
reaped a field of rye, using an oldfashioned 
sickle, and one of the men who took part 
in the work was Jacob Hnfford, who is still 
living. He resided upon one of Mr. Knoop's 
farms, there making his home for twenty- 
one years, during which time he accumu- 
lated a handsome competence. Mr. Knoop 



248 



GEKIIALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



had one hundred and sixty acres of the old 
homestead farm and the greater part of the 
land was under a liigh state of cultivation. 
In 1 86 1 he erected the present huildings 
and all of the improvements upon the place 
stand as monuments to his thrift and enter- 
prise. In early life he had learned the trade, 
hoth of tanner and cahinet-maker, and fre- 
quently made cradles and coffins for the 
people of the neighborhood and attended 
the funerals for miles around. His services 
as a coffin maker were in demand, especially 
during the cholera epidemic, which raged 
\-iolently in [Miami county. All alone, at 
midnight, he carried to his Ijurial the father 
of Isaac Clyne, who died of that dread dis- 
ease. His old account books show several 
interesting items, including the making of 
coffins, cradles, and other products of the 
cabinet-maker's skill. As the years ad- 
vanced Air. Knoop prospered in his business 
affairs, and in addition to the old homestead 
became the owner of three other farms, all 
in Lost Creek township, together with three 
hundred and sixty acres in Indiana. In 
company with Daniel Knoop, a re!ati\e, 
William Green and William Burton, he 
built and owned the Troy & Casstown pike. 
This was four miles long, was constructed 
in 1850 and was continued as a toll road 
for twenty years, proving a profitable in- 
vestment. ]Mr. Knoop favored the plan of 
the county owning the pike and extended 
the system. In early years he was frequent- 
ly called up( m to act as trustee and to various 
public positions of honor and trust. He 
was a director of the National Bank of 
Troy for nine years, was the director of the 
hydraulic works and at one time held five 
different directorships. He was also town- 
ship trustee for several terms and at all times 
was faithful to the countv's good. In earlv 



life he gave his political support to the Whig 
party and on its dissolution he joined the 
ranks of the new Republican party. He 
cast his first vote for \Villiam Henry Har- 
rison, in 1834, and afterward voted for his 
grandson, Benjamin Harrison. In his last 
days he w^as a Prohibitionist and took an 
active interest in every mo\ement that ad- 
vanced the temperance cause. 

Fifteen vears prior to his death, he rented 
the farm and removed to Casstown, where 
lit li\-ed retired until called to the home 
beyond. As his children started out in life 
he gave to each a deed to a farm and in this 
way and by sale he disposed of nearl}' all of 
his property during his life time, and accord- 
ing to his own ideas. He held decided views 
on all questions that interested him, but 
never attempted to convert others. For 
sixty years he was connected with the Lu- 
theran church of Casstown, becoming one 
of its charter members and throughout 
nuich of that time acted as one of its offi- 
cers. He was well read, but did not enjoy 
aigument or dispute and was rather quiet 
and reserved. He was ne\er concerned in 
a lawsuit or .neighborhood quarrel and at- 
tended closely to business, and in leisure 
hours enjoyed the comforts of his home 
and the companionship of his family. In 
November, 1890, he was called upon to 
mourn the loss of his wife, with whom he 
had traveled life's journey for almost half 
■ a century. She was born March i, 18 10, 
and was therefore in her eighty-first year. 
Mr. Knoop survived her until May 20, 1897, 
and passed away in his ninety-first year. 
He had retained his mental faculties un- 
impaired to the last and was a genial old 
gentleman, who received the respect and 
veneration which should e\er be accorded to 
old age. His life had l:)een a quiet, yet use- 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



£43 



lul aiul lionoralile one, and over tlie record of 
his career there falls no shadow of wrong 
n(jr suspicion of evil. 

In the family of Daniel and Cassa 
Knoop were fi\-e sons : Henry C. ; Josiah ; 
George, who died at the age of sixteen years ; 
William M., who died November 24, 1899, 
and Albert, who is living on the old home- 
stead. Albert Knoop was born December 
18, 1849, ^^'^^ ^^'is tlie youngest of the fam- 
ily. He spent the days of his childhood with 
his parents and pursued his education in 
the public schools and in the summer months 
aided in the work of the farm. Soon after 
attaining his majority he was given charge 
of the home farm and here has been passed 
his entire life. He was married, February 
18, 1880, to Miss Mary Stewart, a daughter 
of William and Ann (Wilson) Stewart, 
of Elizabeth township. Their union has been 
blessed with four children : \\'ilbur Stewart, 
who died at the age of four years and four 
months; Walter Wellington ;W-illiam Lauren 
and Albert Kenneth. The parents are mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church, in which Mr. 
Knoop is serving as deacon. In the com- 
munity they have a very large circle of 
friends. 

Mr. Knoop's father deeded him the old 
homestead and they occupy the residence 
which was built in i860. Albert Knoop, 
however, has erected a new barn and has 
made many other valuable improvements, in- 
cluding the placing of two thousand rods of 
tile upon the wet tracts which he has thus 
converted into rich and arable fields. The 
homestead contains one hundred and si.xty 
acres. To this Albert Knoop has added 
tliirty-five acres and another small tract, so 
that he now has two hundred and eighteen 
acres, all in one body. He makes a specialty 
of raising corn, wheat and clover, and in 



addition he is engaged in feeding cattle and 
sheep. He has also bought and shipped 
hogs and other stock to some extent. He is 
a stockholder in the Troy National Bank 
and is a wide-awake antl enterprising busi- 
ness man, thoroughly in touch with the pro- 
gressive spirit of the times. He was reared 
in the faith of the Republican party, but for 
several years has \oted with the Prohibition 
party and has attended its county, district 
and state conventions. He was also in at- 
tendance at the national convention at Cin- 
cinnati. As a citizen he manifests a com- 
mendable interest in everything pertaining 
to the ui)building and ad\ancement of the 
count}-. All who know him esteem him for 
his sterling worth and he well deserves 
mention in connection with the history of 
one of the most honored pioneer families of 
Miami countv. 



HENRY CLAY KNOOP. 

Henry Clay Knoop is now li\-ing retired 
in Casstown. His entire life has been passed 
in Miami county and the fact that his 
warmest friends are numbered among those 
who have known him from bo\-hood is an 
indication that his career has ever been an 
upright and honorable one. He was born on 
the old family homestead, adjoining the vil- 
lage of Casstown, December 4, 1843, his 
parents being Daniel H. and Cassa (Jack- 
son) Knoop. His boyhood days were spent 
in the country and the work of the farm 
occupied most of his attention. He pur- 
sued his education in the public schools of 
the neighborho(j(l and enjoyed the sports 
in which boys of that time indulged. He 
watched with interest the progress of the 
war, and, in 1864, prompted by a spirit f 
patriotism, enlisted in Company I, One Hun- 



250 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



dred and Forty-se\-enth Ohio Infantry, at 
Washington, for three months service. On 
the expiration of that period he re-enhsted, 
becoming a member of Company B, One 
Hnndred and Ninety-fourth Regiment of 
Oliio \^olunteers, in which lie was made 
sergeant. In February, 1865, the regiment 
v.as sent to tlie Shenandoah valley, where 
it was largely engaged in guard duty, spend- 
ing much of the time at Winchester. After 
Lee"s surrender it was sent to Washington 
and stationed in that city on guard duty 
throughout the summer or until October, 
1865, wlien, with his command, Mr. Knoop 
received an honorable discharge, after about 
one year's service. 

After his return home he engaged in 
the operation of his father's farm on the 
shares until 1869. On the 23d of February 
of that year he was united in marriage with 
Miss Almeda OdafTer, of Lost Creek town- 
ship. She was born in that townshi]) Decem- 
ber 7, 1848, and was a daughter of John and 
Alarv (Sword) Odaflfer, hati\es of Penn- 
syh-ania, who came to Miami county at a 
vevy early day. Her parents had a family 
of nine children, namely: Elizalieth, wife 
of John Price, of Clark county, Ohio; Cath- 
erine, wife of M. Bennett, of Springfield, 
Oliio; David, deceased; Harriet, wife of 
J. Routzahn ; Eleanor, deceased ; Sarah, de- 
ceased wife of Alexander Long: Emeline, 
wife of William Bemer. of Iowa ; Mary, 
deceased wife of D. J. Whitmore; and Mrs. 
Knoop. 

Upon his marriage Mr. Knoop's father 
gave him one hundred and eighteen acres 
of land, two miles north of Casstown, and 
for thirty years he engaged in farming there. 
As his financial resources increased he made 
other investments of real estate, becoming 
the owner of a farm of one hundred and 



fifteen acres in the same township. At 
length he sold both properties and can-.e to 
Casstown, where he is lii\-ng retired in his 
pleasant home. Mr. and Mrs. Knoop had 
two children, but their son, Charles V., 
died February 2, 1897, 'it the age of twenty- 
six years. He was graduated in the Troy 
High School, in the class of 1892, and, af- 
ter teaching for one year in Lost Creek 
township, he entered the Ohio State Uni- 
versity as a member of the sophomore class. 
Although never rugged, he was very ener- 
getic and of a studious nature, and was 
well advanced in his class work. His 
health, howevei', at length compelled him 
to put aside his text-books. He contracted 
a hea\y cold \\hich developed into lung 
trouble, and, hoping to be thereb}' benefited, 
lie went to Texas where he spent two win- 
ters. The first time he returned home was 
on Decoration day of 1896, at which time 
he had apparently fully reco\'ered. He had 
gained much in weight and had the appear- 
ance of enjoying perfect health, but he soon 
Ijegan to fail again and once more went to 
Texas, Imt after a few months he was 
brought home, his death occurring two days 
later. He was a young man of excellent 
ability, of strong purpose and laudable am- 
bition, and his loss was a great blow to his 
family. The daughter, Mary C, was grad- 
uated in Wittenberg College, in the class 
of 1896, and is now at home with her father. 
The mother died after a brief illness, De- 
cember 13, 1899. Her many excellent char- 
acteristics had endeared her to all who 
knew her. She was devoted to her family, 
was a consistent member of the Lutheran 
church, and in her life exemplified her belief. 
Mr. Knoop was also a member of the Luth- 
eran church for many years, and for some 
time has held the office of deacon. He is a 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



251 



member of the present board of trustees, 
and has fiUed tliat position. aUogether for 
about fifteen years. He has also been town- 
ship treasurer and his duties have ever been 
discharged in a prompt and faithful man- 
ner. He gave his political support to the 
Republican party until 1896, and was often 
a delegate to its conventions, but his sympa- 
thies were with the free sih'er people, and 
in consequence at the last election he voted 
for Bryan. It would be difficult to find a 
resident of Miami county more widely or 
favorably known than Henry Clay Knoop, 
who has spent his entire life here. He has 
therefore been a witness of much of the 
growth and development of the county, and 
has noted its wonderful progress along 
many lines. His active aid and co-opera- 
tion ha^•e been given to many movements 
for the public good, and he is regarded as a 
reliable and substantial citizen. 



FRED REHMERT. 

As the name indicates, Mr. Rehmert is of 
German birth. He was born near Reandel, 
Germany, on the 5th of February, 1848, 
and is the younger of two children, whose 
parents were John H. and Sophia (Domes) 
Rehmert. The father was twice married, 
his first union being with !\Iiss Hutteson, 
by whom he had three children : William ; 
Mary, widow of Frank Troupe, and Caro- 
line, widow of Henry Martin. In the 
Fatherland John H. Rehmert was engaged 
in the manufacture of knives, but after 
coming to America followed the blacksmith's 
trade. In 1853 he bade adieu to friends and 
native country and with his family took 
passage on a sailing vessel, which, after a 
voyage of seven weeks, dropped anchor in 
the harbor of New York. He thence made 



bis way to Dayton, antl after a few days 
spent in that city came to Staunton town- 
ship, Miami county, where he resided until 
called to his final rest. 

Mr. Rehmert, whose name introduces 
this review, was reared on the Ikmiic farm 
and since the early age of. eight years has 
made his own way in the world. He began 
working for his board and clothing, and 
during the winter season for two years was 
allowed the privilege of attending school. 
On the expiration of that period he was 
given five dollars per niDntii m comj)ensa- 
tion for his services. He continued to uork 
as a farm hand until 1863, when he began 
farming on his own account, operating 
rented land for two years. In connection 
with his brothers, William and Henry, he 
then purchased a farm of one hundred and 
one acres, the purchase price being eleven 
thousand six hundred dollars. Together 
they carried on business there until 1872, 
when Fred Rehmert moved to \\'a.-,hing-- 
ton township and rented a farm for six 
years. He then came to the place where he 
has since li\ed, having one hundred and 
tliirty-nine acres of rich land on section 2, 
Staunton township. He carries on general 
farming and tobacco growing, having from 
five to seven acres planted to tol^acco. He 
also buys and sells cattle, and in the \-arious 
branches of his business has met with a 
creditable degree of success. 

In 1872 Mr. Rehmert was united in 
marriage to Miss Augusta Myers, who was 
born in Troy, and their union has been 
blessed with two children : Charles, who as- 
sists in the operation of the home farm, and 
Minnie, the wife of John Martin. The son 
was married, in February, 1900, to Lena 
Lampman, daughter of Christopher and 
Lena Lampman, of Alcony, Elizabeth town- 



252 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sliip. In 1897 Mr. Rehmert was called 
upon to mourn the loss of his wife, who 
(lied on the 13th of June, of that year, at 
the age of forty-two years, her hirth having 
occurred on the 4th of July, 1855. On 
the 27th of September, 1898, he was again 
married, Miss Lizzie Kropp becoming his 
wife. She was born in Geiselberg, Bavaria, 
Germany, September 23, 1864. She was 
the daughter of Adam and Mary (Heck- 
man) Kropp, wlio left their native land 
April 9, 1871, and came direct to Troy, 
Miami county, arriving there May 9, 1871. 
'Sh. and Mrs. Kropp are still living in 
Concord township, two and one-half miles 
west of Troy. In politics Mr. Rehmert is 
a Republican and keeps well informed on 
the issues of the day, so that he is capable 
of supporting his opinions by intelligent 
argument. He has ser\ed as road super- 
visor and for about eight years acted as 
superintendent of about four miles of the 
Dayton & Carlisle pike. In religious be- 
lief he is a Lutheran, and at all times gives 
his support to those measures which are cal- 
culated to promote advancement along ma- 
terial, social, intellectual and moral lines. 
He is himself a self-educated and self-made 
man and whatever he has achieved in life 
is due to his own well-directed efforts. He 
has won a creditable position as a leading" 
and reliable agriculturist of Staunton town- 
ship, and his home stands as a monument 
to his thrift and enterprise. 



WILLIA.M H. BAILEY. 

Prominently connected with the indus- 
trial interests of Piqua is William H. Bailey, 
who is the efficient and capable manager of 
the Piqua rolling mill. A native of Penn- 



sylvania, his birth occurred in Pittsburg, on 
the 26th of July, 1844. His father, Thomas 
Bailey, was a native of England, in which 
countrv the grandfather owned a large fac- 
tory. The father was reared in the land of 
his birth, and afterward became manager 
of a silk factor}^, holding that position until 
1839, when he crossed the Atlantic ti> the 
new world, believing that he might better 
his financial condition in the "land of the 
free," Taking up his abode in Pittsburg, 
he engaged in the dry goods and notion busi- 
ness for several years. He then purchased 
a farm in \\'estmoreland county. Pennsyl- 
vania, wishing to rear his family away from 
the detrimental influences of the city. He 
spent the greater part of his remaining days 
there and died at the ripe old age of eighty 
years. He was quite successful in his busi- 
ness affairs, accumulating a comfortable 
competency. He was a Democrat, but 
never took an active part in politics, and re- 
ligiously he was connected with the Episco- 
pal cluu'ch. He married Ann Elizabeth 
Thompson, a native of England, in which 
country their marriage was celebrated. She 
survived her husband fifteen years and passed 
away at the age of eighty. She, too, was a 
member of the Episcopalian church and 
was very active in its work. She had eight 
children, two of whom were born in Eng- 
land and six in America. Fi\-e of the 
number are now deceased and three are 
yet living, namely : Martha, wife of James 
Hunter, of Westmoreland county, Pennsyl- 
vania; William H. ; and Thomas, who is 
connected with the rolling mills of Alexan- 
dria, Indiana. 

William H. Bailey spent his life on his 
father's farm between the ages of eight and 
seventeen years, and during that period pur- 
sued his education in the common schools. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



255 



At a later day. he secured employment in 
a rolling mill in Pittsburg, occupying a very 
humljle position, Init lis close application to 
business, his trustworthiness and efficiency 
won him promotion from time to time. 
He remained with his first employers for 
twenty-two years, and at the time he sev- 
ered his connection with that firm he was 
in charge of a department. He left that 
position in order to accept the superintend- 
ency of a rolling mill in Pittsburg, and for 
ten years was manager of the Republic iron 
works. Removing westward, he then ac- 
cepted the management of the Midland steel 
works at ^luncie, Indiana, successfully con- 
ducting that industry for tliree years. On 
the 27th of June, 1895, he came to P^iqua 
and took charge of the mills at this place, 
and has since been manager of the extensive 
industrial concern with which he is now con- 
nected. He has never missed a day since 
accepting his present position, and has care- 
fully guided tlie interests and affairs of the 
mill, his reliability being recognized by the 
company, who repose the utmost confidence 
in him and entertain for him the highest re- 
gard. 

On the 2^d of July, 1868, in Pittsburg, 
Mr. Bailey was united in marriage to Miss 
Vinie Craig, of that city, and their union 
has been blessed with three children : George 
1 ., who tra\-els throughout the United States 
as a salesman for the Republic Iron & Steel 
Company, of Chicago; Annie, at home; and 
Viola P., the wife of W. Edward Clark, who 
is in the engraving business in Pittsburg. 
Mr. Bailey served on the election board 
while residing in Pittsburg, and is a Re- 
publican in his political affiliations when 
questions of state and national importance 
are involved, but at local elections, where 
no issue is up before the people, he votes 

15 



lor the men whom he regards as best quali- 
fied to care for tlie business affairs of 
the municipality. Socially he is connected 
with Delaware Lodge, Xo. 46, F. & A. M., 
of Muiicie, Indiana, and with Silver Shield 
•Lodge, No. 403, K. of I'., of 2^Iuncie, of 
which he was treasurer. In May, 1900, he 
became a member of the Elks at Piqua. He 
and his family are members of the Episco- 
p>al church. Mr. Bailey is a man of strong 
force of character, earnest and reliable, and 
at all times he is wortliy of the public trust 
and confidence. 



WILLIAM PATTY, M. D. 

Certain characteristics are indispensable 
to the successful physician. He must not 
only possess a thorough and comprehensive 
knowledge of medicine, but must be very 
accurate in applying its principles and must 
have an abiding sympathy, which is the out- 
come of an earnest desire to help his fellow 
men by alleviating human suffering. As 
Dr. Patty is wanting in none of these re- 
quirements, he has won prestige as a repre- 
sentative of the calling to which his energies 
have been devoted through life. He was 
born in Butler township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, December 30, 1827, and is a son of 
Charles and Phoebe (Pearson) Patty, both 
natives of South Carolina, in which state 
their marriage was celebrated. In 1808 they 
joined a party of emigrants and made then- 
way to Miami county, Ohio, but afterward 
moved to Montgomery county. The Doc- 
tor's father was a poor man and began work- 
ing on a farm by the day or month in order 
to support his family. When, through his 
earnest labors, he had acquired a little cap- 
ital, he purchased land, becoming the owner 



256 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of the farm upon which the Doctor was horn. 
There was a log house upon the place and 
the land was somewhat impro\-ed. He con- 
tinued its cultivation until 1843. \vhen he 
came to Miami county and purchased the 
farm in Newton township now owned liy 
Joshua Coates. There he carried on agri- 
cultural pursuits until his death, which oc- 
curred September 23, 1848. In his busi- 
ness affairs he had been \-ery sucessful and 
at his death he left an estate valued at over 
thirty-five thousand dollars. His life dem- 
onstrates the possibilities that lie before all 
who are ambitious and desire to succeed and 
who are not afraid of hard work. He not 
only operated his farm, but also conducted 
i> store in Xewton township, and his industry 
and business fiualifications brought to him 
a very desirable financial reward. He died 
at the age of sixty years, and in his death 
the community lost one of its valued citi- 
zens. His wife was born August 5, 1768. 
This worthy couple had the following named 
children : Mary, who was born in July, 
1808. and became the wife of Benjamin Fur- 
nas; Rebecca, who was born in March, 18 10, 
and died at the age of twelve years; James, 
born March 12, 181 2; Enoch, born Novem- 
ber 8, 1814; John, born April 15, 18 17; 
Annie, born April 15, 1820; Mark, born 
April 20, 1825; William, born December 
30, 1827; and Phoebe, who was born April 
16, 1830, and is the widow of Levi Jay. 
She makes her home in Lyons, Kansas, and 
she and her brothers, Mark and \\'illiani, 
are now the only living representatives of 
the family. 

Mark Patty spent his boyhood days 
upon his father's farm, and in 1849. when 
news of the discovery of gold on the Pa- 
cific slope was received, he became imbued 
with a desire to try his fortune there. Ac- 



cordingly he made his way to New York 
and thence to California, landing at San 
Francisco, where he engaged in prospecting 
and mining for a year. He then returned 
to Ohio and continued his residence in this 
state until 1857, when he went to Kansas. 
He was a member of the "vigilant commit- 
tee,' of that state and took an active part in 
the development of the locality in which he 
made his home. He entered land near 
Madison and was engaged in the stock busi- 
ness until 1873. when he removed to Joplin, 
Missouri, where he was connected with zinc 
and lead mining for four years. He then 
sold his interests in those mines and be- 
came owner of some copper mines, which 
he operated for two years. On the expira- 
tion of that i)eriotl he tra\-eled by team to 
■Colorado, and on the south fork of the Ar- 
kansas river was engaged in prospecting 
and mining for two years. He next went 
to New ]\lexico by team, and in that terri- 
tory \\as engaged in prospecting and mining 
for six years. On leaving that place he 
took up his abode at San Diego, California, 
where he has conducted a ranch for two 
years, and has also carried on mining. 

Dr. Patty, whose name introduces this 
record, has been dependent upon his own 
resources from an early age. He began 
teaching school at the age of se\enteen 
years, and followed that pursuit through 
the winter months for five seasons, while 
in the summer he worked upon the home 
farm. He had early become familiar with 
all the duties and labors that fall to the lot 
of the agriculturist, and was an able assist- 
ant in planting and harvesting the crops; 
but not wishing to make that pursuit his 
life work he determined to enter the medi- 
cal profession, and at the age of twenty he 
became a student in the office of Dr. Bear, 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



257 



of Vandalia, Ohio, with whom he remained 
for one year. On the expiration of that 
period he entered the Cincinnati Eclectic 
Medical College, in which he was a student 
during the scholastic year of 1853-54. He 
next went to Pattytown, Ohio, where he en- 
gaged in farming and also operated a saw- 
mill from 1854 until i860. In the latter 
year he located at Laura, Miami county, 
where he began the practice of medicine, and 
in 1866 he came to Pleasant Hill, where 
he has since made his home. 

The Doctor was married in February, 
1849, to Miss Sarah Jane Dowell, daughter 
of Charles and Nancy Dowell. Her father, 
Charles Dowell, emigrated to Ohio from 
North Carolina at an early date in the set- 
tlement of this county. Nancy Dowell was 
born in Montgomery county, Ohio, and her 
father was Solomon ^Yaymire, a prominent 
citizen of that county. Unto Dr. Patty and 
his wife were born fi\e children: Charles 
M. ; Horace, Mary B. and Edgar : the last 
three named, are deceased; and William O. 
The mother of these children died May 22, 
1892, and on the 1st of April, 1894, the 
Doctor was united in marriage to Mary J. 
Beech. In connection with his- practice he 
was financially interested in a grain elevator 
at Pleasant Hill from 1879 until 1883. His 
time and attention, however, has been given 
almost entirely to the practice of medicine 
since his graduation, and he has met with 
desirable success in his chosen calling. He 
has always kept abreast with the progress 
which has been made by the followers of the 
medical profession, and his labors have been 
attended with excellent results. His skill 
and ability are widely recognized and his 
patronage has been justly merited. 

In conversing with the Doctor the writer 
learned that he was originally a member of 



the Society of Friends, but in his marriage 
he married contrary to the discipline of that 
organization and was therefore disowned 
from being a member of that church. Hold- 
ing liberal views on the subject of religion 
he united with the Christian church, which 
has no creed but the Bible. He said he 
thought he was making a great adxance in 
the way of reform and progressive and lib- 
eral Christianity, but experience has taught 
him that churches do not move forward with 
advance only when such thought becomes 
popular so that it is a necessity to their ex- 
istence. He believes that the time has come 
"when churches should advocate the father- 
hood of God and the brotherhood of men, 
and that they should not use the de\-il and 
hell to frighten the people but should teach 
that there is an omnipresent God in whom 
we live and ha\e our being." 

In 1863 he received a commission from 
Governor Todd as captain of Company B, 
First Regiment, Ohio ^Mounted Infantry, in 
Miami county. In 1865 he was elected a 
member of the Ohio State Eclectic Medical 
Association, and in 1865-66 he attended 
the Eclectic Medical Institute of Cincinnati, 
and received his diploma as a physician and 
graduate of that institute. In 1880 he was 
elected a director of the Dayton, Covington 
& Toledo Railroad Company. 

He has always taken an active part in 
c\erything pertaining to the welfare of the 
city, has co-operated in many movements for 
the public good, and from 1893 u'^til 1899 
he was the efficient and honored mayor of 
the town. His administration was pro- 
gressive and practical, and won him the 
commendation of all concerned. In poli- 
tics he has ever been independent. So- 
cially he is a member of the Masonic order 
of Pleasant Hill. His record is that of a 



258 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



man who lias Ijy his own unaided efforts 
worked his way upward to a position of af- 
tiuence. His life has been one of industry 
and perseverance, and h's capahiHty ami 
fidelity have gained for him the support and 
confidence of the community in which he 
hves. Without the aid of influence or 
■wealth, he has risen to a position among the 
prominent men of his community, and his 
iiative ability and personal energy have 
gained for him a competence and the respect 
and confidence of all who know him. ^lany 
may differ from liim in religion and poli- 
tics, but all concede and respect the honesty 
of the men. e. s. w. 



JOHN E. SMITH. 

The present efticient and popular mayor 
of Piqua, Ohio, is a man whose worth and 
ability have gained him success, honor and 
pul)lic confidence. He is a gentleman of 
refinement and culture, and his de\-otion to 
the public welfare has made him a \alu;d 
factor in public life. 

Mr. Smith was born in Paris, Kentucky, 
March 28, 1836, and is a son of the Rev. 
Luther and Lucretia (Caldwell ) Smith, the 
former a native of Hollis, Xew Hampshire, 
the latter of Kentuck}-. His paternal grand- 
father was Rev. Eli Smith, a Congregational 
minister. John E. Smith of this review 
spent his vouth in Logan county, Ohio, 
where he attended the district schools and 
later the L'nion school, at West Liberty, 
and completed his education at the Geneva 
College, at Northwood, Logan county, Ohio. 
On leaving school he embarked in mercantile 
business at West Liberty, and on the 17th 
of June, 1858, he was united in marriage 
with Miss Isabel Glover, a daughter of J. 
M. Glover, of that place. To them have 



been born the following children : M. 
Glover: Smith, cashier in the Third Na- 
tional Bank, of Picjua; Luther C, a lumber- 
man in Kentucky; William L., a photogra- 
pher of St. Hilary's, Ohio; Isabelle G., wife 
of C. H. Bryan, of Colorado Springs, Colo- 
rado ; and Thomas. Eugene and Dwight, 
who died in childhood. 

After his marriage Mr. Smith continued 
to engage in mercantile business at West 
Liberty for a number of years, but finally 
disposed of his interests there and moved to 
his farm in Logan county, where he made 
his home for ten years, his time and atten- 
tion being principally devoted to the breed- 
ing of short horn cattle. In 1894 he came 
to Pic|ua, and has since taken an active and 
prominent part in public affairs. Pie is a 
pronounced Democrat in politics, and on that 
ticket was elected mayor of the city in 1897 
and re-elected in 1899, being the present 
incumbent. He has proved a very capable 
and poiHiIar oflicer, as he is aft'able and cour- 
teous in manner and possesses that essential 
(qualification to success in public life, that 
of making friends readily and of strength- 
ening the ties of all friendships as time ad- 
ances. Religiously he is a member of the 
First Presbyterian church of Piqua. His 
wife passed away May 22, 1900, leaving a 
large circle of friends and acciuaintances to 
mourn her loss. 



ELLIS H. KERR. 

Ellis Hamilton Kerr, attorney-at-law of 
Tippecanoe City, Ohio, was born in Van- 
dalia, Montgomery county, Ohio, February 
10, 1855. He is the son of Jonathan T. 
and IMatilda (\\'estlake) Kerr. The father 
of our subject was the son of James Kerr, a 
soldier in the war of 1812, w'ho married Sal- 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



2-59 



lie Thompson, wliose thrilling and eventful 
history is one of interest to the descendants 
of the early settlers of Miami county. His 
grandfather, George Kerr, was born in the 
count of Kerry, Ireland, and emigrated to 
America previous to the Revolutionary war, 
in which he took part as a soldier in the 
Continental army. After the war was over, 
he came to Ohio and was one of the first 
settlers in Marietta, and later, in 1813, 
removed to Lebanon. Ohio. The father of 
E. H. Kerr removed from \'andalia to Lost 
Creek township, in this county, and from 
there in 1862 removed to Monroe township, 
in this county, and settled on a farm in sec- 
tion 16 of that township. 

On that farm E. H. Kerr passed his boy- 
hood years, receiving what education he 
could fr(jm the country schools. He re- 
ceived a certificate to teach school at eight- 
een years of age and taught school for two 
winters. 

He was married to i\Iiss Etta Tenny. of 
Vandalia. Ohio. September 27, 1874. She 
received her education in the common schools 
of Ohio, and was a successful teacher. There 
have been born to this union three children : 
Loran A., Vera Mae and Raymond A. With 
a worthy ambition Mv. Kerr and his wife 
were determined to give their children a 
good education. The eldest son-, Loran A., 
completed the classical course and was grad- 
uated at the Ohio Wesleyan University in 
Delaware, Ohio, in the class of 1900. The 
only daughter, Vera Mae, graduated at the 
Ohio Wesleyan University in the class of 
1899, and also graduated in the classical 
course at Boston University in the class of 
igoo. The youngest son, Raymond A., is 
a student in the Ohio Wesleyan University, 
and will graduate in the class of 1902. 

In 1879. at the age of twenty-four years, 



Ellis H. Kerr removed to Tippecanoe and 
read law with his brother, J. A. Kerr, and 
afterwards entered the Cincinnati Law 
School, in which he was graduated with the 
class of 1885. He formed a partnership 
with his brother, J. A. Kerr, which contin- 
ued until January i, 1891. Since that date 
lie has had no partner, but by close attention 
to his business he has succeeded in building 
up a good paying clientage and his practice 
extends to all the courts of the state and in 
the United States courts. He has been 
connected with a number of very important 
cases. One of much local fame was the 
case of John W. Underwood versus the vil- 
lage of Tippecanoe, involving the liability of 
municipal corporations for defective streets, 
which was carried through all the courts to 
the supreme court of the state, and he was 
successful in every court. He also was one 
of the attorneys in defense in the celebrated 
case of the state of Ohio versus Jefferson 
Shank, indicted for murder in the first de- 
gree, which occupied tlie common pleas court 
of Miami county lor three weeks and at- 
tracted much public attention. Mr. Kerr 
is noted for his fidelity to his clients, the 
zeal and energy with which he prosecutes 
or defends everv case entrusted to his care, 
and although living in a village six miles 
from the county seat, he has. a large and 
lucrative practice, and stands high with the 
Mimi county bar as an able and honest law- 
yer, and has made and saved in his practice 
a handsome competence. 

In politics Mr. Kerr is a Democrat, and 
while not an extreme paitisan he takes an 
active part in every campaign. He has been 
nominated by his party for prosecuting at- 
torney and probate judge, and in each cam- 
paign received the full party vote with an 
addition of personal friends from other par- 



260 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ties. He has ser\ecl five terms as mayor of 
Tippecanoe City, wliich is Republican in 
its politics. Twice he was elected without 
opposition. He has served as city solicitor 
four years. 'Sir. Kerr is in the prime of his 
manhood and is a man of high morality and 
sterling worth. His children are educated, 
and before him is a bright future. 

E. S. W. 



JACOB HORTHER. 

Jacob Horther was born in Germany, in 
the province of Bavaria, on the 26th of June. 
1823. His boyhood days were spent upon a 
farm, and in 1845 '''^ sailed for America, 
having determined to seek a home and for- 
tune in the new world, of whose advantages 
and privileges he had heard such favorable 
reports. After forty-two days spent upon 
the water the vessel in which he took passage 
reached New York harbor, and a few days 
later he arri\-ed in Cincinnati. From that, 
place he made his way to Brookville, Indi- 
ana, where he learned the cooper's trade, and 
in 1847 'le removed to Hamilton, Ohio, 
where he was employed at his trade as fore- 
man of a shop." In 1862 he arrived in ]\Ii- 
amisburg. where he conducted a hotel for 
three years. On the expiration of that period 
he purchased the farm upon which he now 
lives, and it has since been his home. Indus- 
try has been one of his conspicuous charac- 
teristics, and it is this quality which has 
gained him the comfortable competence 
which he now enjoys. His farm comprises 
ninety-nine acres of land in Xewton town- 
ship, where he carries on general farming. 
The soil is rich and his practical methods of 
culti\'ation have resulted in securing good 
har\ests. 

While in Cincinnati, in 1846, Mr. Hurth- 



er met an old school friend. Miss Margaret 
Herzog. The acquaintance was gladly re- 
newed and in course of time their love was 
plighted and they were married. Their 
union has been blessed with eight children : 
Theressa, now deceased; Catherine; Mary; 
Margaret; Jacob B. ; Conrad H. ; Dennis; 
and Louisa. For thirt_\'-fi\-e years the fam- 
ily have resided upon the farm which is yet 
their home, and as early settlers of the com- 
munity they are widely known. ^Mr. Hortli- 
er is a member of the German Lutheran 
church. The determination which he formed 
in early life to come to America he has never 
had cause to regret, for in this land where 
opportunities are unhampered he has steadily 
worked his way upward and has secured a 
comfortable home and many friends. 



BYRON CRAMPTOX. 

Byron Crampton is deserving of mention 
in connection with the industrial interests of 
Covington, where he is successfully engaged 
in the manufacture of boilers, and also owns 
a sawmill which is operated by his sons. 
Each legitimate industry augments the com- 
mercial prosperity of a comnuuiity and there- 
by adds to the welfare and happiness of the 
locality in which it is established. No longer 
is the history of a country a record of wars 
and conquests but an account of business en- 
terprises, and the victories now won are those 
of mind over matter. Every energetic and res- 
olute business man who conducts his enter- 
prise with strict regard for the ethics of c m- 
mercial life becomes a valuable factor in his 
community, and such a one is Mr. Crampt .n. 

A native of Richmond. \\'ayne county, 
Indiana, he was born on the 6th of December, 
1846, and is a representative of one of the 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



2G1 



old families of tliat h.icality. His grantlfa- 
ther, Joseph Grampton. was of Quaker faith 
and died near Richmond. His father. Jona- 
than H. Crampton, was born in Wayne 
county, Indiana, October \2. 1819. He ac- 
(juired a g(3od eihication and was a self-made 
man whose success in life resulted from hrs 
own efforts. He learned the carpenter's 
trade and in early life also carried on agri- 
cultural pursuits. He was connected with 
mercantile interests, as a dealer in dry goods 
and groceries, at Pennville, Indiana. Subse- 
quently he engaged in contracting and build- 
ing in Indianapolis, and eventually removed 
to Grand Rapids, !\Iichigan, becoming act- 
ively identified with the building interests of 
that city. Many substantial structures, both 
in the Hoosier and Badger states, stand as 
monuments to his thrift and ability. He died 
in Grand Rapids, March i, 1888. His wife, 
who was in her maidenhood Miss Sarah J. 
Dunham, was born in Lebanon. Ohio, anil 
was a daughter of Joseph Dunham, an In- 
dian agent at Logansport, Indiana. He was 
there stationed during the Indian wars and 
acted as commander of some troops. He was 
of English descent and belonged to the same 
family as Lord John Dunham. L'nto ]\Ir. 
and Mrs. Crampton were born eleven chil- 
dren, namel}-: Joseph, who died in i860; 
Samuel, who died in Richmond. Indiana; 
Byron; Mrs. Dunham, of Grand Rapids, 
Michigan ; Abraham, who died in childhootl ; 
Ann. wife of \\'illiam Fowler, who is living 
near Logansport. Indiana; Mary, wife of 
Henry Mvers. of Indianapolis; John, also of 
Indianapolis ; William, of Grand Rapids, 
Michigan ; Charles, of Detroit ; and Augus- 
ta, who died when about twenty-four years 
of age. 

Byron Crampton, whose name forms the 
caption of this article, acquired his prelimin- 



ary education in the common schools and 
later pursued his studies in Greenmount Col- 
lege. His father, a \ery intelligent man, 
gave him every opportunity possilile to se- 
cure an education, moving his family to the 
town for the winter months in order that his 
children might ha\'e the superior advantages 
of graded schools. The parents were of 
the Quaker faith and in consequence opposed 
tc war, so when fifteen years of age Byron 
Crampton ran away from home in order to 
enlist in Company A, Thirty-Sixth Indiana 
Infantry. His father, howexer, went to In- 
dianapolis and compelled him to return 
hiome, but the spirit of patriotism burned 
bright within his breast and he was resolved 
to be a soldier. Again he ran a\vay from 
home, this time joining Company (j, Seven- 
ty-First Indiana Infantry. He managed to 
serve that time for nineteen months when his 
father again compelled him to lea\-e the 
army. \Miile at the front, however, he had 
gained considerable knowledge of military 
life and its experiences, having been taken 
prisoner at Rich iMountain. Later he was 
paroled and returned home, \vhere he aided 
in raising Company L for the Sixth Indiana 
Cavalry. He was promised the first lieuten- 
ancy of the company, but unfair treatment 
deprived him of this honor. For some time 
he served on detail ser\-ice in the quarter- 
master's department in Indianapolis, and 
then was taken to his home by his father. 
He remained for two months, when once 
more he offered his services to the Union, 
joining Company I, Eighty-fourth Indiana 
Infantry, as a private for three years. He 
received a detailed permit as drill master and 
served in that capacity for eight months, 
after which he joined his regiment at Dal- 
ton. Georgia, remaining with that command 
throughout the Georgia campaign. He par- 



262 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ticipated in twenty-six different engage- 
ments, including tlie l)attles of Richmond. 
Tunnel Hill, R(jcky Face Ridge, Daiton, 
Resaca, Kingston, Pumpkin \'ine Creek, 
Pine Mountain, Kenesaw Mountain, Xeal 
Dow Church, or Culp's Farm. Peach Tree 
Creek, in front of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Love- 
joy Station. Franklin and Xashville. Tennes- 
see. His regiment was discharged in Jnne. 
1865, l)ut he was transferred to Company K. 
Fifty-Seventh Indiana Infantry, and was 
on duty in Texas until discharged at Vic- 
toria, that state, on the 14th of Deceml)er, 
following. 

AVhen the country no longer needed his 
services Mr. Crampton returned to his home 
and began wfjrk as a machinist and boiler- 
maker. His father operated a woolen mill, 
and prior to going to the front Mr. Cramp- 
ton was employed in the mill except when 
attending school. After his return from the 
war he was employed for a time as a railroad 
engineer until his marriage, which occurred 
in October. 1867. He then removed to a 
farm, but after si)ending one year in agri- 
cultural pursuits he accepted a position as 
foreman of the woolen mills at Connersville. 
owned by P. H. and F. F. Root. Subse- 
quently lie came to Covington, where he 
worked for one year in a woolen mill and 
then spent four years in the hub and spoke 
facti)ry. On the expiration of that period 
lie established and for one year operated a 
soap factory. Later he purchased and oper- 
ated a threshing machine, and has since en- 
gaged in that line of business in connection 
with his boiler-making shop, on the corner 
of South Main and Bridge streets. He is 
also agent for the r>rownwell Company of 
Dayton, manufacturers of steam engines, 
boilers and sawmills, and is agent for the Su- 
perior Gas Engine Company of Springfield. 



Ohio. He has built up an excellent trade 
ami his patronage is steadily and constantly 
increasing. 

In October, 1867, ]\Ir. Crampton was 
united in marriage to Miss Margaret Bot- 
torff. of Covington. She was Ijorn I\larch 
17. 1S47. "i Darke county. Ohio, a daughter 
of Henry Bottorft', who was born in Penn- 
sylvania. He followed blacksmithing for a 
time in Darke count}'. Imt during the girl- 
hood of Mrs. Crampton he came to Coving- 
ton. In her maidenhood his wife was Mary 
Ingle, b.etter known as Pollv Ingle. She was 
a daughter of Captain Jnhn Ingle, who 
served in the war of 181 2. L'nto our sub- 
ject and his wife have been born six children, 
namely: Dora and Dona, twins, the former 
the wife of Lieutenant H. E. Finfrock. an 
officer in the Spanish-American war. and the 
latter the wife of \\'illiani Finfrock: Oscar, 
who was accidentally killed when sixteen 
years of age: W'arren B.. who married Cora 
B. Aspinall : William, who is at home: and 
r^Iamie. wife of Lewis C. Xeth. 

The home of the family is a very com- 
modious and pleasant residence, which was 
erected by Mr. Crampton in 1S88. Lie is a 
member of Langston Post. (}. A. R.. of 
Co\iiigtcn. and has served as its chaplain. 
In politics he is a stanch Republican, and for 
two years has served as a member of the Re- 
publican County central and district commit- 
tees, doing all in his power to insure the 
success of his party. A member of the 
Ixlethodist Episcopal chinch, he has ser\ed as 
assistant superintendent of the Sunday- 
school for seven years, and at all times gives 
his sui)]iort and co-operation to every move- 
ment calculated to pro\-e a benefit to the com- 
munity along social, material, educational 
ai.d moral lines. He is as true to-day to his 
duties of citizenship as when he followed the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



263 



old flag upon the liattlefields of the soutli. 
Tlie indomitable determination which he 
shcnved when the country was in danger and 
he felt that his services were needed at the 
south has characterized his entire career, and 
has led to his success in business affairs. 



ALBEI^T M. ROUTSON. 

Among the well-to-do farmers of New- 
berry township. Miami county, is Albert 
Mack Routson. The family name was 
originally spelled Routzahn, which signi- 
fies its German origin, and his grandfather, 
Jacob, spelled the name Routzon. The 
father of our subject, Thomas Routson, was 
a native of b'rederick count}', Maryland, and 
in company with his brother George he came 
to Ohio, living here with his brother, who 
had entered land in Newberry township. 
Nut long afterward, however, Thomas 
Routson took up his abode in Covington, 
where he learned the tailor's trade, following 
that pursuit until his deatli. He was an in- 
dustrious, energetic man and accumulated 
considerable property. During the war of 
1812 he was a member of the state militia, 
and was stationed at Covington. He was 
reared in the faith of the Lutheran church, 
and in his political titTiliations was a stanch 
Whig. He married Jemima Russell, whose 
birth occurred in Wayne township, Darke 
county, or in the state of North Carolina. 
She was a daughter of John I^ussell, who 
came to Darke county from South Carolina 
and settled in the wilderness, in what is now 
Wayne township, Miami county, where he 
spent his remaining days. ]\Irs. Routson 
died in Covington two weeks after the death 
of her husband. Their children were: 
Emeline, who became the wife of John Hol- 
comb and died in Riqua : Albert AL, of this 



review; and Jemima, who became the wife 
of Robert Chappel and died in Piqua in 1863. 

Albert M. Routson first opened his eyes 
to the light of day in Covington, on the 2d 
of Decemljer, 1840, and was only three years 
of age when left an orphan. He afterward 
li\-ed with his grandfather, Jacob Routzon, 
with whom he remained until ten years of 
age, after which he resided with his uncle, 
David Routson, in Shelby county, Ohio, for 
five years. Subsequently he lived with his 
uncle, William Fiufrock, of Clayton, in 
whose' store lie was employed for six years. 
His education was obtained in an old log 
school-house in Lorain township, Shelby 
ci;unty, and among his first teachers were 
Rev. George Shatf'er, Jonathan Hahn and 
Stephen Ballinger. He continued his edu- 
cation in Clayton under Jacob Knouft' and 
Mr. Freshour, and when eighteen years of 
age put aside his text-books to enter upon 
the practical duties of business life. He 
began work at the carpenter's trade as an 
employe of Peter Hartle, and later was in 
the seryice of Reuben Routson and Noah 
Ixouch. 

Durin.g the time of the ci\il war, how- 
ever, he put aside all personal considerations 
and enlisted on the 22(1 of August. 1862, as 
a member of Company G, One Hundred and 
Tenth Ohio Lifantry, under Captain J. C. 
Celery and Colonel J. Warren Keifer. The 
regiment went into camp at Piqua and was 
ordered to Parkersburg, Virginia, but after 
two weeks went to Clarksburg and thence to 
New Creek and Moorefield. On that march 
\[r. Routson contracted a se\-ere cold, which 
was relie\-ed by a liberal use of hone)', pre- 
pared by his comrades. He would not have 
been able to ward off illness if it had not 
been for the canteen of '"John Barleycorn," 
purchased from an old woman just before 



204 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



he started on tlie march. In camp at ^Nloore- 
field for a short time, he then started on the 
march with his comrades through the Shen- 
andoah valley. They met a company of 
guerrillas, witii whom they had a severe skir- 
mish, but ultimately reached Winchester. In 
the meantime Lee had avoided Hooker and 
vith his troops proceeded to ^^"inchester, 
where one of the hotly contested battles of 
the war occurred. On the second day of 
the battle, while they were retreating before 
the rebels, a shell burst o\-er Mr. Routson's 
head and threw him to the ground with 
great force. He with dilSculty regained 
his feet and staggered on, but at length 
reached the fort in safety. The Union 
troops were entirely surrounded by the Con- 
federates and the next day had to cut their 
way thr(jugh the rebel lines. Genera! Mil- 
roy's forces divided, part going to Harper's 
I'"erry and the others to Bloody Run, Penn- 
sylvania, Mr. Routson being with the latter 
division. On the 4th uf July orders were 
received to proceed to Gettysburg, and while 
on the way they met some of the Union 
cavalry troops who had three hundred rebel 
prisoners. What remained of the One 
Hundred and Tenth Regiment was detailed 
to escort the prisoners to Harrisburg and 
I'hiladelphia, and thence I)v steamer to Fort 
Delaware. Later they went to Philadelphia 
and Baltimore, where the One Hundred and 
Tenth acted as provost guard for General 
Tyler lor three weeks. Later they spent 
three weeks at Camp Tyler. In the mean- 
time the remainder of the regiment had gone 
to New York to ciuell the riots, after which 
the command was ordered to Culpeper, \'ir- 
ginia, from which place Mr. Routson went 
with a wagon train to Centerville Heights. 
The little train was shelled by the enemy- 
while 'Ml the wav. The regiment went into 



camp at Culpeper, Virginia, for the win- 
ter of 1863-64, and in May of the latter 
year proceeded to the Wilderness, where 
occurred the hotly contested seven-days 
battle. In that engagement Major McEl- 
vain was killed, Mr. Routson l^eing the last 
one with him before his death. Captain 
Keifer was also wounded, and the loss 
among the men was verv heavy. Later our 
subject participated in the battle of Spottsyl- 
vania, where General Sedgwick was killed 
and the troops were confined there continu- 
ously for days. At that place the sixth corps 
supported General Hancock at the "Bloody 
Angle." The next battle was at Cold 
Harbor and was followed l)y a sharp' charge 
at Petersburg, where they later went into 
v.inter quarters. The One Hundred and 
Tenth Regiment belonged to the sixth curjis, 
third division and second brigade, and it 
was this corps that broke the enemy's lines, 
while the One Hundred and Tenth regi- 
ment was the first over the breastworks. 
Mr. Routson made an important capture of 
a wagon and four mules, and in the wagon 
was a trunk which contained accoutrements 
for the rebel ofiicers. He opened it and 
took out clothing, a fife and a small Bible 
bound in red leather, and the last named 
he has still in his possession. .\t the liattle 
of Sailor's Run he again made a capture of 
a four-mule wagon. For bravery displayed 
on the field of battle at Petersburg he was 
promoted to the rank of corporal, and was 
given a thirty days' furlough. He then re- 
joined his regiment at Petersburg, and was 
present at Appomattox Court House at the 
time of Lee's surrender. He likewise par- 
ticipated in the battle of Fisher's Hill, was 
on the skirmish line and had a narrow es- 
cape from death. In June, 1865. he re- 
ceived an liunoralile discharge at Washing- 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



265 



ton, D. C, and with a most creditable mili- 
tary record, after being mustered out at Co- 
lumbus, he returned to his home. Again 
he took up carpentering and followed that 
pursuit for some time. 

Mr. Routson was married December 15, 
1868, to Miss. Susanna Hinline, of Shelby 
county, who died in 1869. On the 15th of 
September, 1872, he was again married, his 
second union being with Miss Maria D. 
Apple, of Darke county, daughter of John 
W. Apple. Their children are: Deberga 
Catherine, now the wife of Henry Reed, 
who resides near Piqua ; Harriet, wife of 
Christian Harmony, of Kirkwood, Shelby 
county, Ohio; Bertha Ann, wife of Peter 
Rhoades, who is living on the home farm ; 
and Marion Calvin, at home. 

After his first marriage Mr. Rciutson 
purchased ninety-nine acres of land, sixty- 
seven of which he still retains. He has en- 
gaged in farming for about thirty years and 
has a well de\'eloped property, the richly 
cultivated fields yielding to him a golden 
return for the care and labor he bestows 
upon them. In 1897 he was called upon 
to mourn the loss of his wife, who passed 
away on the 31st of July. He united with 
the Lutheran church after his second mar- 
riage, and in 1896 he joined the Methodist 
Episcopal church. In politics he is a stanch 
Republican, unswerving in hisi allegiance to 
the party. As a citizen he is as true and 
loyal to his duties as when he followed the 
starry banner upon the battlefields of the 
south. 



willia:m dinsmore. 

William Dinsmore, one of the leading 
citizens of Bethel township, this county, was 
born September 2^. 1842. He is the son 



of John Johnston Dinsmore, who was boni 
in Fleming county, Kentucky, December i, 
1805. His father, Mathew Dinsmore. was 
a pioneer of Boone county, Kentucky, and 
married Miss Margaret Johnston, whose 
father and brother were killed by the In- 
dians. At an early day Mr. and Mrs. Dins- 
more removed to the then territory of Ohio, 
and lived first in Greene county and after- 
wards in Montgomery county, Ohio. lu 
1 8 19 he moved to Miami cotuity and settled 
in Brown township. He was one of the 
first trustees and justices of the peace 
elected in that township. He died in 1846,. 
but his farm is still in the Dinsmore family. 
The genealogy of the Dinsmore family is 
as follows : The first ancestor to which the 
family is traced was Robert Dinsmore, who 
was jjorn and reared in the mirth of Ireland 
and emigrated to America about the year 
1766. He was married (in the nth day of 
September, 1766, to Jane Ganlt. He settled in 
Baltimore, 'Maryland, and engaged in the 
tannery business. His eldest child, Eliza- 
beth Dinsmore, was born June 10, 1768. 
His son John was born June 28. 1771 : Math- 
hew was born April 13. 1773, and Jane in 
February, 1775. Mathew Dinsmore pur- 
chased one hundred acres of land in Fleming 
countv, Kentucky, and li\-ed on it five years, 
wdien it was claimed by an older military 
title and he lost it. He then came to Ohio 
in 1807, and lived in Greene county, tw(j 
miles east of Fairfield. He then removed 
to Montgomery county, nine miles north of 
Dayton. He afterwards moved to ^^liami 
countv, and purchased a farm in Brown 
township as above stated. 

John J. Dinsmore, the father of uur sub- 
ject, was married March 14, 1837. to Miss 
}ilaria McConnaughey, daughter of David 
and Anna (Grimes) McConnaughey, a pio- 



266 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



neer family of Bethel township. The 
writer knew John J. Dinsmore well and can 
state that he was an honest and useful man, 
who served for twent}'^ years as justice of the 
peace. He was the owner of one hundred 
and si.xty acres of land, well improved. He 
was a good farmer and an influential mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian church. He died 
June 6, 1889, respected while living and 
sincerely mourned when dead. His aged 
wife is now living with her son, William 
Dinsmore, possessing in a wonderful degree 
for one of her age her mental faculties. She 
has been totally blind for sixteen years and 
is patiently waiting for the summons to cross 
the river to the other shore. She is the 
mother of seven children : Captain Robert 
G. Dinsmore. who was a brave soldier and 
noble citizen, but is now dead; Theodore, 
Anna. Margaret, Albert and Frances, all of 
whcjui are deceased ; and iSIary Belle, wife 
of Nathaniel Bond, who is lixing near Frank- 
hn, Warren county, Ohio. William Dins- 
more, the subject of our sketch, was also a 
soldier in the civil war in the same company 
with his brother, namely: Company C, 
Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, in 
which he enlisted as a private, was appointed 
corporal December 21, 1864, and was mus- 
tered out with the regiment November 30, 
1865, with an hi:>norable discharge as a 
good and faithful soldier. Theodore and 
Albert were also soldiers, belonging to Com- 
pany B. One Hundred and Forty-seventh 
Ohio Infantry. 

Mr. Dinsmore, of this review, returned 
home and lived with his parents until he was 
married. June i. 1871, to Aliss Sarah Bren- 
ner, of Montgomery countv, Ohio. He soon 
afterward settled on the farm which he now 
owns, and which is near the farm where he 
Avas l)(jrn and made his home until he was 



married. His farm contains one hundred 
and sixty-two acres, well improved. He 
makes a specialty of butter making, and 
keeps a large herd of Jersej' cows. He has a 
family of four children : One daughter, 
Clare, the wife of Dr. E. E. Bohlender, of 
Dayton, Ohio; and three sons: Allen, who 
is farming the old homestead; Earl and 
Walter, who are living with their parents. 
Mr. Dinsmore is a member of the English 
Lutheran church, of Brandt, in which he 
has been an elder for ten years. William 
Dinsmore's life has been that of a man who 
i^. useful in his neighborhood, church and 
township, a type of the men who make this 
countr}' what it now is, great in peace and 
strong in war. He was a brave soldier and 
a good citizen, and of such are the bone and 
sinew of this great republic. 

E. S. W. 



JOHN W. MORRIS. 

One of the prominent representatives of 
the journalistic profession is the gentleman 
whose name heads this brief notice, the well- 
known proprietor and business manager of 
the Daily Call, of Pic^ua, Ohio, and also 
the present postmaster of this city. He 
is a nati\e of this state, born in' Eaton, Preble 
county, September 18, i860, and is a son of 
Isaac S. Morris, one of the oldest newspa- 
per men in the state, a sketch of whom is 
given elsewhere in this work. The mother 
of our subject was in her maidenhood Miss 
Edith T. Jenkins. 

John W. Morris passed his boyhood and 
youth in his native county until 1874. when 
he came with his father to Piqua., He at- 
tended the schools here until 1878-79. after 
which he attended Wesleyan University at 
Delaware, Ohio. He then attended school 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



2(.7 



at Xewlnirg, Xew York, on the Hudson, in 
18S0-S1. In 1883 he established the Piqua 
Daily Call. Under the business manage- 
ment of Mr. Morris the paper has become 
equal to the metropolitan dailies of larger 
cities, having exclusively the Associated 
Press report. 

In 1898 Mr. ]\Iorris was appointed post- 
master of Piqua by President McKinley. and 
entered upon his official duties on the ist 
of June of that year. He is connected with 
various important business enterprises. So- 
cially he is a Mason of the thirty-second de- 
gree, a member of the blue lodge, chapter, 
Coleman Commandery, the Scottish rite and 
the Mystic Shrine. He also belongs to 
Miami Lodge, I. O. O. F. ; Invincible Lodge, 
Xo. 176, K. P.; and Lodge Xo. 523, B. 
P. O. E. He ranks among the most hon- 
ored counselors of the Republican party in 
his community, and his opinions and advice 
are often sought on questions of the great- 
est importance to the city. He is deeply 
interested in public affairs, and gives his sup- 
port and influence to all enterprises which he 
believes calculated to advance the moral, 
educational or social interests of his town 
and county. 

, On the 8th of May, 1891, occurred his 
marriage to Miss Anna B. Stumm daugh- 
ter of Dr. C. W. Stumm, of Piqua. They 
have two children, Mary Gretchen, born 
March 23, 1893. and Edith, born May 11, 
1895. 



CHARLES LEONARD WOOD. 

In the history of the industrial interests 
of Piqua which have contributed to the up- 
building of the city and have promoted its 
material progress, Charles Leonard Wood 
certainly deserves mention. He is asso- 



ciated with many of the most important 
business relations of the city, occupies the 
presidency of the Piqua Hosiery Company, 
is also connected with the Piqua Planing 
Mill & Lumber Company, is \ice-president 
of the Third X'ational Bank, of Piqua, and 
is vice-president of the Third Building & 
Loan Company, of Piqua. 

Mr. Wood is a native of Xew Hamp- 
shire, his birth having occurred at Hollis, 
on the 28th of June, 1841, his parents being 
Charles A. and Hannah (Wasb.er) ^\'ood. 
His great-grandfather, Abijah Wood, was 
one of the heroes who fought for the inde- 
pendence of the nation during the war of 
the Revolution. The great-grandfather was 
a native of Massachusetts, and his ances- 
tors were of English birth, emigrating from 
the "merrie isle" in 1629. His great-grand- 
father, Joshua Davis, also served in the Rev- 
olutionary war. The maternal great-grand- 
father of our subject was Peter Robertson, 
and he, too, was a member of ihe Colonial 
army and had his right hand shot off at the 
battle of Bunker Hill. He married Miss 
Mary Seaton, a descendant of the prominent 
Seaton family of Scotland, and their grand- 
daughter, Hannah, daughter of Stephen 
Washer, became the mother of our subject. 
Charles A. Wood, the father of Charles L. 
Wood, is a native of New Hampshire. In 
1843 he removed with his family to Miami 
county, Ohio, where he has since resided. 
He is still living, in his eightieth year, but 
his wife, Hannah French \\'ood, died in 
Piqua, in 1869. 

Charles L. Wood is the eldest of their 
children. He received a goiid common 
school education, later attended the high 
school at Piqua, and, after nearly two years 
in New Hampshire at school, he began 
teaching, following that profession with 



268 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



excellent success for eight years. Later he 
took up the study of law in the office and 
under tlie direction of Hon. J. F. and S. S. 
AIcKinnev, the former an ex-member of 
congress. Having mastered many of the 
principles of jurisprudence, Mr. Wood suc- 
cessfully passed an examination and was 
admitted to the bar in 1865. He continued 
in practice for one year, being associated 
with Colonel \V. N. Foster, of Piqua, at 
one time probate judge of Miami county. 
Having developed a liking for the manufac- 
turing business, he engaged in the same with 
his father under the firm name of C. A. and 
C. L. Wood. The Piqua planing mill and 
lumber vard, of which our subject is now 
proprietor, is one of the extensive business 
concerns of the city. Mr. Wood is now 
largely engaged in the manufacture of lum- 
ber and in handling all kinds of lumber for 
building purposes. The enterprise was 
founded in 1880, but since the father's re- 
tirement, in i8(ji, the enterprise has been 
conducted under the sole control of the 
present proprietor. The facilities of the 
house embrace extensi\'e lumber yards and 
a large planing mill, where lumber is received 
direct from the original source of supply, 
and sidetracks, connected with the railroad 
system of the city, insure the most econom- 
ical facilities for receiving and shipping sup- 
plies. The planing-mill is a stibstantial 
two-story brick structure, equipped with 
the latest and best improved machinery, and 
is one of the best in this section of the coun- 
try. The fifty horse-power engine dri\-es the 
machinery and employment is furnished to 
about fifty workmen. The products of the 
mill embrace sash, doors, blinds and build- 
ers' house trimmings and interior finishings 
in all kinds of hard and soft woods, together 
with a full line of building lumber, shin- 



gles and lath. The business is annually in- 
creasing and sales are made not only in 
Piqua but throughout the country. 

Mr. Wood is a very enterprising man, 
and his sagacity and keen discrimination en- 
able him to carry forward to successful com- 
pletion whatever he undertakes. He has 
actively co-operated in the establishment of 
many enterprises which have proved of great 
beaefit to the city, as well as to the stock- 
holders. He was one of the charter mem- 
bers of the Piqua Hosiery Company and 
has been its president from the organiza- 
tion until the present time. His capable 
control and wise Inisiness judgment have 
made it a vevy prosperous undertaking. His 
efforts have not ended here, however, for 
he is treasurer of the Kokomo Paper Com- 
pany and Kokomo \\'ood Pulp Company, 
of Kokomo. Indiana, is vice-president of the 
Third National Bank, of Piqua, and vice- 
president of the Third Building & Loan 
Company, of this city. 

In 1870 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Wood and Miss Julia A. Miller, a daughter 
of William and Martha (Hawthorne) Mil- 
ler. Their union has been blessed with 
three children, Martha, Nellie and William, 
all at home. Mv. Wood is a member of the 
Green Street ?kIethodist Episcopal church, 
takes a very active interest in its work, is 
president of its board of trustees and su- 
perintendent of the Sunday school. He was 
for fifteen years a member of the board of 
education and served as its president through 
one decade of that time. Socially he is con- 
nected with Dunkirk Lodge, No. 278, F. & 
A. M., of Indiana; also is a Royal Arch ]Ma- 
son, and belongs to the board of directors 
of the Young Men's Christian Association. 
In all the relations of life he has been hon- 
orable and upright. He has the happy fac- 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



269 



nlty of reading and judging men, possesses 
unusual power of organization and execu- 
tive atjility, and investigation into his history 
will show that the cause of his success will 
be found along the lines of well tried and 
old time maxims — honesty, fair dealing, 
promptness, trutlifulness and fidelity — and 
these are strictly enforced and adhered to in 
his business. The story of his achievement 
should inspire all young men \\dio read it 
with a truer respect for the value of char- 
acter. 



THEODORE R. DRAKE. 

Theodore Drake is one of the younger 
representatives of the farming interests of 
Miami cnunty, his birth having occurred on 
the 23d of January, 1872, on the old Drake 
homestead, in Washington township. His 
grandfather, Daniel Drake, was a native of 
Xew Jersey, and after his marriage there 
emigrated westward to Ohio, where in con- 
nection with his brother he entered a tract 
of land in Washington township. Here he 
built a home in the midst of the forest and 
began the development of a farm. His first 
wife died and he afterward married Susan 
Hillard. Throughout an active business 
career his time and attention were devoted to 
his farming interests, and he continued upon 
the old homestead until his demise. He 
was a member of the Baptist church, and in 
his political faith was a Democrat. His 
children were : John, of \\'ashington town- 
ship, who has been twice married, his second 
union being with Phoebe Stev.art; Eliza, 
wife of Mitchell Morrow, of Washington 
township; Theodore, of Washington town- 
ship, who wedded Annie Du Bois; Callie, 
wife of Frank Licklider, of Piqua ; Thomas, 



who married Jennie Knouft' and died in 
Washington township. 

George H. Drake, the youngest child in 
the family of Daniel Drake, was born and 
reared uiion his father's farm and educated 
in the usual manner of the times, pursuing 
his education in the public schools. He was 
highly respected by all who knew him, for 
his sterling worth and fidelity to principle 
commanded the respect of every one with 
whom he was associated in either business 
or social relations. He wedded Mary E., 
daughter of George Buckles, of JMiami coun- 
ty, and to them were born three children : 
Theodore R. ; Thoinas Frank and Harley 
B., both of Staunton township. The father 
held membership in the Baptist church, and 
exercised his right of franchise in support 
of the men and measures of the Democracy. 
He died September 15. 1890, respected by 
all who knew him, and his widow is still 
living in Miami county. 

Theodore Drake was only three months 
old when his parents removed from the old 
family homestead in Washington township 
to a farm in Xe wherry township. There 
he was reared to manhood, pursuing his ele- 
mentary education in the Rike school, after 
which he entered the Covington High 
School, and had almost completed the four 
years' course when he was obliged to return 
home on account of the death of his father. 
He was reared in the usual manner of 
farmer lads, and throughout his life has car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits. On the death 
of his father the management of the home 
farm devoh'ed upon him. The i^lace com- 
prises one hundred and fifty-eight and a 
half acres of land, all of which is under a 
high state of cultivation. The fields are 
well tilled, and everything about the place 
is neat and thrifty in appearance, indicating 



270 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the careful supervisiun of a progressive 
owner. 

On the loth of October. 1893. Mr. Drake 
was united in marriage to Miss Florence 
Spellman. of Covington, a daughter of Lewis 
Spellman. She was born in Fletcher, ■Miami 
county. July g, 1873, and when she was 
about a }-ear old her parents removed to 
Covington, where she grew to womanhood 
and completed. her education by graduation 
in the high school. She l^ecame a member 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian church on 
the 23d of January, 1887. She died De- 
cember 2/, 1899, and her Christian expe- 
rience was touching and wonderful. In her 
last hours she had visions of her mother and 
her husband's father beckoning her to tha 
eternal home. Her life was quiet and unas- 
suming, and her death was a Christian tri- 
umph. She left three children — George 
Lewis, Irene May and Gladys Adelia. Mr. 
Drake voted with the Democracy, keeps well 
informed on the issues of the day and dees 
all in his power to promote the growth and 
success of his party. He is a consistent and 
faithful member of the Cumberland Pres- 
byterian church, of Covington, in whicli he 
at present holds the office of deacon. 



JOSEPH A. SHADE. 

The spirit of enterprise, industry and 
progress which dominates this section of 
the country is manifested in the successful 
career of Mr. Shade, who is now occupying 
the responsible position of secretary, treas- 
urer and general manager of the Wright 
& Kuntz Lumber Company, of Piqua. He 
Vv'as born in Dayton, Ohio, June 30, 1855. 
His paternal grandfather, John Shade, was 
bcrn and reared in Berks county, Pennsyl- 



vania, and about 1S16 emigrated to Ohio, 
securing a. tract of timber land near Dayton. 
In the mid.st of the forest he developed a 
farm v\\^ou which he remaineil until h's 
death, which occurred when he was about 
seventy-four years of age. It is supposed 
that his father. Henry Shade, was a native 
:df German}-, but it is authent'cally known 
that he resided in America in colonial days 
and served as an officer in the Revolutionary 
war. His father, Joseph Shade, was also 
a native of ]\Iontgomery county, born Sep- 
tember 18, 1 8 18, and was there reared upon 
a farm. A\'hen a young man he engaged 
in tanning in Dayton, and continued to fol- 
low that pursuit until his death, which oc- 
curred February 18, 1862. Success at- 
tended his enterprises and he became the 
owner of three tanneries which proved 
profitable investments, his business steadily 
increasing, both in volume and importance, 
until his annual sales amounted t<j about one 
hundred thousand dollars. He owned the 
largest leather house this side of Cincin.n:iti 
and was very prominent in business circles. 
He w(5rked his way steadily upward from a 
humble position and his wealth was the 
merited reward of his labor* In politics 
he was a very earnest and active supporter 
of the Democratic part}' but never sought or 
desired official preferment. He held mem- 
bership in St. John's Lutheran church aivl 
died in that faith, at the age of forty-three 
vears. His wife bore the maiden name of 
Ellen Livensberger. She was born in Berks 
county, Pennsylvania, but was reared near 
Dayton, Ohi(i. Her father. William Livens- 
berger. was a pioneer of the Buckeye state 
and wedded ]\Iary Spitler, a native of Berks 
county, Pennsylvania. She was born January 
20, 1790, and died February 9, 1872. Mrs. 
Shade was quite young when brought by her 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



273 



parents to the Buckeye state and here she was 
reared until lier marriage. After the deatli 
of her first husband, she became the wife 
of Charles E. AVright, who was a native of 
Virginia, and for many years has been a 
lumber merchant of Greenville, Ohio. She 
lield membership in the Presbyterian church 
of Green\'ille and died in that city No\'ember 
14, 1899, at the age of seventy-two years. 
Her children were Margaret E., wife of 
William Taylor, of Indianapolis. Indiana; 
Mary, wjife of M. M. Hefrr, of Gene\-a, 
Adams county, Indiana, who served through 
the war of the Rebellion under command 
of Generals McClellan and Grant and has 
since filled the position of postmaster; Hen- 
rietta, wife of Warren L. Benham, of Clytle, 
Ohio; Joseph A., of this review; and Elea- 
nora, wife of F. ¥. Vater, of Indianapolis, 
Indiana. 

Mr. Shade, whose name introduces this 
record, pursued his education in the schools 
of Dayton until fifteen years of age and was 
afterward graduated in the Miami Commer- 
cial College. He was early trained to the 
liabits and labors of the farm and remained 
on the old homestead with the family until 
twenty-three years of age, when he removed 
to Hamilton county, Indiana, there accept- 
ing the position of general superintendent 
of the large stock farm in which he remained 
for several years, capably and carefully 
superintending its conduct. On the expira- 
tion of that period he took up his abode in 
Xoblesville, Indiana, where he engaged in 
the grocery business for several years and 
then went to Springfield, Missouri. He pur- 
chased a farm in that locality and managed 
the property for some time, after which he 
sold out and returned to Noblesville. How- 
ever, he soon located in Greenville, Ohio, 
accepting a position as salesman and book- 



keeper in the lumber office of P. Kuntz & 
Wright, and was thus employed until Jan- 
uary, 18S9, when he came to Piqua to take 
charge of their lumber yard at this place, 
as general manager. He capably served 
in that capacity until April 14, 1896, when 
the yard was destroyed by fire. The com- 
pany then re-organized and on the 26th of 
May, of that year, was incorporated under 
the name of the Wright & Kuntz Lumber 
Company, of which Mr. Shade became a 
stockholder. He was made secretary, treas- 
urer and general manager and in those po- 
sitions has since served, his capable control 
of affairs being the most potent element in 
securing the success which has attended the 
enterprise. 

Mr. Shade was married August 22, 1881, 
to Miss Kate L. Evans, of Noblesville, In- 
diana, a daughter of O. H. E\-ans, a news- 
paper man of that city, the editor and pub- 
lisher of the Ledger there at the time of his 
death. Four children ha\e been born unto 
them, of whom fiiree are now deceased : 
Joseph H. ; Harry E. who died in infancy ; 
and Harriet E., who died at the age of two 
years. Ruth M., the third child, is now liv- 
ing at the age of fourteen. 

In his political views, Mr. Shade is a 
stanch Democrat, very earnest in the sup- 
port of the principles of the party and does 
all in his power to promote its growth and 
insure its success. He has never sought 
or desired office, his time being fully occu- 
pied by his business interests. The lumber 
company with which he is connected carries 
a stock valued at tAventy-fi\-e thousand dol- 
lars and its annual sales amount to from fifty 
to se\-onty-five thousand dollars. The honor- 
able business policy which it has always fol- 
lowed has awakened uniform confidence, 
and Mr. Shade is known as a very reliable 



27i 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and enterprising bnsiness man. In addition 
to his connection with the Umiber firm he is 
vice-president of the Democratic Printing & 
Pulihshing Company, of which he was one 
of the organizers. He has accnmulated a 
liandsome competence by his industry, per- 
severance and good managviment and he 
richly deserved to succeed. His social quah- 
ties and genial manner have gained him 
many friends and he is a popular c'.tizen of 
Miami countv. 



WILLIAM R. SAUNDERS. 

William R. Saunders, the son of Jona- 
than and Susanah Crampton Saunders, was 
born in Troy, August 21, 1841. His father 
was born in Lebanon county, Pennsylvania, 
in 1812, and emigrated to Ohio in 1834. 
His mother was born near Frederick, Mary- 
land, in 1818, and came with her parents to 
I\Iontgomery county, Ohio, in 1820. The 
father was a carpenter by trade, and was 
associated in business with ^\■illiam John- 
son and T. K. Orr, in Troy, Ohio, until the 
year 1852, when he moved from Troy to 
section 4, Staunton township, where he en- 
gaged in farming for the Knoop brothers. 
William R. Saunders, the subject of this 
sketch, has li\ed on section 4, Staunton 
township, from 1852 to the present date, a 
period of forty-eight years. He received 
such education as could be obtained in the 
common schools of this county, and was for 
many years associated with the Knoop 
brothers in their agricultural interests. On 
May 2y, 1867, he was united in marriage to 
Mary B. Knoop, the eldest daughter of 
A\'illiam Knoop, and a granddaughter of 
John Knoop, who came from Cumberland 
county, Pennsylvania, and settled in Miami 
county in 1797, and who was one of the 



founders of "Dutch Station," a stockade or 
rude fort built for protection against the 
Indians, which is more fully described in 
this volume under the head of "John Knoop 
and Brothers." The life of William R. 
Saunders has been that of a quiet citizen ami 
farmer, for he does not seek office or po- 
litical preferment, yet he is an active work- 
ing Republican, and has ser\ed as secretary 
and chairman of the county central commit- 
tee. He is now, and has been for many 
years, a member of the Staunton township 
school board, and was a member of the 
Miami county board of agriculture for eight 
years. He is a stockholder and director in 
the Troy Bending Company. He was one 
of the organizers of the Troy National Bank 
and one of its directors. He and his wife 
are living upon and own the old homestead 
of John Knoop, and of his sons the "Bache- 
lor Knoops," which place contains two hun- 
dred antl forty acres of splendid land, with 
good imprLi\-ements, and a fine country resi- 
dence. His great uncle, Theodore Saund- 
ers, was a pioneer who came to the county 
in 1803. and was a member of the first grand 
jury of the county, which held its session in 
the house of Peter Felix, an old French In- 
dian trader living in "Dutch Station," after- 
wards called Staunton. For twenty years 
he has lived the life of a retired farmer, but 
has not been an idle man. He is an exten- 
sive reader of good books and a good thinker, 
and for this reason a pleasant companion. 
Having been associated from early boyhood 
with the "Bachelor Knoops," perhaps there 
is no man in Miami county so well posted on 
their history and the motives that inspired 
those quiet, careful men in all their actions 
for the public welfare or their private in- 
terests. He has a great reverence for the 
family, and is of the opinion that John 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



275 



Knoop, the old pioneer of 17.97, ^^'^s a man 
■of remarkably strong intellect and most ex- 
cellent judgment, a man, who if today was 
living in the prime of his manhood would 
make an impress upon the public of this 
county more profound even than he did 
among the bra\-e and hardy settlers of the 
Miami valley a century ago. In this opinion 
the writer, after a careful study of his quali- 
ties as a man aud his, evident influence at 
that earlv day, assents to in e\'ery respect. 

K. s. w. 



GEORGE McjNIILLAN: 

George McAIillan is numbered among 
the pioneer settlers of Ohio who aided in 
1; yiug the foundation for the present pros- 
perity, progress and advanced position of 
the state. His work and labors identified 
him with the development of the county 
through the first half of the century. He 
was born in Perry county, Pennsylvania, 
reared upon a farm, and was a son of George 
McMillan, a native of Scotland, who crossed 
the Atlantic in Colonial days. When the 
colonies attempted to throw off the yoke of 
British oppression he joined the army and 
valiantly fought for the independence of the 
r.ation, serving as colonel and quartermas- 
ter. He was a man of deep religious prin- 
ciples, identified with the Presbyterian 
■church, and had family worship in his home 
three times each day. 

Mr. McMillan, of this review, came to 
Ohio in 1807. He carried the unique letter 
of recommendation which follows : 

"That George McMillan is a single man, 
and though he has never applied for any 
afirliating ordinances, yet he has punctually 
attended the preaching of the gospel and is 
free from any charge of scandal or ground of 



church censure known to us. Is certified at 
Shearman's Valley, Cumberland county, 
Pennsylvania, September 23d, 1807. 

"By John Linn, U. D. M." 

The traveler of today who speeds over 
the country in a "lightning express" and 
notes the highly culti\-ated farms and thriv- 
ing towns and villages through which he 
passes can form no adequate conception of 
the condition of the country at that day. 
Aluch of the state was covered with a dense 
growth of forest trees, the soil was very 
damp and unfit for cultivation, and the In- 
dian settlers were far more numerous than 
the white men. Mr. McMillan made his 
way to his new home on horseback and ptir- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land 
from a Mr. Sewall, the tract being what now 
comprises the Miami fair grounds. This 
was wild and unimproved, but he possessed 
the courageous spirit of the pioneer who 
faces hardships, difficulties and dangers in 
order to make a home on the frontier. Dur- 
ing the war of 1812 he loyally responded to 
the country's call for aid, and took part in 
the second period of hostilities with the 
mother country. He was married in 1816 
to Miss Rebecca McKey, who was born 
March 27, 1799, in Ohio, being a representa- 
tive of one of the-oldest families of the state. 
Her parents were William and Jane McKey. 
Six children were born unto our subject 
and his wife: Marshal A., born September 
I, 1817, died August 3, 1836, at the age of 
eighteen years; Silas P., born October 16, 
1 8 19, died March 16, 1876; Eliza Jane, 
born July 4, 1822, became the wife of James 
McKaig ; Lucinda and Angelinda were born 
August 5, 1825, and the latter died at the 
age of eighteen years; and Eusebia, born 
September 29, 1834, died in 1843. 

Mr. McMillan, of this review, was a very 



276 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



i)idustrious man and prosecuted his agricult- 
ural ialjors with great energy and determina- 
tion. He performed the arduous task of 
cutting down trees, clearing away the 
stumps and preparing the land for cultiva- 
tion, and when this was done he planted 
his crops after the primitive manner of the 
times and later bore his part in the work of 
the harvest fields. He owned one hundred 
and sixty acres of land, all of which is now 
within the city limits of Troy, and there he 
resided until his death, which occurred in 
1840. He was a man of high moral char- 
acter whose strict regard for honesty, fair 
dealing, justice and right won him the un- 
(jualified confidence of his neighbors, and 
all with whom he was associated in business 
transactions. Soon after his death the fam- 
ily removed to Troy, where his wife died in 
1850. The only surviving member of the 
family is Lucinda, but the family name is 
indelibly impressed on the pages of the 
pioneer history of Miami cour.ty, and the 
individual worth of Mr. and ]\Irs. McMil- 
lan caused their memory to be cherished by 
the sur\i\ing pioneers and friends who knew 
them in life. 



D. C. HEXDRICKSON. 

D. C. Hendrickson, a minister at West 
Milton, was born near Fredericktown, Miami 
county, November 22, 1839, and is the son 
of William and Sarah (Sinks) Hendrickson. 
His father was born in New Jersey, in 181 5, 
and came to Ohio in early manhood. He 
was united in marriage to Sarah Sinks, 
whose parents, Mr. and Mrs. George Sinks, 
came to Ohio in an early day and settled in 
Montgomery county. To this union was 
born nine children, six sons and three daugh- 
ters, namely: A. J., John, D. C, Susan, 



Ellen, G. W.. J. P.. W. S. and Mary C. Of 
these John, Susan, Ellen, G. W. and Mary 
C. are now deceased. 

On the 31st of August, 1861, D. C. Hen- 
drickson was married to Miss Rachel C. 
Pfoutz, daughter of Jesse and Rebecca 
Pfoutz. Miss Pfoutz was born in Mont- 
gomery county, February 15, 1843. They 
have four children living at this date, as fol- 
lows: Addie M., Cora B., Ira R. and Shir- 
ley Ruth, and all married but the last named. 
Mr. Hendrickson and his wife identified 
themselves with the German Baptist church, 
of which he has been a minister for a num- 
ber of years. He is now elder and pre- 
sides o\'er the church in which he has his 
membership. 



ZENAS PIERCE. 

The history of Mr. Pierce is a connecting 
link between the pioneer past and progress- 
ive present, for he is numbered among the 
native sons of Miami county, and for two- 
thirds of a century has been a witness of its 
development and improvement. He was born 
on a farm in Union township, April 17, 
1834, and is a son of Samuel and Millie 
(Iddings) Pierce, the former born in Gray- 
son county, Virginia, on the loth of Octo- 
ber, 1785, the latter in April, 1790. During 
his boyhood the father accompanied his par- 
ents to Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, 
where he remained until 1804, when he came 
to Miami county, Ohio, taking up his abode 
in Milton. He was familiar with the trades 
of wagon-making, carpentering and cabinet- 
making, and conducted a cabinet shop at 
Milton at that early day. In 1810 he wed- 
ded Miss Millie Iddings and the same year 
erected the third house in ]\Iilton. It was 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



rn 



a log cabin of two rooms, situated on Main 
street, and there stood until 1897. when it 
was torn down. In 1813 he purchased a 
farm which had been entered from the gov- 
ernment by its former owner. The place 
comprised one hundred and sixty acres on 
section 3. Union township, and the purchase 
price was three dollars per acre. A log 
cabin had been built, but only one acre of 
the land had been cleared, the remainder 
being co\ered with heavy timber. With 
characteristic energy, however, Mr. Pierce 
began its further de\-elopment and improve- 
ment, and continued the work of operating 
the farm until his death, which occurred in 
1877. He was a member of the Society of 
Friends and very active in the work of the 
church. His early political support was 
given the Whig party, and on its dissolution 
he joined the ranks of the Republican party, 
becoming one of its stalwart advocates. He 
served as trustee of his township, and for 
one term was county commissioner, proving 
a capable ofhcial. In every relation of life 
he was trustworthy and reliable, was fair 
in his dealings and enjoyed the respect of his 
fellow men. In his family were thirteen chil- 
dren, twelve of whom reached years of ma- 
turity anil were married before his death. 
The record of his seven sons and six daugh- 
ters is as follows : Ruth became the 
wife of Jesse Pemberton; Margaret married 
Moses Jay; Malinda became the wife of 
Noah Brooks; Gaynor A. and William were 
the next of the family ; Almira married Mar- 
tin Brooks; Mary was the next younger; 
Hannah married Henry Coate; Mary B. 
was the wife of Jonathan L. Boyd, and the 
others were John, Clarkson, Zenas and Ben- 
jamin. Those still living are Samuel, John 
and Zenas. 

In taking up the personal history of Mr. 



Pierce of this review we present to our read- 
ers the life record of one who is widely and 
favorably known in Miami county. He was 
reared ori the old family homestead where 
his birth occurred and pursued his education 
in a log school-house, to which he walked 
four miles. His privileges in that direction, 
however, were rather meager and his knowl- 
edge has been largely acquired through 
reading, experience and observation. He 
started out upon an independent business 
career by renting the old home place, and for 
some time carried on agricultural pursuits, 
operating the home farm until 1883. when 
he removed to Bradford, Ohio, where he en- 
gaged in the hardware business for eight 
years. He then came to Pleasant Hill, 
where he has since made his home. 

Mr. Pierce has been twice married. On 
the 9th of September, 1854. he wedded 
Eliza McCormack. and they became the par- 
ents of seven children ; Hannah, Clarkson, 
John, Samuel, Lewis, Zenas K. and Roland 
N. After the death of his first wife Mr. 
Pierce married her sister. Miss Hannah Mc- 
Cormack, their wedding being celebrated in 
1 88 1. They continued upon the farm until 
1883, and for the past nine years they have 
been residents of Pleasant Hill, where they 
have many warm friends. For three years 
Mr. Pierce has served as justice of the peace, 
and for fi\'e years has been a member of the 
council of Pleasant Hill. He is very faith- 
ful in the discharge of his duties and is a 
loyal adherent of the Republican party. He 
belongs to the Friends' church, of Newton 
township. He has lived an honorable, up- 
right life, which is in many respects well 
worthy of emulation. He is entirely free 
from ostentation, and his sterling worth 
has gained him the confidence and good will 
of all with whom he has been associated. 



278 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



\villia:\i h. hildebraxd. 

There is particular satisfaction is revert- 
ing to the life history of the honored and 
venerable gentleman whose name initiates 
this review, since his mind bears the impress 
of the historic annals of the state of Ohio 
from the early pioneer days, and from the 
fact that he has been a loyal son of the re- 
public and has attained a prominent position 
in the county of his doption. He is now one 
of the re\-ered patriarchs of the community, 
for he was ])orn on the 27th of January, 
1806, his birth occurring near IMifflintown, 
Juniata county, Pennsylvania, his father be- 
ing Henry Hildebrand, who was born and 
reared in Montgomery county in the Key- 
stone state. He removed to Juniata county, 
where he married Miss Mary Ann Marks, 
daughter of Jacob Marks. During the fall 
of 181 2 he loyally served as a member of 
the American army. His father was Cas- 
per Hildebrand, who came to the United 
States from Germany and took part in the 
war of the Rebellion. 

i\Ir. William Harrison Hildebrand, of 
this review, was reared upon the old home 
farm in the state of his nativity, and in early 
life learned the carpenter's trade. When a 
young man he came to Ohio, locating upon 
his present farm, comprising one hundred 
and thirty acres in Washington township, 
Miami county. Throughout his active busi- 
ness career in this county he carried on agri- 
cultural pursuits, his labors bringing to him 
a comfortable competence. He married 
Miss Jane Adams and they raised a large 
family. His wife died on the old home- 
stead. Mr. Hildebrand, however, has been 
spared to reach the advanced age of ninety- 
four years. His career has been an hon- 
orable one and now, in the evening of life. 



he can look back over the past without re- 
gret and forward to the future without fear. 
His sterling characteristics have gained him 
hisfh regard and no man in the communitv 
is more respected than this venerable gen- 
tleman. 



ISAAC S. ^lORRIS. 

I. S. Morris is the oldest representative 
of journalistic interests in Piqua. Isaac 
]\Iorris, the paternal grandfather of our sub- 
ject, was born in Pasquotank county. North 
Carolina, about 1765, and was there mar- 
ried to Miss ]Millicent Bundy, whose birth 
occurred in Percpimans county, North Caro- 
lina, December 11, 1769. Isaac Morris fol- 
lowed farming, tliereby supporting his fam- 
ily of nine children, the third of whom was 
John Morris, whose birth occurred in the 
southern part of N'orth Carolina on the 
19th of December, 1797. \\'hen he was 
four years of age his parents removed to 
Grayson county. A'irginia, where Isaac ^lor- 
ris died about 181 8. Two years previously 
John Morris emigrated westward to Ohio, 
locating in Highland county, whence he re- 
moved to Clinton county, this state, about 
1820. On the 9th of February, 1822, he 
was united in marriage to Ruth Stanley, 
daughter of Anthony and Hannah (Reece) 
Stanley, natives of North Carolina. Mrs. 
Morris was born in Guilford county. North 
Carolina, February 19, 1804, but removed 
to Ohio in her maidenhood and was there 
. married to John Morris, who was a well- 
known farmer of this locality, following ag- 
ricultural pursuits throughout his active 
business career. After he had attained the 
age of seventv-fi\'e years, however, he put 
aside business cares and spent his remain- 
ing days in retirement from labor. He re- 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



279 



niDved to Harveysburo'. where he died Au- 
e;uft JQ. 1886, ill liis eighty-ninth yjar, liav- 
ing longf snrvived his wife, who passed away 
on the 22(\ of Jnne. 1838, in her thirty-fifth 
vear. Tliey were tlie parents of tliree sons 
and three daughters, of whom I. S. ]\Iorris 
was tiie eldest. 

The subject of this review was born in 
Clinton county. Ohio, February 7, 1825. 
His early life was spent upon the farm 
and through the summer months he assisted 
in the work of the fields, while in the winter 
season he attended the district schools. Later 
he continued his education for two years in 
the select Quaker school at Martinsville, 
Clinton county, and subsequently was grad- 
uated in the Fanners' College at College 
Hill, where he graduated in the class of 
1 85 1. In the meantime, however, in 1844, 
he began teaching in the district schools, be- 
ing thus engaged through the winter, while 
in the summer he worked on the farm. After 
his graduEjtion he continued his work of 
teaclr'ng in the district schools until 1853, 
when he was appointed superintendent of the 
public schools at Eaton, Preble county. Olr'o, 
occupying that important position until June, 
i860. In that yjar, JK.iwever, he severed his 
connection with educational labors and 
turned his attent'on to journalism, becom- 
ing Cdiinected with the Eaton Register. On 
the 1st of January, 1861, he purchased an 
interest in that paper and continued its pub- 
licat'on untl 1874. when he sold his in- 
terest and remo\-ed to Piqua. Ohio, where 
he established the Miami Helmet, the first 
issue occurring .\ugust 6, 1874. He is still 
publish-'ng tli-s journal and is the senior 
editor of Miami county, both in age and 
years of continuous ser\'ice. He is also 
editiT of the Piqua Daily Call, which is 
ownetl and managed by his son. J- ^^^ Mor- 



ris, who established the latter paper on the 
17th of October, 1883. 

On the 1 6th of October, 1851, Mr. Mor- 
ris was united in marriage to Miss Edith 
T. Jenkins, daughter of Jacob and Hannah 
(Gawthrop) Jenkins. She was of English 
descent, and one of her great-great-uncles, 
George Gawthrop. served as bishop to the 
king in 1700. The ancestry of the Gaw- 
throps may be traced back as far as the time 
of the Doomsday Book. Mrs. Morris was 
born in Frederick county. Virginia, Novem- 
ber 2^'. 1824, and by her marriage became 
the mother of four children, one of whom 
died in infancy. Those still living are Mari- 
ana, who was born September 3, 1855, and 
is the wife of George A. Brooks, of Piqua; 
Xellie, who was born October 18, 1857, 
and John W'.. who was Ixirn September 18, 
i860. The mother passed away April 8, 
1898. after traveling with her husband on 
life's journey for nearly forty-seven years. 

Mr. Morris was reared in the faith of 
the Society of Friends, but in Nru'ember. 
1857. he united with the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, of which he has s'nce been a 
consistent member. His early political 
training made him a follower of the Whig 
party, but on. the organization of the Re- 
publican party he juined its ranks and has 
since upheld its banners with patriotic 
loyalty. He has never been an aspirant for 
office, preferring to devote his time and in- 
fluence to the advancement of his party in 
a more quiet way. He commands the re- 
spect of all with whom he has come in con- 
tact, for his has been a life cons'stent with 
every manly principle, and his influence has 
been effective in promoting those measures 
which have contributed to the general good 
along the line of material, social, intellectual 
and moral advancement. 



280 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



AARON DUNCAN. 

Aaron Duncan, who carries on agricult- 
ural pursuits in Washing-ton township, 
Miami county, is a representative of one of 
tiie old families of this section of the state. 
His grandfather was Samuel Duncan and 
at an early period in the development of 
Miami county he came to Ohio, entering two 
hundred and forty acres of wild land in 
Monroe township. That he transformed 
into a \-aluahle farm, making his home there- 
on until his death. Amos Duncan, the fa- 
ther of our suhject, was horn in South Caro- 
Ima, whither his father had gone from 
Ohio, spending a short time in the former 
state. Amos Duncan passed most of his 
boyhood days in Miami county, pursuing 
his education in the public schools near his 
home. He married Polly Beale and they 
became the parents of two children, — Isaac 
and Mrs. Mary Shepherd. Mr. Duncan 
located near Xenia, Ohio, and engaged in 
school teaching. His first wife died in Mon- 
roe township, and he afterward married 
Rachel Coate, who was a native of South 
Carolina. During the greater part of his 
life he carried on agricultural pursuits and 
was a progressive and enterprising farmer. 
His death occurred in Spring Creek town- 
ship, and the mother of our suhject died in 
Monroe township. Their children were 
John, now deceased ; Samuel, who is living 
in Spring Creek township; Nelson and 
Moses, who ha\e also passed away; Aaron, 
of this review, and Sarah Ann, who liecame 
tho wife of Silas Perry and died in Indiana. 

Aaron Duncan was born in Monroe 
townshii) September 25, 1821, and in the 
usual manner of farmer lads was reared, 
enjoying the sports in which boys of that 
peritxl indulged and performing his part in 



the wi_irk of field and meadow. He pursued 
his education in the district schools near his 
home and at the age of twentv-three went to 
Indiana, where he remained for two years, 
being employed in a sawmill. After his 
marriage he began farming in Newberry 
township and for thirteen years operated 
his tract of land there. Subseciuentb- he pur- 
chased the Wessen place of one hundred 
and six acres on section 31. He is to-day 
the owner of eighty acres in Loraine town- 
ship, Shelby county, which he operates, and 
his home farm comprises one hundred and 
twenty acres of rich and well-developed land, 
the highly culti\'ated fields yielding to him a 
golden trilnite for the care and labor he 
bestows upon it. 

It was in 1855, in Newberry township, 
that Mr. Duncan was united in marriage to 
iMrs. iMartha Young, iicc Shepherd. Her 
death occurred on the nth of December, 
1876, and he was again married,- in 1S93, 
Mary Jane Barton becoming his second wife. 
His children are: Alwilda, widow of E. 
M. Hall : Flora, who died July 11, 1877 : and 
William F., who was born December 2, 
1859, in Newberry township. In his politi- 
cal affiliations Mr. Duncan is a Repulilican, 
but has never sought or desired ofifice, pre- 
ferring to devote his energies to his farm- 
ing interests, in which he is meeting with 
creditable success. He is energetic and in- 
dustrious, and his diligence and persever- 
ance are bringing to him a good financial 
return for his labors. 



MRS. LUCINDA (McMILLAX ) LEWIS. 

iMrs. Lucinda (MciMillan) Lewis is the 
daughter of George and Rebecca (McKey) 
JMciMillan. She was born in this county, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



281 



August =;. 1825. She is of Scotch-Irisli de- 
scent, is proud of her ancestry and lias rea- 
son to be, and in this sketch the writer will 
recapitulate to some extent the genealogy 
of the family. 

Mrs. Lewis' grandparents, George and 
Mary (Grain) McMillan, emigrated to 
America from the north of Ireland before 
tlie Revolutionary war, and first settled in 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and after- 
\\ard moved to Perry county of the same 
state, where he purchased a farm. By oc- 
cupation he was a farmer and weaxer, and 
evidently at the time of his emigration was a 
man of some wealth, for he purchased his 
land of the "Logans" in Perry county, Penn- 
sylvania, and paid for it four hundred and 
ninety pounds English sterling. He and 
iiis family were strict Presbyterians, and 
held family worshi]) three times every day. 
Li his family were eight children, four sons 
and four daughters. The eldest, Eleanor, 
married Hugh Milligan, and moved to 
Greenfield, Ohio. Jane married George 
Black, and remained in Perry county, Penn- 
syhania. Susan married \Villiam L-\-ine, 
and also remained in Perry county, Penn- 
sylvania. Mary, the youngest daughter, 
married Holbert Murray, in 1773. They 
moved to Miami county, Ohio, and settled 
near Troy, October i, 1814. William and 
Thomas McMillan moved to Greenfield, 
Ohio. James stayed on the homestead, and 
there is now standing on the old farm the 
log cabin first built by George McMillan, 
Sr., preserved and cared for by his descend- 
ants, for the farm is still in the family. The 
old cabin shows the bullet holes that were 
made by the red men during the Indian war, 
when Pennsylvania was a coloney, George 
McMillan, the fourth son and the father of 
our subject, emigrated from Perry county. 



Pennsylvania, to Miami county, Ohio, in 
1807, and purchaseil one hundred and sixty 
acres of land near Troy, which land had 
within its boundaries what is now the IMiami 
county fair grounds. ^ 

George McMillan, the grandfather of 
Mrs. Lewis, entered the Revolutionary 
army, was quartermaster, and before the 
war closed ranked as colonel in the Conti- 
nental army. George McMillan, the son 
and father of Mrs. Lewis; was a soldier in 
the war of 1812. After the war he re- 
turned to his farm, and on the first day of 
September, 1816, was married in Troy to 
Rebecca McKey, whose parents came to 
Troy from Wheeling, Virginia. 

George and Rebecca McMillan had six 
children, two sons and four daughters : 
Marshal A. was born September 5. 1817; Si- 
las Preston was born October 17, 1819; 
Eliza Jane was born July 4, 1822; Lucinda 
had a twin sister, Angelinda, and they were 
born August 5, 1825; Eusebia, the youngest 
cliild, was born September 29, 1834. 

On the farm he purchased in 1807 
George McMillan died in 1840. Rebecca, 
his wife, died in Troy in 1850. The fol- 
lowing is a brief record of their children. - 
Marshal A. died August 3, 1839, aged 
nineteen years. Angelinda died February 
27, 1844, aged eighteen years. Eusebia 
died at the tender age of nine years. Silas 
Preston McMillan was married to Mary E. 
Barrett, June 24, 1841, and to this union 
were born nine children. He raised Com- 
pany I, Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
April 9, 1 86 1, of which company he was ap- 
pointed captain, and was discharged b\- rea- 
son of disability September 3, 1862. His 
son, Blair McMillan, enlisted in Company 
I, Sixty-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He 
was promoted to corporal April 2^. 1862, 



282 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



■was discliarged from the hospital at Wash- 
ington, D. C. and came home, not expected 
to live, but recovered, re-enhsted and re- 
mained in the army during the war, partici- 
pating in thirteen liattles. He was only 
fifteen years old when lie first enlisted. Cap- 
tain Silas P. McMillan died in Callao, Mis- 
souri, March i6, 1876, and was buried in 
Rose Hill cemetery, of Troy, Ohio. Eliza 
Jane McMillan was married to James Mc- 
Kaig, of Troy, Ohio, in November, 1844. 
There were four children born to this union, 
three sons and one daughter. The two 
eldest sons died in infancy, and the daugh- 
ter, Jennie R. McKaig, died April 17, 1872, 
at the age of twenty-two. She was a bright, 
promising, intelligent young lady, the pride 
and hope of her parents, a graduate of the 
Troy high school .and of Oxford College. 
George McKaig, the youngest son, is living 
near Troy and is noted in this county as an 
importer and breeder of fine horses. His 
mother, Eliza J. McKaig, died at her home 
in Troy, in 1886, and his father, James 
McKaig, died May 26, 1894. They were 
well known citizens of this county. The 
home farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
on which he settled, is now in the corpora- 
tion limits of Troy, He also accj[uired sev- 
eral fine farms in this county, and was known 
for his thrift, industry and business ability. 
Lucinda (McMillan) Lewis, the subject 
of this sketch, is the only member of her 
fathers family now livmg. She was mar- 
ried to Albert Lewis, of Cincinnati, by Rev, 
Henry Calhoun, March 10, 1868. She re- 
sided in Cincinnati three years, and then re- 
turned to Troy, where she now lives a 
widow. Mrs. Lewis is in man}- respects a 
remarkable woman. She has inherited from 
her ancestors tlie spirit of intense devotion 
to the right, and an equally intense hatred 



of the wrong, and her devotion to the faith 
of the Presbyterian church is a legacy of 
her ancestors. She has the faith and firni- 
ness of the old covenanters and is inflexil)le 
in following, to the letter, the tenets of her 
church. In 1874, when the banner of the 
crusade was raised by the ladies of Troy 
against the saloons of Troy, she was a brave 
and energetic worker in that devoted band 
of women, who sought by prayers and song 
and !))• woman's earnest pleading and 
wtiman's tears, to arrest, and, if possible, to 
crush out the sin of intemperance in Ohio. 
Time and again she led the band into the 
saloons, or, if refused entrance, knelt in 
prayer on the sidewalk in front of the places 
where liquor was sold, undismayed by 
threats and curses, relying alone on the 
power of prayer, and the eloquent pleadings 
of mothers, wives and daughters, that the 
sin-cursed traffic might be abated, and 
homes made free from the awful shame of 
intemperance. She also worked with the cru- 
sade band in Cincinnati, and her name is men- 
tioned in "Mother" Stewart's history of the 
Crusades of Ohio, as one of the efficient and 
fearless workers. The Woman's Christian 
Temperance L'nion was the outgrowth of 
the crusade movement, which has been and 
is now one of the strongest influences 
against the liquor traffic in the L'nited 
States. She was, and is now, a prominent 
worker of that order. In the Temperance 
Fair, held in Cincinnati, in 1875, and now 
historic in temperance work, she had charge 
of the table of fancy work and realized from 
her tal:)le one hundred and tliirty-fi\e dollars 
and eighty cents. 

The \\'oman's Christian Temperance 
Union, in 1876. held a national convention 
and also a fair in Philadelphia. The con- 
vention was composed of three delegates 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



283 



from each state. ]\Irs. Lewis was selected 
as one of the delegates from Ohio, and at- 
tended the convention. She has served the 
\\'oman's Christian Temperance Union, of 
Troy, as secretary and president, and she is 
now president of the society. She has been 
elected and served repeatedly as a delegate 
to county, district and state conventions of 
the organization. She was sent as a dele- 
gate from Ohio to the national convention 
of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union held at St. Louis, in 1896. She is 
now, and has been for many years, super- 
intendent of jail and infirmar)^ work in this 
count}'. Meetings are held each week in 
the year at the county jail and also at the 
county infirmary. Mrs. Lewis is active in 
all church, temperance and benevolent work 
in Troy. Her ambition in life is to work for 
the -cause of Christianity and do what she 
can for the upbuilding of a higher, purer 
and noljler manhood and womanhood. She 
is respected and honored by her church and 
the communit)- in which she li\-es as an 
earnest Christian, and a noble, useful 
woman. e. s. w. 



\\tllia:m hetherixgton. 

History and biography for the most part 
record the lives of those only who have at- 
tained military, political or literary distinc- 
tion, or who in any other career have passed 
through extraordinary \-icissitudes of for- 
tune. The unostentatious routine of pri\-ate 
life, although in the aggregate miire im- 
portant to the welfare of the community, 
cannot, from its nature, figure in the public 
annals. But the names of men who have 
distinguished themselves in their day and 
generation for the possession, in an eminent 
degree, of those qualities of character which 



mainly contribute to the success of private 
life and to the public stability — of the men, 
who, without dazzling talents have been ex- 
emplary in all their personal and social re- 
lations, and enjoyed the esteem, respect and 
confidence of those around them — ought not 
to be allowed to perish. Their example is 
more valualile to the majority of readers 
than that of illustrious heroes, statesmen or 
v.'riters. Few can draw rules for their own 
guidance from the pages of Plutarch, but • 
all are lienefitted Ijy the delineation of those 
traits of character which find scope and ex- 
ercise in the common walks of life. 

Among the individuals of this class in 
the state of Ohio none are better entitled 
to representation in this work than the sub- 
ject of this sketch. His record is the ac- 
count of a life, uneventful indeed as far as 
stirring incident or startling adventure is 
concerned, yet distinguished by the most 
substantial qualities of character. His life 
history exhibits a long and virtuous career 
of private industry, performed with mod- 
eration and crowned with success. It is 
the record of a well balanced mental and 
moral constitution, strongly marked by those 
traits of character which are of especial 
value in such a state of society as exists in 
this country. .\ community depends upon 
commercial activity, its welfare is due to 
this, and the promoters of legitimate and ex- 
tensive business enterprises may well be 
termed its benefactors. 

Prominent in business circles of Piqua 
stands William Hetheringtim, who is the 
secretary of the Piqua Handle & Manufac- 
turing Company. He is a nati\-e of Piqua, 
born April 14, 1852, and is a son of William 
Hetherington. The family is of Irish line- 
age, his grandfather, James Hetherington, 
ha\-ing emigrated from count\- Tyrone, Ire- 



284 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



land, to Pennsylvania, about 1805. At the 
time of the Vienna Exposition, his nephew, 
Henry Hetherington, of Des Moines, Iowa, 
was a state commissioner to Vienna, and 
while abroard visited Ireland, where he 
found a brother of James H. still living, 
and although he had attained an advanced 
age, was still hale and hearty. William Heth- 
erington. the father of our subject, was a 
native of the Keystone state, and after his 
anarriage he removed to Piqua, where he was 
known as a leading contractor and builder 
of the city prior to 1865. About that time 
he retired from the building industry and 
devoted his energies to the lime trade. He 
was very active in local affairs, not only 
as a prominent business man. but as one 
who had due regard for the duties of citizen- 
ship, and did all in his power to promote 
the welfare of the city along material, social 
:uid intellectual lines. He twice represented 
his ward in the city council and was highly 
respected and esteemed by his fellow towns- 
men. He died in Piqua, in 1877, at the age 
of sixty-six years. His widow, who bore 
the maiden name of Mary A. Mitchell, was 
a daughter of David Mitchell, of Hollidays- 
burg. Pennsylvania. By her marriage she 
became the mother of the following chil- 
dren : James, who served throughout the 
Civil war in the Ninety-fourth Ohio In- 
fantry, participating in the campaigns under 
Sherman and the celebrated march to the sea, 
is now a contractor and builder of Piqua ; 
Sue is librarian of the Schmidlipp Free Li- 
brary of Pi(|ua. which position she has filled 
since its organization; Mrs. John Wall, of 
Carthage. Indiana, and Mrs. Thomas Wall, 
of Marion, Indiana, are the other daugh- 
ters. 

William Hetherington. the youngest of 
the family, was reared in his native state, 



completing his literary education by his 
graduation in the Piqua high school, in 1869. 
He is also a graduate of the Commercial 
College of Dayton. On putting aside his 
text books he became connected with the cut- 
stone business, as manager of Hamilton 
quarries, which position he filled for seven 
years. He then spent one year in taking 
and executing contracts for county bridge 
and stone work, anil through the succeed- 
ing year was superintendent of the govern- 
ment quarries at Marblehead. getting out 
stone for the Sault Ste. Marie canal. In that 
capacity two hundred and fifty men \\orked 
under his immediate supervision, while the 
force within the quarries numbered eight 
hundred. On leaving that place Mr. Hether- 
ington went to Sandusky, becoming con- 
nected with the Woohvorth Hickory Handle 
Factory, and in 1885 he returned to Piqua, 
since which time he has been identified with 
the Piqua Handle & Manufacturing Com- 
pany. In 1890 he was made its secretary, 
which position he still retains. This is one 
of the important and leading industrial con- 
cerns of the city, furnishing employment to 
two hundred and seventy-five men. The 
manufactured product is sold throughout 
the world, and is in great demand, especially 
in England. The business has assumed e.x- 
tensive proportions and yields excellent re- 
turns to the stockholders. 

Mr. Hetherington was united in mar- 
riage of Miss Lyda E. Wells, a daughter of 
J. C. Wells, of Piqua, formerly of Troy. 
Their children are : Edward, who is a grad- 
uate of the Piqua high school, and the W'es- 
leyan University, of Delaware, and is now 
attending a medical college in Chicago, after 
having pursued a preliminary course of read- 
ing under the direction of Dr. J. C. Fahne- 
stock. of Piqua: Will Worrell, also a grad- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



235 



uate of tlie Pi(|iia high school, now a ship- 
ping clerk in the handle factory; Clifford 
Elizaheth. a graduate of the high school; 
Earl and Wells, who are now attending 
school ; and Helen Dorothy, a little maiden 
of five summers, who completes the family. 
Socially Mr. Hetherington is a promi- 
nent Odd Fellow, for four years has been 
past grand of his lodge, has been a repre- 
sentative to the state grand encampment and 
is now a member of the state grand lodge. 
His study of political issues has led him to 
give an earnest support to the Republican 
party, and he is recognized as one of its 
prominent members. He does all in his 
power to secure its growth and success and 
for t\\'o terms he capably served as a mem- 
ber of the city council. He is also a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, in 
which he has served as steward. His resi- 
dence is one of the beautiful homes of the 
city, and he is a man of domestic tastes, who 
finds his greatest happiness at his own fire- 
side, in the midst of his family. In man- 
ner he is genial and pleasant and has hosts 
of friends. In seeking for the causes which 
have contributed to his success we find them 
not so much in their rarity as in their har- 
monious union, anil they may be briefly 
summed up by saying that he has the tastes 
of a scholar, the manners of a gentleman 
and the habits of a man of business — a 
combination of qualities that are bound to 
produce the highest results. 



JOHN W. SW'ARTZ. 

John W. Swartz has for many years 
been an active factor in the progress of Tip- 
pecanoe City. Educational, church and 
social interests owe their promotion in a 



considerable degrea to him, and as superin- 
tendent of the public schools he has had 
marked influence upon the thought and ac- 
tion of the town. He is a man of broad, 
scholarly attainment, of strong mentality 
and of keen discernment, and realizing the 
importance of intellectual ad\-ancement in 
the practical affairs of life he has givcu con- 
scientious and earnest attention to the duties 
whxh de\ol\e upon him. His work has 
been attended with excellent results, and 
through his efforts the schools of Tippe- 
canoe City have taken rank with the best 
in the stiite. 

Professor Swartz is a native of St. 
Johns, Auglaize county, Ohio, born Decem- 
ber 13, 1868, his parents being Henry and 
Mary (Lusk) Swartz. His father was 
born in Columbus, Ohio, and was a son of 
John Swartz, a nati\-e of Stuttgart, Ger- 
many, whence he crossed the Atlantic to 
America about 1830, locating near Laur 
caster, Pennsylvania. In 1835 he removed 
to Franklin county, Ohio, and about 1855 
took up his abode in Auglaize county, be- 
coming one of the pioneer settlers of that 
locality. There both he and his wife died. 
Mr. Swartz, surviving his wife several years, 
attained the age of eighty- four. 

Henry Swartz was married in Auglaize 
county and he and his wife are still living on 
the original family homestead there. He is 
one of the most extensive and prosperous 
farmers of the community, an.d is a man 
whose sterling q'ualities win for him the re- 
spect and confidence of all with whom he 
comes in contact. In his family were four 
sons and a daughter. Professor Swartz be- 
ing the eldest. In the usual manner of farm- 
er lads his boyhood days were passed, the 
work of the fields occupying his attention 
through the summer months, while in the 



28(3 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



winter season he pursued his preliminary 
education in the publx scliools. Ambitious 
to learn, however, he entered the Ada Nor- 
mal University, but prior to this time he 
engaged in teaching in the country schools. 
He was also for two years a student in the 
Ohio ^\'esleyan University, at Delaware, and 
subsequently had charge of the graded 
schools at Uniopolis. He resigned that po- 
sition in order to complete the course in 
the Delaware Uni\-ersity, in which he was 
graduated Avith the class of 1896, Avinning 
the degree of bachelor of arts. He ranked 
sixth in a class of one hundred and five mem- 
bers, and was one of the speakers at the 
commencement exercises, this honor being 
accorded him in recognition of his superior 
scholarship. He taught mathematics in the 
preparatorv department during the last two 
years of his college course, and after leav- 
ing his alma mater he at once entered upon 
his work in connection with the schools of 
Tippecanoe City. In April, before his grad- 
uation, he was chosen superintendent, and 
during the summer months he planned his 
work which he entered upon at the beginning 
of the school year. In addition to the reg- 
ular school course there is a four-years high- 
school course, and the standing of the Tip- 
pecanoe schools is such that high-school 
graduates are admitted without further ex- 
amination to the Ohio State University, the 
Wittenberg, Cinciimati, INIiami and Lima 
Universities. There aro now three hundred 
and seventy students in the school, under the 
care of nine teachers, one of Ayhom, the 
primary teacher. Miss Sarah E. Taylor, has 
been connected with the schools of Tippe- 
canoe City for thirty-three years. Another 
teacher, Miss Belle Brump, of the fourth 
grade, has taught here for twenty-eight 
years, and the janitor has occupied his posi- 



tion for fifteen years. All of the teachers 
have had college or normal school train- 
ing, and are very competent to discharge the 
important duties devolving upon them. On 
each Tuesday teachers' meetings are held, 
where the work is planned and discussed and 
improvements suggested. A Chautaucpa 
circle has been organized, in which the 
teachers are doing much reading, and sev- 
eral of the teachers have been identified 
with the Uni\ersity Extension course. The 
people and the school board are alive to 
the needs of the school and the work that is 
being done therein, and give a hearty in- 
dorsement to the labors of Professor 
Swartz. The school building, which was 
erected at a cost of forty thousand dollars, 
is modern in e\'ery department, stands in the 
midst of a beautiful campus of six and a 
half acres, and in many ways the work is 
made attractive and interesting, as well as 
beneficial, to the pupils. A high school libra- 
ry has been established, largely through 
the efforts of pupils and teachers, and now 
contains more than six hundred volumes. 
There are sixty-five students in the high 
school, and one hundred and twenty-five 
have been graduated therefrom, the class of 
1898 numbering sixteen. Among the grad- 
uates of the school one is now a surgeon in 
the United States regular army, another is 
a rising attorney at Dayton, several are 
graduates of colleges and universities and 
others are pursuing their education in ad- 
vanced institutions of learning. 

Marvelous indeed ha\-e been the changes 
which have occurred in the business world as 
the result of. the better educational facilities 
afforded the youth of our land. No longer 
is an employee trained to muscular accuracy 
alone; he must thoroughly understand the 
principles which underlie his work, and must. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



2S7 



Icgically determine the effects which will 
follow certain causes. The work of the 
schoolroom is not to furnish the pupil with 
a certain amount of knowledge, hut to give 
him that understanclingof the\-aried snhjects 
w'ith which he is concerned that will enable 
him to put his learning to practical use. 
Professor Swartz manifests in his methods 
of work a just conception of the educational 
needs and demands, and his efforts have 
secured advancement along progressive 
lines. He is himself constantly growing 
mentally and keeps in- touch with the spirit 
of progress throu^'h his membership in the 
National Superintendents" Association and 
the County and State Associations. At the 
present time he is a member of the executive 
committee of the county institute work. He 
has made a specialty of scientific research 
and of mathematics, and ranked first in a 
large class taking examinations for life cer- 
tificates. 

On the 13th of September, 1890, oc- 
curred the marriage of Professor Swar;z 
and Miss Ervilla Brackney, a native of Au- 
glaize county, where the wedding occurred. 
Both the Professor and his wife are con- 
sistent and prominent members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church and take an active 
part in the work of the Sunday school and 
of various church societies. Mrs. Swartz 
is a member of the Relief Corps. The Pro- 
fessor belongs to the Masonic fraternity, 
holding membership in Tippecanoe Lodge, 
No. 174, F. & A. M. ; in Franklin Lodge, 
R. A. ]\I., and the Knight Templar com- 
mandery of Troy. In the first he has served 
both as senior and junior warden. \t this 
point it would be almost tautological to 
enter into any series of statements as show- 
ing our subject to be a man of broad intel- 
ligence and genuine public spirit, for these 



have been shadowed forth between the lines 
of this review. Strong in his individuality, 
he ne\-er lacks the courage of his convic- 
tions, but there are as dominating elements 
in this individuality a lively human sympa- 
thy and an abiding charity, which, as taken 
in connection with the sterling integrity and 
honor of his character, have naturally gained 
to Mr. Swartz the respect and confidence of 
men. 



JUDGE W. J. CLYDE. 

There has been no citizen of Miami 
county, in recent years, whose death was so 
sincerely regretted as that of W. J. Clyde. 
The citizens of the county, regardless of 
church or party, felt a pride in his career, 
for the reason that he was one of the people 
in every meaning of the word. He was 
born February 14, 1842, was reared upon a 
farm and had a limited education. He mar- 
ried Miss Sarah Green, December 3, 1862, 
and remained on the farm for twenty-two 
years with no other ambition than to Ije a 
good farmer and a faithful justice of the 
peace, in which office he served the people 
of his township (Lost Creek) for many 
years. In country school-house debating- 
societies he had achieved quite a local fame 
and he had also won some reputation as 
an advocate in justice of the peace courts, 
in the petty lawsuits that come before a 
magistrate's court. In 1884 his name was 
presented by Lost Creek township to the Re- 
publican convention for the office of probate 
judge. He was nominated and elected, in 
November of that year. At the expiration 
of his first term he was renominated and 
elected to the second term. During his 
term of office, when forty-three years 
of age, he commenced the study of law 



288 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and was afterward admitted to practice. 
In the political campaigns that followed he 
was sent out by the central committee, first 
to country schoul-house meetings, where his 
earnestness and ability to reach the people 
and command their confidence attracted at- 
tention. He soon established the reputa- 
tion of being one of the best campaign speak- 
ers in the county. As probate judge he did 
not win the reputation of a profound lawyer, 
but the people had confidence in his honesty 
and the firmness with which he administered 
the law in the settlement of estates. 

Upon the expiration of his second term 
as probate judge he formed a partnership 
for the practice of law with S. T. McPher- 
son, a bright young lawyer, who is at this 
time assistant United States district attor- 
ney in the southern district of Ohio. The 
partnership was attended with success, and 
the firm obtained a large and lucrative prac- 
tice. In the practice of law W. J. Clyde 
established the reputation of an able 
advocate and successful jury lawyer. In 
the campaign of 1896 his services were much 
in demand and in that exciting contest he 
took an active part, winning quite a repu- 
tation as an effective platform speaker. He 
was speaking constantly, night and day, and 
reyling on his robust physical manhood, for 
he was a rugged, strong man, over six feet 
in height and built like an athlete, he was 
careless of exposure ^and contracted the 
germs of Bright's disease, that was the 
cause of his death, which occurred Decem- 
ber 12, 1898. He served for a number of 
years as city councilman. In every position 
he filled he obtained the confidence of the 
people by his sound judgment and good 
business qualifications. 

The secret of his success as a political 
speaker and a jury lawyer was found in the 



zeal, energy and singleness of purpose with 
which he engaged in any cause. He was not 
an able lawver, but was an able advocate. 
He was not a statesman, but he was a 
shrewd, able politician, devoted to his party. 
His mind was so constituted that to him 
his party was never in the wrong, and his 
clients were always right. Had he lived, 
higher honors awaited him. His career is 
remarkable because living on the farm until 
past the prime of life, and with no education 
beyond that obtained at a country school, 
antl with no reading beyond that of a news- 
paper, he went to the front as a political 
leader, and was a successful lawyer. 

He had a strong, logical mind, rough 
and uncouth because of the defects of his ed- 
ucation, yet quick to grasp the salient points 
of any question that interested him. The 
life of such a man has many incidents that 
would interest the public, but in the space of 
a brief biographical sketch the writer can- 
not go into detail, and the duty of writing 
fully the life of Judge \V. J. Clyde must be 
left to the future. e. s. w. 



JOSEPH \V. .AIEAXS, M. D. 

A prominent physician of central Oliio, 
Joseph Warren Means, has attained his pres- 
ent position by merit. He was born in Punx- 
sutawney, Pennsylvania, in 1855, his parents 
being Joseph and Margaret J^Ieans, both of 
whom were of German descent. He com- 
pleted his literary education in the Covode 
Academy, near his Pennsylvania home, and 
afterward came to Ohio, where in 1877 he 
was gratluated from the scientific department 
of the National Normal University at Leba- 
non. Subsequently he engaged in teaching 
school for seven 3-ears and was an able edu-- 
cator, but preferring to devote his energies 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



291 



to the practice of medicine, completed his 
studies in tlie Pulte School of Medicine, 
bv graduation, in 1881. Xot content, how- 
e\'er, with the knowledge he had alread}- ac- 
(juired, he matriculated in the Chicago Hom- 
eopathic College and took a post graduate 
course in Chicago, in 1898. In 1897 he 
was elected president 6} -vh^. American As- 
sociation of Orificial'-.iJurgery in Chicago, 
a fact which plainly indicates his high stand- 
ing among his professional brethren, and 
ill 1900 was elected president nt the Homeo- 
pathic r^Iedical Society of Ohio. 

In politics, the Doctor is a Republican 
and has served for two terms as coroner of 
Miami county. In 1899 ^^^ served as presi- 
dent of the city council of Troy, representing 
the first ward. He has made a close study 
of economics and of various public questiiins 
and is a stanch advocate of municipal owner- 
ship. It was through his influence that the 
city of Troy purchased the electric light plant 
and thereby reduced the price of current 
from twent}- cents per thousand watts to 
eight cents. 

Dr. Means came to Troy in 1881 and the 
city has since been his home . He was mar- 
ried in that year to Miss Eola F. Roberto, 
of Christiansburg, Ohio, daughter of George 
W. and Diantha (Corbley) Roberts, both 
natives of Ohio. They have one daughter. 
Myrtle, who was born July 27, 1883. So- 
cially he is connected with the Independent 
Oder of Odd Fellows and the Knights of 
I'ythias fraternity. His reputation in his 
profession is not limited by the confines of 
Miami county nor of the state, for he is 
widely known in medical circles outside of 
Ohio. He is a man of public spirit, a lead- 
er of thought and action and his labors in 
l^ehalf of the city have been very eft'ecti\-e 
and beneficial. 

17 



JOSEPH MURPHY. 

In this modern utilitarian age, so efficient 
in yielding the necessary comforts of man, 
both physical and mental, the men who 
lead in establishing institutions- for these 
purposes deserve more honor than any other 
class. We take pleasure in mentioning in 
this connection the founders of the original 
settlement from which Covington, Ohio, 
ultimately grew. They were a company of 
soldiers left by General \\'ayne in 1793 to 
guard the country from the encroachments 
of hostile Indians. Their blockhou.se stood 
on the site now oesupied by the Pennsylvania 
railroad station. These men were simply 
soldiers, having no experience in the found- 
ing" of towns or communities.- , The mind 
of George W. Smith was the leadmg factor 
in the establishment of Covington. In 
every sense he was a public-spirited man, 
who set in motion those elements which are 
to-day illustrated by the younger business 
men of our enterprising towns. Prominent 
among the latter is Joseph Murphy, who is 
now engaged in the lumber business and also 
trades in building materials, doing both a 
wholesale and retail business. ■" 

Mr. Murphy was born in Newton town- 
ship, iliami county, Ohio, August 6, i860, 
the youngest of thirteen children. Flis fa- 
ther, Williant Murphy, was born in Mont- 
gomery county, this state, September 6, 
1818, and received the usual education of 
lads of that day. He was but a boy when 
he was left without a fatlier's care. At the 
age of thirteen he began to wage the battles 
of practical life alone, working at whatever 
he could find to do until he was seventeen 
years old, when lie apprenticed himself to 
learn the carpenter's trade, which he fol- 
lowed for eight years, and then purchased a 



292 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



farm near ^'ellow Springs, in Greene coun- 
ty, this state. 

Fur a numljer of years thereafter he 
bought and sold farms for profit. In 1852 
he bought what is known as the A. F. :\Iike- 
sell farm near Covington. In 1862 he en- 
gaged in the grocery business in Coving- 
ton, in which lie continued a year. In 1865 
he remo\-ed to Darke county, Ohio, where 
he purchased a farm within what is now 
the corporate limits of \'ersailles, and here 
he established a hardware business, which 
he conducted in connection with h.is farm ftn" 
six years. At length he sold both the farm 
and' the hardware business and engaged in 
banking and the lumber trade. His busi- 
ness abilities anc': probity of character made 
him a most esteemed and valued citizen. 

in I'olitics he was a stanch Democrat, 
and in religion a coiististent and loyal mem- 
ber of the Christian church. He was deep- 
ly interested in Freemasonry and was for 
years the worshipful master of X'ersailles 
Lodge. 

Un the 7th of January, 1838, he mar- 
ried Mary Sipe, who was born January 11, 
18 1 8, in Pennsylvania, of German parents, 
who had emigrated to this country in an 
early day in our history. ]Mrs. Murphy 
died at Covington, September 30, 1862, 
having borne to her husband the following 
named children : Catherine, Leander, Sarah, 
Simon, Angeline, John, William H., Alary 
jM., Ellen, Esther, Elizabeth, Susan and 
Joseph. She was a good, sensible woman 
and died in the Christian hope of an im- 
mortal life. W'ilHam H. Murphy, her hus- 
band, died at Versaillies, June 26, 1893, and 
his remains rest beside his wife in Green 
Lawn cemetery, Covington, Ohio. 

Joseph Murphy, the subject of this 
sketch, was five years old when his fatherand 



family located in ^'ersailles, where he at- 
tendeil the public schools. After completing 
his education he began teaching in the 
schools of that town, in 1879, and followed 
that occupation for five years, spending his 
vacations at work in his father's lumljer 
yard, where he acyuired a knowledge of that 
business, whicl-^m' been inxaluable to him. 
Being anxious to f ^I'low a business career, 
he turned his attention to mercantile pur- 
suits, and in company with his brother-in-" 
low, G. H. Worch, ran a general store in 
\ersailles for a year. Selling then his in- 
terest there, he came to Covington, in the 
spring of 1887, and opened a luniber-\ard, 
and here he has steadily prospered. In 1894 
he opened a branch yard in West Milton, 
Miami county, and one at Xew Carlisle, in 
Clark county, Ohio, in 1895. 

In all his business affairs Mr. Murphy 
is an upright, reliable and energetic man, 
carrying forward to successful completion 
whatexer he undertakes. He is an ardent 
Democrat and a devout and faithful member 
of the Covington Christian church, of which 
he is a trustee and the leader of the choir. 
Though he leads a very busy life, he is 
keenly alive to all the great problems of the 
day and gives the weight of his inlluence 
to all questions of moral reform. Temper- 
ate in habits, speech and life, keenly alive to 
all the interests of his adopted city, he is held 
in high esteem by all who know him. In 
fact he possesses all the elements of a suc- 
cessful business man and model citizen. 

In 1884 he married Miss Emma L. 
Vv'orch, of Versailles. Their children are 
five in number, namely: Opal Marie, born 
September 15, 1886; Chalmer Worch, July 
16, 1888; Hazel June, June 19, 1890; Joseph 
Ivan, April 11, 1892, and Charles Hubert, 
August 7, 1899. Mrs. Emma (\\'orch) 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



293 



Murphy was born at Xew Aladison, Oliio, 
January 14, 1861, l;icing the second daugh- 
ter of Sebastian \\'orcli, of \'ersailles, Ohio. 
She was educated in the pul)hc schools of 
New Madison and is in every way fitted to 
preside over the beautiful home she and her 
husband have builded on Piqua avenue and 
filled with choice books and whatever makes 
home attractive and helpful to children. 
In singleness of purpose, in devotion to the 
spiritual and intellectual development of her 
chil(h-en. in cheerful patience, in simplicity 
and dignity of life, Mrs. Alurphy is an ex- 
ceptional woman. 

Her father, Sebastian ^\'orch. was Ijorn 
in Bishausen, Germany, May 17, 1S33, where 
he received a German education and learned 
the trade of baker. He emigrated to iVmer- 
ica in 1853 and located in Dayton, Ohio, 
but there he was almost immediately 
taken \-ery ill. He had neither money nor 
old-time acquaintances, and in a strange land 
it is not singular if he pined sorel\- f. ir his 
iiative land. On his recovery he worked for 
three years on a farm in Montgomery county. 
On the 24th of December, 1857, he was 
married to Mary Thomas, wdio was born at 
Schlearbach, Germany. . Her father was a 
large land owner and an official under the 
crown of Prussia. On the death of her fa- 
ther and mother the estate fell to her elder 
brother and she emigrated to America and 
made her home with her brother in Dayton, 
and while there she married Sebastian 
Worch. After their marriage they went to 
live in New Madison, Darke county, wdiere 
Mr. Worch engaged in the mercantile and 
hotel business. In 1877 he sold out and re- 
moved to Greenville, this state, and in 1879 
to Versailles, his present residence, where 
he is an honored and highly respected citi- 
zen. 



JAMES W. CRAWMER. 

James W. Crawmer, who is now en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits in Elizabeth 
township, was born on the old Dr. Beard 
faan, in Miami county, November 16, 1851, 
his father being Michael Crawmer, who is 
represented on another page of this work. 
His boyhood days were spent under the pa- 
rental roof, and while he gave considerable 
time and attention to the work of the farm 
he also enjoyed the sports of childhood and 
l)rofited by the educational advantages af- 
forded bv the common schools of the neisrh- 
borhood. He remained at home until twen- 
ty-six years of age, being associated with his 
father in the operation of the farm. 

On the 25th of October, 1877, was cele- 
brated the marriage of Mr. Crawmer and 
Miss Alice Devore, of Champaign county, 
Ohio, who was born and" reared in that lo- 
cality. For eighteen months after their 
marriage the young couple resided in Miami 
city and Mr. Crawmer operated a part of 
the old homestead. He then removed to 
his present farm, which had been purchased 
by his eldest brother, Henry G., who at his 
death willed it to his father, from wdiom it 
was to TO to the father's heirs, for Henry 
G. died unmarried. Mr. Crawmer, of this 
review, suffered considerable loss in the 
burning of the residence which stood upon 
the place, but with characteristic energy he 
erected a new dwelling, and now has one of 
the substantial homes of the neighborhood. 
He has met other difficulties, including the 
loss of the new barn, which was completely 
demolished in a cyclone, the storm also 
carrying oft' the chimneys of the house and 
destroying much of his grain. His loss 
amounted to several hundred dollars, but 
with determined purpose he began the work 



294 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of retrieving his lost possessions, and lias 
been successful in wrestino- fortune horn the 
hands of an adverse fate. The farm is now 
in excellent condition, being devoted prin- 
cipally to the raising of grain. It is one of 
the oldest improved properties in the nergh- 
borhood, the house which was burned hav- 
ing been erected seventy-fi\e. years ago. It 
is known as the Kester place, and its neat 
and thrifty appearance indicates to the 
passer-liy the careful supervision of the 
owner. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Craw- 
nier has been lilessed with one son, Ferdie, 
who was born September 14, 1879. and is 
still with his parents. He attends the coun- 
try schools and is well advanced in his 
studies. ]\Irs. Crawmer is a member of the 
Reformed church at Alcony. In politics he 
is a Democrat, but seeks not the honors or 
emoluments of public office, his time being 
fully (iccupied with his Inisiness interests, 
which are bringing to him good financial 
returns. 



JUDGE H. H. WILLIAMS. 

It is only the few that achieve success and 
win character and reputation above the ordi- 
nary on the broad field of the battle of human 
life. To some fame and reputation come 
without an apparent effort, but generally 
fortune favors those whose earnest, untiring 
energy conquers success. Henry Harrison 
Williams, the third son of Henry Williams 
and Elizabeth (Pettigrew) Williams, was 
born in Xew Carlisle, Clark county, Ohio, 
February 9, 1840. His grandfather, Henry 
Williams, was born on New river, Green- 
brier county, Virginia, in 1770, and was the 
son of George \Mlliams, who came to 
America from Wales prior to the Revolu- 
tion and settled in \^irginia. Henry Will- 



iams was married, in Octi;)ber. 1797, to Eliz- 
alieth .\lbert, who was born in North Caro- 
lina. She went to Greenbrier county, \'ir- 
ginia, to visit her brothers, James and Jacob 
.Albert, and there Henry Williams met, 
courted and married her. They lived in 
Virginia until they had four children, when, 
attracted by the fame of the fertde lands 
of the Miami valle}', they concluded to emi- 
grate to Ohio, over the mountains, across 
the rivers and through the pathless forests, 
and make for themselves a home in the new 
state. They were si.x weeks on the journey, 
which was made on horseback in the summer 
of 1805. They crossed the Ohio river at 
Gallipolis and reached the home of his 
brother. Captain John Williams, in Bethel 
township, Miami county, in July: Henry 
Williams was a grand type of the old pio- 
neer stock. A man of deep religious con- 
\!Ction-s, he was ever ready to help a neigh- 
bor, e\er willing to extend aid to the needy. 
He served as a soldier in the war of 181 2. 

Henry Williams. juni:jr, the father of 
H. H. Williams, raised a family of five chil- 
dren, four sons and one daughter. Three 
of the sons were soldiers in the Union army 
in the war of 1861. He died November 
13, 1889, aged eighty- four years, eight 
months and thirteen days, leaving behind 
him the record of a useful life. His wife, 
Elizabeth (Pettigrew) Williams, was born 
in Rockbridge county, \'irginia. October 30, 
1806. She was married to Henry Williams, 
junior, in 1832, and died December 2;^. 1869. 
She had a quick, active mind and rare good 
judgment. She fulfilled every duty of a 
true, afifectionate wife and of a faithful, lov- 
ing, tender mother. 

H. H. Williams, the. subject of this 
sketch, was educated in a country school, 
with the addition of two terms at Linden 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



295 



Hill Academy, at Xew Carlisle, Ohio, under 
Professor Thomas Harrison. He taught 
school two years and then entered as a stu- 
dent the law office of Conklin & Mathers, of 
Sidney, Ohio. In th.e spring of 1861 he 
left the law office to enlist in the Fifteenth 
Ohio Infantry for three months, and served 
under General McClellan in the West \'ir- 
ginia campaign, and was in the battle of 
Philippi. On the 9th of October, 1861, he 
enl'sted at Camp Tod. in Troy, Ohio, in 
Company A, Seventx'-lirst Ohio \^)lunteer 
Infantry, and served with the regiment until 
he was severely w^cunded in the right hip at 
the battle of Shiloh and was taken prisoner. 
For foiu- months he was confined in rebel 
prisons and he was then exchanged and re- 
joined his regimjnt, luit he became so lame 
from the results of h's wounds that on June 
II, 1863. he was discharged on a surgeon's 
certificate of disability. 

Fie resumed the studv of \:\.\\ under 
Judge Conklin of Sidney. Ohio, and was ad- 
mitted to the bar in September, 1864. He 
opened an office in Troy, but on account of 
his health he was compelled to suspend ac- 
tive practice, which he resumed. howe\er, 
in 1S70, in Troy, where he has resided since 
that date. In October, 1871. be was elected 
prosecuting attorney and re-elected in 1873, 
thus serving four years. During bis terms 
of office be obtained the reputation of a 
capable, v'gorous official. In December, 
1877, he was appointed by Go\-ernor Thomas 
Young to the position of ciMiimon pleas 
judge of the second judicial district of Ohio 
to fill the vacancy made by the death of 
Judge George D. Burgess, and so well did 
he discharge the duties of that office that in 
October, 1878. he was elected judge without 
opposition. 

At the ex])iration of bis term of office 



he resumed the practice of law, although 
his disability from his wound increased, not- 
withstanding the best medical attention, un- 
til he lost the entire use of his legs, yet by 
his determined and untiring energy be has 
mastered the profession of law until be is 
recognized as the leading lawyer of the 
Miami county bar. and has had for years a 
large and lucrative practice. When common 
pleas judge he held court in Champaign and 
Miami counties, and found the docket in 
each county so far behind that delay in 
reaching cas^s amounted to almost a denial 
of justice, yet by his executive ability, per- 
sistent and untiring work, he left the 
docket of both counties with the business 
well in hand. 

Judge ^\'illiams' large practice has 
brought him n<it only a competency but 
wealth, and while in this sketch the writer 
]ias no space to relate his triumphs at the 
bar, for he is an able advocate before the 
jury as well as a close, logical reasoner be- 
fore the court, yet it is safe to say that no 
man in Ohio has accomplislied more in win- 
ning reputation and wealth und;r adverse 
circumstances. For many years he has been 
a helpless in\-alid, requiring a constant at- 
tendant, yet he was in active pract'ce until 
October, 1899, when he concluded to travel 
around the world. Attended by his faithful 
wife and his son, Lloyd Williams, and ac- 
companied by his niece. Miss Olive G. Will- 
iams, he embarked at New York city trav- 
eled across the Atlantic ocean, journeyed 
through England, Scotland, Ireland, France, 
Italy and Austria, across the Mediterranean 
sea, through the Red sea, over the Indian 
ocean, through India, in China, Japan, across 
the Pacific ocean Iiy way of Honolulu to 
San Francisco and from there across the 
continent to his b.mie in Troy, without a 



29G 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



single mishap or the missing of a single 
train. He is now actively engaged in the 
practice of law. " 

On the 25th of February, 1864, Judge 
Williams was married to Miss Eloise J. An- 
derson, the daughter of Xathan and ^lar- 
garet Anderson, of Bethel township. ]Miami 
county, Ohio. To this union were born six 
children ; two sleep in the cemetery, and 
three daughters and one sou are living. 

Judge Williams is a member of the 
Franklin Lodge, F. & A. ]\I., and a Knight 
Templar in the Coleman Commandery of 
Troy, Ohio. He is also a member of A. 
Coleman Post. G. A. R., of Troy. In religion 
lie is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church of Troy. In politics he is a Repub- 
hcan, with decided convictions that the party 
is right on finance and expansion, and he 
believes in the future of this republic as one 
of the prominent factors in the progress and 
civilization of the world. 

In recent years Judge Williams has de- 
voted much time to good literature, and as 
a writer he is clear, instructive and attrac- 
tive. His letters of traN-el in the county 
papers have attracted more than local atten- 
tion. Flis life has been one of constant work 
and employment, but he is now disposed, as 
he nears the sunset shore, to enjoy in his 
ov/n way the rest and comfort due to old 
age. E. s. w. 



WILLIAM G. BOND. 

^^'ith the industrial interests of Tippe- 
canoe City Mr. Bond is actively and hon- 
orably connected, having for four vears oc- 
cupied the position of supcrintendv-it with 
the American Straw Board Comp; ..y. His 
keen discernment in business affairs, his 
sound judgment and indefatigable energy 



have gained him prestige among the leading 
representatives of trade interests in Miami 
county, and while his efforts have largely 
promoted his prosperity he also belongs to 
that class of American citizens who pro- 
mote the general welfare while enhancing in- 
ch \'idual success. 

Mr. Bond was only thirteen _\-ears of age 
when his connection with the paper manu- 
facturing industry began, and throughout 
his life his business experience has been 
along this line. He was first employed as 
a cutter l)oy in a mill at Picpia, Ohio, and 
applying himself diligenth" to his work he 
advanced rapidly through the various de- 
partments until he was made papermaker — 
the most responsible position in the factory. 
In that capacity he had charge of the cylin- 
ders where the pulp is converted into sheets 
and rolls. For six years he. served in that 
capacity, and in 1896 he was appointed to 
his present position, as superintendent of the 
Tippecanoe plant. The American Straw 
Board Company established business at this 
point in 1882, under the name of the Tippe- 
canoe Straw Board Company, most of the 
stockholders being residents of the town. 
The object of the new enterprise was the 
manufacture of ])lain straw board, and the 
capacity of the plant was eight tons. In 
1890 it passed into possession of the Ameri- 
can Straw Board Company, .\fter eight 
years of successful operation by the new own- 
ers its capacity was increased to a twelve- 
ton mill. I'atent machinerv was secured for 
the manufacture of pulp lined straw board, 
and other improvements were made in har- 
mony therewith. In 1898 four new boilers 
were secured and the cut re ])1ant was o\-er- 
haulcd, other new machinery being pur- 
chasefl and the capacity being increased to 
fifteen tons i)er day. .Miout ( .ia hundred 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



297 



auil twenty fi\e thousand dollars have been 
imested in the enterprise, and the pay roll 
for thirty-fi\'e men is three hundred and 
sevenv-ii\e dollars per week. About thirty- 
fi\-e dollars per week is paid fur material, 
mainly wheat straw, the greater part of 
which is a local production. Manila paper to 
the extent of about fifty tons per week is also 
used. By a patent process this is converted 
into a lining, which is placed in the straw 
l)iiard as it goes from the cylinders. Four 
hundred and eightv barrels of lime and 
about twenty-five bushels of soda ash are 
also used each week, and the business is 
C(inducted upon a paying basis. The pro- 
ducts of the factory are of a good grade and 
therefore command a ready sale upon the 
market. Under the management of Mr. 
Bond the Inisiness has steadily grown in im- 
portance and volume, and its large sales now 
net the stockholders a handsome income, at 
the same time furnishing employment to a 
large force of men. and thus adding to the 
general prosperity of the town. 

On the 2 1 St of December, 1899. ^t Piqua. 
Ohio, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. 
Bond and Miss Clara Blank, a daughter of 
William Blank, who resided in Piqua for 
many years, but is now a resident of Ger- 
manv, his native laud, ha\-ing come to 
America at the age of nine years. Mr. Bond 
belongs to Border City Tent, No. 72, K. 
O. T. M., at Piqua. and in politics is a stal- 
wart Repul)l;can. keeping well infurmed on 
the issues and questions of the day. Pie ' 
finds his chief source of recreation in hunt- 
ing. He is an example of the buys who 
secure their own start in I'fe, — determined, 
self-reliant boys, willing to work for the ad- 
vantages which others secure through in- 
heritance, destined b}- sheer force of char- 
acter to succeed in the face of all oppiisi- 



tion and to push to the front in any branch 
of enterprise they enter. As a man his busi- 
ness ability has been constantly manifested, 
and he has shown his power of grasping and 
mastering intricate problems of industrial 
and commercial life. He now occupies a 
very enviable position in business circles. — • 
a just reward of meritorious, honorable ef- 
fort, which commands the respect and ad- 
miration of all. 



MARTIN V. HOUSER. 

One of the most highly esteemed citi- 
zens of Staunton township is Martin V. 
Houser. Plis well spent life has at all times 
commended him to the confidence and re- 
gard of his fellow men. Pie is also an hon- 
ored representative of a pioneer family of 
Miami county that through manj^ decades 
has been connected with the growth and 
improvement of this section of the state. He 
was Ijorn in Spring Creek township Febru- 
ary 14, 1830, and is a son of John Houser, 
a native of Virginia. The paternal grand- 
father, Martin Houser, removed with his 
family from the Old Dominion to Ohio, 
making the trip by team and wagon in 1805. 
He located about two and a half miles from 
Dayton, where his wife's father, John Neff, 
in 1817, gave him a tract of wild land, con- 
s'sting of two hundred acres, upon which he 
remained until his death. However, in 1819, 
he entered three hundred and twenty acres 
in. Spring Creek township, constituting the 
farm upon which our subject was born. 

John Houser was born in Shenandoah 
countv. ^'irginia, January 27, 1790. An 
intere^t'ng incident in his life was related 
l;y him. In i8io Mr. Houser, jn company 
with s'x young men. made a visit to Vin- 



298 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



cenncs. Imliana, tlie state being then a terri- 
tory. They traveled on foot and on tlie way 
one of their pack horses was drDwned. 
When they readied Vinceanes General Har- 
rison, who was then governor of Indiana 
territory, entertained them nntil evening. 
He then took them to a tavern where their 
expenses were paid bv the people, and when 
they left, fi\e days afterward. General Har- 
rison presented them with a horse in place 
of the one they had lost. They were six 
weeks making the trip. In 1821 Mr. Houser 
removed from Montgomery county, Ohio, 
to the farm in Spring Creek township, which 
his father had entered two years before. 
There was a log cabin u])on the place and an 
acre of land had been cleared, Init the re- 
mainder was covered with a hea\y growth 
of timber, composed of walnut and sugar- 
maple trees. .\s a companion and helpmeet 
on the journey of life Mr. Houser chose 
Miss Margaret Booher, of Montgomery 
county, their marriage occurring April 17, 
181 7, and was blessed with a family of eight 
children : Samuel, who was born February 
27, 1819. and d^ed July 6. 1882; John, who 
was born April 13, 1821, and died in 1891 ; 
Levi, who was born ^lay 20, 1823. and died 
iVpril 26, 1834: Barbara, who was born 
September 20, 1826, and died in .\pril. 1S93; 
^ilartin \'.. cif this review: Mary A., who 
was born February 28, 1832, and died in 
1896; Jacob, who was born February 5. 
1835, and died May 6, 1864; and Bartholo- 
mew, born March 21. 1841. 

The two last named were soldiers of the 
Civil war. Jacob became a private in the 
One Hundred and Tenth Ohio \'olunteer 
Infantry and was killed at the battle of the 
Wilderness, May 6, 1864. Bartholomew 
became a member of the One Hundred and 
Fortv-se\enth Ohio Infantrv and ilied at 



Fort Ethan Allen. Washington. July 28, 
1S64. The father of this family carried on 
agricultural pursuits in the old family home- 
stead until September 2, 1870. when his 
life's labiirs were ended in death. That was 
the first death that had ever occurred on the 
old farm. His wife survive;l him until Oc- 
tober 16. 1 88 1. He was a member of the 
Baptist church, an act;\-e worker in its in- 
terest and a successful a:Kl enterprising 
farmer. 

]\Iartin \'. Houser. whose name intro- 
duces this review, was reared on the old 
family homestead, where he worked in field 
and meadow, following the plow in early 
spring, aiding in the planting and assisting 
in the work of harxesting the crops in the 
autumn. He atteniled the common school 
near by, which was one of the first schools 
on the Urljana pike. His trainin.g in boy- 
hood amply fitted him for his labors in later 
life. In 1857 he took charge of a part of 
the old homestead, which he operated until 
his removal to the farm upon which he now 
resides. He was marrietl. November 6. 
1856, to Miss Margaret Duncan, and to 
them have been born two children : Ida, 
who was biirn December 9, 1857, and is the 
wife of Willis Peterson, a farmtr of Staun- 
ton township, and Flora, who was Iiorn 
]klarch 8, 1862, and is the wife oi J. Todd 
Small, by whom she has two children : Rav. 
born September 5, 1888, and Birdie M.. born 
September 3. 1892. Mrs. Houser passed 
away March 2. 1886. 

Mr. Houser, of this review, owns eighty 
acres of the old homestead farm and also has 
eighty acres of land on section 16. Staunton 
townshi]!. together with property elsewhere. 
His landed possessions aggregate two hun- 
dred and ninety-one acres in Spring Creek 
and Staunton townships. He still resides 



GEXEALOGICAL .IXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



299 



on liis farm on Liiy pike, four mil.s from 
Piqua, but has retired from acti\-a Ijusiness 
afYairs, assigning to others the labor of cul- 
tivating the fields. All the improvements 
upon the place stand as niunuments to his 
thrift and enterprise and he has been very 
successful in his business affairs, having so 
managed his interests as to gain a very hand- 
some competence. Success is not a matter 
of genius or of talent, but results from un- 
tiring industry, close application and sound 
business judgment, antl it is these (|ualities 
which enabled i\Ir. iHouser to win a place 
among the wealthy farmers of his neigh- 
borhood. iHis business methods were ever 
above question, for his straightforward and 
honorable dealing have gained him the un- 
qualified confidence of all with whom he has 
been brought in contact. lie exercises his 
right of franchise in support of the Demo- 
cratic party, and has been a consistent mem- 
ber of the Bethel iMethodist Episcopal church 
since 1868. He has served as trustee and 
treasurer of the church and has done all in 
his power to promote its growth and secure 
the object for which it labors. iHis life has 
been an active, useful and hcinoral)le one, 
well worthv of emulation. 



LORIX E. COPrOCK. 

A |)roniinent representati\'e of the mer- 
cantile interests of Tippecanoe City is Lorin 
E. Coppock, a dealer in furniture. He is 
a young man of marked enterprise, and his 
business career is characterized by laudable 
ambition, without which there can be no 
prosperity. He was b(.n-n near West Milton, 
on the gth of August, -1871, and is a son of 
Havilah and i\Iary ( Porter) Coppock. The 
father is the well-known countv commis- 



sioner and one of the leading and infiuential 
citizens of the community. 

When a little lad of three summers i\Ir. 
C(^ppock, of this review, accompanied his 
l-arents to West iMilton, where he pursued 
his eductition, completing his course by 
graduation in the high school with the class 
of 1888. He entered upon lus business 
career as a 'clerk in a grocery store, where 
he remained for three years, during which 
time he gained a good know ledge of mercan- 
tile methods. He then oi^iened a furniture 
and undertaking establi.shment at West 
Milton, in company with Frank Townslev, 
the partnership being maintained for four 
years. Mr. Coppock then disposed of his 
interests in his native town and in 1896 
began business in Tippecanoe Cit_\-, as 
the successor to Franklin Anspach, de- 
ceased, who had conducted business here 
for nine years. He has about five thousand 
dollars invested in a general line of furni- 
ture and undertaking supplies, and enjciws a 
large and liberal patronage. He studies 
carefully the wants of the public and his 
straightforward dealing and reasonable 
jirices have won for him a gratifying trade. 
In the undertaking department he is also 
doing a good business, and a course in the 
Clark Emljalming School has well qualified 
him for this work. His business returns 
now amount to from eight to ten thousand 
dollars per year. He has not, however, con- 
fined his efforts tt) this one line.ljut has made 
investments in other enterprises, which have 
contributed to his success. 

On the 22d of February, 1899. iMr. 
Coppock was united in marriage, in Muncie. 
Indiana, to Miss Alice Knight, a daughter 
of Frank Knight, formerly a farmer in the 
northeastern part of IMiami count}', now a 
resident of Muncie, Indiana. She was born 



800 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in tliis count}- and received her educatirjn in 
tlie village scliools, after \\hicli she hecame 
a successful teacher, following that profes- 
sion in both Ohio and Indiana. She ij 
identified with a literary society of Tippe- 
canoe, and with the I'. W. A. Circle, and is 
a lady of culture and refinement, who enjoj'S 
the warm regard of the best people of the 
locality. In the Baptist church she holds 
membership. ]Mr. Coppock is a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of 
\N'est Milton, and he and his wife are iden- 
tified with the Rebekah Lodge of Tippecanoe 
City. In politics he is a Republican and 
has served as a member of the city cnuncil, 
discharging the duties with both pnimptness 
and fidelity. He is a young man who has 
attained to his present desirable position in 
business circles through his own efforts. 
Taking up the practical affairs of life in the 
capacity of clerk he is now at the head of 
one of the leading mercantile establishments 
in Tippecanoe City, and nnt only has he won 
success, but has throughout the }-ears of his 
connection with the trade interests enjoyed 
the resjjcct and confidence of his fellow men. 



WILLIAM \V. A'. BUCHAXAX. 

Among the old <ind honored citizen? of 
Fiqua. Ohio, none is held in higher esteem 
than the gentleman whose name introduces 
tliis sketch. Almost his entire life has been 
passed in Miami county, and he has been 
prominently identified witli its educational 
and business interests, now serving as notary 
public and real estate, insurance and pension 
agent, with office at Xo. 309 X^'orth Down- 
ing street, while his home is at X'o. 619 
Park a\enue, Piqua. 

According to tradition, the Buchanan 



family to which our subject belongs, is of 
Scotch origin, and was founded in this c un- 
try by three brothers, who came to America 
at an early day, William locating in Peiui- 
sylvania. James in \'irginia, and either John 
or George in Tennessee. Our subject's 
grandfather. Colonel George Buchanan, was 
born in Rockliridge county, Virginia, not 
far from the Xatural bridge, April 23, 1781, 
and was the fourth son of Colonel James 
and Isabel (Hall) Buchanan. On June 23, 
1803, he married Xancy Cassady, of the 
same comity and state. Their son, James 
Harvey Buchanan, father of our subject, 
was born. December 20, 1804, in Deerfield, 
Warren county, Ohio, near Lebanon, while 
his wife, Mrs. Joanna (Hall-) Buchanan, was 
born Xovember i, 1799, in Xewberry dis- 
trict. South Carolina, and was a daughter 
of William and Mary (Cammack) Hall, 
of that place. 

William W. \'. Buchanan was born in 
Butler township, I\Iontgomery county, Ohio, 
September 15, 1826, but was reared in Mi- 
ami county, where he attended the district 
schools. His education was completed at 
the Lebanon Xonnal. then conducted by 
Professor A. Holl)rook, a noted educator of 
that day. After leaving school he began 
teaching and successfully followed that pur- 
suit in Pi(]ua and \-icinity for a period of 
twenty-five years, during which time he read 
l.?w, but at present he is engaged largely in 
the real estate, insurance and pension busi- 
ness. He also makes collections and places 
loans. 

On the 27th of December, 1S49. -^I'"- 
Buchanan was united in marriage with Miss 
Phoebe Dye, of Miami county, a daughter 
of Andrew and Catherine (Bousman) Dye. 
By this union were born the following chil- 
dren : -Mvin C, a rising attorney of Piciua, 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



301 



Oliiu: James D.. a farmer of Spring Creek 
township; Belle C, wife of H. J. Evans; 
Frank, of Dayton, Oliio, and Lulu, at home. 
At state and national elections Mr. Bu- 
chanan al\\a}-s affiliates with the Democratic 
party, ha\'ing cast his first presidential vote 
for Martin \'an Euren, in 1848, his last for 
\\'illiam J. Bryan, in 1896. He has gen- 
erally taken quite an acti\e and prominent 
part in iiuhlic afYairs, and has done much 
to insure the success of his parly in his com- 
munity. In 1875 he was elected mavor of 
Piqua, and most acceptably filled that office 
for one term. He has also served as justice 
of the peace six years and notary public many 
years. In all the relations of life he has 
been found true to every trust reposed in 
him, and merits and receives the respect and 
esteem of his fellnw citizens in a marked 
desree. 



SA^IUEL R. WOLLERTOX. 

Samuel R. W'ollerton. deceased, was 
for many years an enterjirising farmer of 
Elizabeth townshi]3, INIiami c<>unt\'. and a 
worthy representative of an honored pioneer 
family. He Avas born on a farm which 
joined his homestead, the date of his birth 
1;eing Xovember 22, 1836. His parents 
vrere Ishmael and Jane H. ( Ramsey) Wol- 
lerton, the former a native of Pennsylvania 
and the latter of Ohio. The family is prob- 
ably of \\'elsh lineage. Ishmael W'ollerton 
removed from the Keystone state to Mi- 
ami county about 1833. and on the ist of 
iMarch. 1836, was married to Jane H. Ram- 
sey, a daughter of Samuel and Ellen 
(Fletcher) Ramsey. Their union was 
blessed with two children : Zil)a C, who died 
in 1858, and Samuel R.. whose name in- 
troduces this review. The father died dur- 



ing the early boyhood of our subject, but 
the mother survived until November. 1888, 
p?.-ssing away at the age of se\-enty-six y;ars. 

During his early bcyliood Samuel R. 
Wollerton went to live with his maternal 
grandfather, Samuel Ramsey, who became 
a resident of Ohio in 181 1. locating at Day- 
ton. He was born in Pennsylvania and in 
that state married Ellen Fletc'.:er, a native of 
England, who came to America when twelve 
years of age. After their marriage they lo- 
cated in Lycoming county, whence the}- re- 
moved to Dayton, Ohio. In 181 7 they took 
up their abode in Elizabeth township, where 
the grandfather resided until hi.= death. In 
the war of 181 2 he was a soldier in FIull's 
army. He was a man of great energy and 
industrious habits, and by the aid of his 
sons he cleared and improved over one 
hundred acres of land. His home farm 
comprised two hundred acres. He died in 
September, i860, respected by all who knew 
him. His brother, Allen Ramsey, also came 
to Miami county about the time of his ar- 
rival, and was here married to Hannah Car- 
son. He then took up his abode on the 
McCoole farm, where he died in middle life. 
Flis widow afterward married again and re- 
moved to the west with her children. Sam- 
uel Ramsev had a family of nine children, 
but only one is now living, Harriet, the 
widow of Jacob W'esler, of Tippecanoe City. 

Samuel Wollerton spent his boyhood in 
the usual manner of farm lads, aiding in 
the work of the fields from the time that 
he was old enough to handle the plow. After 
he had arrived at man"s estate he was mar- 
ried, on the 24th of December, 1863, to 
Miss Sarah .Xnn McManus. a daughter of 
Benjamin and r^Iargaret McManus, who 
were natives of Pennsylvania and came to 
Miami cnuntv in the spring oT 1847. Her 



302 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fatlier was of Scotch-Irisli descent and was 
married in tlie Ke}'stone state. On his ar- 
rival in Ohio he took up his abode on what 
is known as the 'Squire Dye farm in Ehza- 
betli township, wliere he remained for twen- 
ty-seven years. His deatli occurred at tlie 
liome of his daug-hter in Tippecanoe City. 
as tlie result of blood poisoning, caused by 
an accident. He was then sixty-four years 
of age. The mother of Mrs. W'ollerton had 
died soon after her arrival in Miami comi- 
ty, when only thirty years of age. and Mr. 
McManus afterward wedded Sarah Jane 
W'rigley, whom he survived about two years. 
In his family were eight children, four of 
whom are still living in Miami county, 
namely: William, of Tippecanoe; Albert, a 
farmer of Monroe township; Lavinia, wife 
of Joseph Bouseman, of Tippecanoe City, 
and Iva, wife of Peter Eitlemiller, of Mon- 
roe townshiji. 

After his marriage Mr. W'ullerton pur- 
chased the \\'esley Heywood farm, upon 
which he li\ed for eight years, when, in con- 
nection with his mother, he purchased the 
old Ramsey farm, which had belonged to her 
father, the purchase price being one hun- 
dred dollars per acre. Upon the old family 
homesteail the mother resided until her 
deatli, and it was also the home of Mr. W'ol- 
lerton until he was called to his final rest. 
The house which stands u]ion the place was 
erectetl in 1826 by Samuel Ranisev, and addi- 
tions were made to it in 1855. The first part 
is one of the oldest homes in the county and 
antedates all other brick houses now stand- 
ing in Elizabeth township. Mr. Wollerton 
successfully carried on agricultural pursuits, 
the well tilletl fields ever indicating his care- 
ful supervision and his progressive methods 
of farming. Good buildings and modern 
machinery indicated that he was in touch 



with advanced agricultural methods and his 
laliors were crowned with a creditable de- 
gree of prosperity. 

Unto Mr. and ^Irs. W'ollertini were 
born two children: Harry H. and Jennie 
R.. the latter now the wife of Sedate Frey, 
a farmer of Bethel township. Air. \\'oller- 
ton was a charter member of the Cove 
Springs Grange and served as its treasurer 
from its organization until his death. His 
political support was gi\en the Democracy, 
but he never sought the honors or emolu- 
ments of public ofifice. He died after a 
\ery brief illness, on the 15th of October, 
1 88 1, and the entire community mourned 
his loss, for he was a \alued citizen and a 
man whom to know was to respect and 
honor. 

Harry H. Wollerton, his only son, was 
l)orn in Staunton township, and was about 
fifteen years of age at the time of his fa- 
ther's death. He and his mother have since 
operated the farm and have remained to- 
getlier, for he is unmarried. His Inisiness 
and executive ability have enabled him to 
successfully control his farming interests, 
and he is recognized as one of the enterpris- 
iiig young agriculturists in Elizabeth town- 
ship. In addition to this lie takes great in- 
terest in music and is a recognized leader 
in musical circles in this section of the coun- 
t\". He is a violinist of marked ability and 
Conducts a little orchestra of four pieces, 
their services being in frequent demand at 
social functions and party entertainments. 
He teaches music, making a sj^ecialty of the 
violin, but performs well on many instru- 
ments. He possesses considerable poetic 
talent, and has composed several songs that 
iiave attracted considerable attention, one of 
them. "The Fate of the Battle Ship Maine," 
awakening particular interest among the 





JOHN SECREST. 



MARY V. (SECREST) HUSTLER. 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



S03 



soldiers in Cuba. ]\Ir. Woilertoii also takes 
an active interest in local literary and de- 
bating societies and is heartily in touch with 
all movements and measures tending to 
promote the esthetic and intellectual ad- 
vancement of the residents of Miami countv. 



JOSEPH JOXES. 

In the first half of the nineteenth cen- 
tury Joseph Jones was numbered among 
the leading citizens of Miami county and' 
took an active part in its pioneer develop- 
ment. He was born December 31, 1788, 
in Frederick county, Virginia, and was a 
son of Joseph Jones, Sr., who was a native 
of the same locality and a planter and slave- 
holder there. In his family were four chil- 
dren : Rachel, Mary, Joseph and James. The 
subject of this sketch was reared on the old 
\'irginian plantation and in the early part 
of the nineteenth century removed to Ohio. 
He loyally served his country in the war of 
1812, and performed services no less ardu- 
ous in reclaiming the wild land of Miami 
county for purposes of civilization. In 
181 9 he entered the farm upon which his 
daughter, Mrs. Hustler, now lives, and he 
purchased of Richard Carr five hundred 
and forty acres of land, at five dollars per 
acre. The tract was still in its primitive 
condition, being covered with a heavy growth 
of oak, hickory, walnut and maple trees, 
which stood in their primeval strength. In 
the midst of the forest he erected a double 
log cabin and there began life in true pio- 
neer style. Indians still visited the neigh- 
borhood, wild animals had their haunts in 
the forests and wild game of many kinds 
could be had in abundance. The task of 
cutting down the trees, grubbing up the 
stumps and preparing the land for cultiva- 



tion was an arduous one, but with character- 
istic energy and strong determination Mr. 
Jones continues his labors and in the course 
of time gathered rich harvests where once 
stood the native forest trees. In his busi- 
ness he was quite successful, becoming one 
of the substantial citizens of his day. 

Mr. Jones wedded ]Mrs. Elizabeth Smal- 
ley, widow of Benjamin Smalley and a 
daughter of Jacob Collins. By this mar- 
riage four children were born : Henry, 
Phcebe and Theodore, who died in infancy, 
and Mrs. Mary Violet Hustler, who is liv- 
ing on the old home farm, ^^'hen Mrs. 
Hustler was six years of age her father took 
his little family back to Virginia and there 
resided from 183 1 until 1845, when he 
again came to the old homestead in Ohio, 
making it his place of residence until called 
to his final rest on the nth of August, 1848. 
His time was largely given to his farming 
interests, yet he belonged to a progressive 
class of citizens, who promoted all measures 
calculated to prove of public benefit. In 
business matters he was straightforward 
and honorable, and in all life's relations he 
commanded the respect of his fellow men. 

His daughter, the only child who sur- 
\"ived him, spent her girlhood days under the 
parental roof, and on the nth of February, 
1845, gave her hand in marriage to John 
Secrest, who died June 29, 1864. By their 
marriage five children were born, namely : 
Laura, Zelora, Isadore, Francis and ^Nledora. 
Zelora, Isadore and Francis died in infancy. 
Laura married S3dvester Dye and Medora 
is the wife of \\'illiam Foster. After the 
death of her first husband Mrs. Secrest was 
married, on the 6th of April, 1865, to George 
W.Hustler, by whom she had one son,George 
W., Jr., who died when two and a half years 
old. Mr. Hustler served as a hospital stew- 



304 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



anl (luring- the Civil war with the One Hun- 
dred and Forty-seventh Ohio Infantr)'. Pre- 
vious to this time he had practiced medicine 
in connection with Dr. Coleman, but after his 
return from the army he gave up medical 
practice and devoted his attention to agricult- 
ural pursuits until his death, which occurred 
on the i8th of March.- 1875. He was a 
member of the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows and of the Methodist Episcopal 
church. ]\Irs. Hustler is also a member of 
the church, with which she has been con- 
nected for almost sixty years. She owns 
one hundred and ninety-eight acres of land — 
the old family homestead — and the income 
therefrom supplies her with all the com- 
forts and many of the lu.xuries of life. With 
the excei)tion of a. brief time spent in Mr- 
ginia she has always resided in Miami coun- 
ty, and therefore has a very wide acquaint- 
ance. Her circle of friends is extensive, 
and .she is highly esteemed for her many 
excellencies of ch.aracter. 



JOHN A. :^Ic-MASTER. 

John A. McMaster is one of the hon- 
ored veterans of the Civil war, who on many 
a southern battle field demonstrated his loy- 
alty to his country. In days of peace he 
is ecpially true and faithful to the duties 
of citizenship and withholds his support 
from no measure calculated to prove of 
public benefit. He now follows farming in 
Staunton township, Miami county, and is 
numbered among the native sons of Mont- 
gomery county, his birth ha\-ing there oc- 
curred, near Dayton, May 23, 1837. He 
spent the first sixteen years of his life upon 
the home farm and then started out to make 
his own wav in the world. He was em- 



ployed as a farm hand fnr two years and 
then began work at the carpenter's and mill- 
wright's trades, serving a five-years ap- 
prenticeship. At the time of the Civil war, 
liowe\er, he put aside all personal considera- 
tions in order to aid in the defense of the 
I'nion, enlisting on the 8th of August, 1862, 
for three years' ser\ice in Company C, Xine- 
ty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. The 
first engagement in which he participated 
was at Tate's Ferry. He afterward took 
part in many of the most important battles 
of the war, including those of Perryville, 
Stone River, Hoover's Gap, Keystone, 
Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, Resaca, 
Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, the 
siege of Atlanta and Jonesboro, the siege of 
Savannah and the battle of Bentonville. 
The Atlanta campaign continued for one 
hundred and twenty days. When the war 
w as over, he received an honorable discharge 
at Columbus, Ohio, in June, 1865, and, with 
a most creditable military record, returned 
to his home. 

Mr. Mc^Master afterward worked at his 
trade in Morrowtown, Ohio, and thence 
came to Stauntctn township, in 1867, locat- 
ing on a farm which is now his home. He 
carried on agricultural pursuits until 1881, 
when he took up his abode in Troy and 
there followed contracting and building until 
1892. In that year he returned to the farm 
and is now devoting his time and energies 
to the operation of his land, a tract of one 
hundred acres on section 3, Staunton town- 
ship. The richly cultivated fields yield to 
him golden harvests and his labors are thus 
crowned with success. 

January 4, 1866, Mr. McMaster was 
married to Miss Rosina Jonese. She was the 
daughter of Abner and Julia A. (Frazee) 
Jones. Mr. Jones was born in Kentucky, 



GEXEALOGICJL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



305 



ill 1806, and came to Lost Creek township, 
Miami county, in 1814. Mrs. Jones' was born 
in Lost Creek township, in 1810. ^Ir. Jones 
passed the rest of his days in his adopted 
county, passing away June 7, 1866, his wife 
surx'iving him until August i, 1876. Mrs. 
Mcl\laster was born m Lost Creek town- 
ship, March 12, 1841, and lias always lived 
in Miami county. Mr. and Mrs. McMaster 
have many friends in the community and are 
faithful workers and acli\-e members of the 
Baptist church. For two years he has been 
superintendent of the Sunday school and 
labored earnestly to support the church 
work, holding the honorable post of deacon. 
In politics he is a standi Republican and, so- 
cially, is connected with Troy Post. G. A. R. 
His life has been well spent, and his activity 
in business afTairs and his straightfor- 
ward dealing have gained him a comfortable 
competence and also the unqualified regard 
of those with whom he has been l)ruught in 
contact. 



TIMMER BROTHERS. 

One of the leading mercantile concerns 
of Tippecanoe City is that conducted by A. 
\\'. and E. H. Timmer, under the firm name 
of Timmer Brothers. They deal extensively 
in hardware and ha\e a large and well 
equipped establishment, which indicates the 
volume of their business. They are sons of 
Gerhart Timmer, a native of Germany, who 
came to America in 1853. Their mother 
bore the maiden name of Wilhelmina Kettle- 
hager and was also a native of Germany. 
Li the family are nine children, namely : 
Caroline, a resident of Piqua, Ohio; Ma- 
tilda, wife of W. H. Meyers, of Da3rton; 
Wilhelmina, the wife of S. E. Musselman, 
of Piqua; Bernard, who is connected with 



the Bent Wood Manufactory, of Trov : Fan- 
nie, wife of T. S. Conway, of Tippecanoe 
City: Ella, at home; Edward; Justin, at 
home: and Albert. 

The brothers of whom we write are both 
natives of Tippecanoe City. Edward H. 
Timmer, the elder, entered upon his business 
career as a clerk in the dry-goods store of 
F. G. Davis, with whom he remained for 
four years. The present business was es- 
tablished in 1895. They began operations 
as bicycle dealers, but after two years added 
a stock of hardware, tinware, harness and 
farming implements. Their stock is valued 
at about eight thousand dollars and their 
annual sales amount to twenty thousand dol- 
lars. They also own the building in which 
they carry on operations and which is \-alued . 
at thirty-five hundred dollars. 

E. H. Timmer was united in marriage 
to JMiss Florence Agenbroad, and they have 
two children, Hermon and Helen. In their 
political afifiliaticns the brothers are both 
Democrats, keeping well informed on the 
issues of the day, but never seeking public 
office. They are both stockholders in the 
Interurban Telephone Company, and E. 
H. Timmer is a member of the board of 
directors. Both are men of excellent Inisi- 
ness ability, progressive and public spirited, 
who in the control of their store follow sys- 
tematic and honorable methods. They merit 
the high confidence reposed in them and their 
worth to the community as enterprising 
merchants is most marked. 



COLUMBUS TISOR. 

Among the native sons of Newton town- 
ship, who are now classified as representa- 
tive farmers and citizens, of Miami countv. 



30(3 



GESEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



is Columbus Tisor, wlio was Ixirn on the 
5th of August, 1846. His father, Hiram 
Tisor, was born in Ohio, and in an early day 
came to Miami county with his father, Aus- 
tin Tisiir, who located in Xewton township. 
The former married Ph.ccbe Green and their 
union was Ijlessed with four children, but 
Ruth and Alary are now deceased. Colum- 
bus is the next of the family and Alleyne is 
now the wife of Allen Jones. Hiram Tisor 
toiik up his abode upon the farm where our 
subject was born, securing there a tract of 
unimproved land. He bought one hundred 
and twenty acres on section 16, Xewton 
township, and developed an excellent prop- 
erty, continuing its cultivation and improve- 
ment until his death, which occurred in 
1885, when he was se\enty-three years of 
age, for his birth occurred in 181 J. He 
was a member of the Christian church and 
loyal to his religious belief, which he ex- 
emplified in his daily conduct with his fellow 
men. 

.Mr. Tisor, of this review, was reared j 
under the parental roof and the common 
school afforded him his educational privil- 
eges. After he attained to man's estate he 
desired to establish a home of his own and 
to this end he was united in marriage, in 
1868, to Miss Alary A. Jones, a daughter 
01 William R. Jones. They now have seven 
children, namely: Eunice E., Hiram L., 
William R.. Dortha M., Maude E., Hu- 
bert R. and Lola AI. 

After his marriage Mr. Tisor rented the 
old home property and carried on farming 
tliere until 1895, with the exception of a 
period of three years. He is now living 
retired in Pleasant Hill, which has been the 
place of his residence for five years. In 
business he displays capable management, 
and unflagging industry, and these qualities 



enabled him to secure capital sufficient to 
make further connection with active lousi- 
ness affairs unnecessary. He is a member 
of the United Brethren church and in poli- 
tics is a Republican, warmly advocating the 
principles of the party, which has loyally 
stood by the Union' in every crisis of the 
countrv's histor\- since its organization. 



D.VRICS W. WEDDLE. 

Xo :nan in Miami county has done more 
to promote the interests of the agriculturist 
than Darius \\'illiam Weddle, his labors hav- 
ing been most energetically prosecuted, 
pro\-ing most effective. Although now- 
numbered among the most prominent and 
prosperous farmers of the community, iie 
started out in life empty-handed and met 
many obstacles and difficulties in his path, 
but steadily advanced on the road to suc- 
cess, o\-ercoming all opposition and hin- 
drances bv tletermined purpose and untlag- 
ging energv. His business career has been 
a very creditable and honorable one, com- 
mending him to the confidence of all con- 
cerned. 

Air. Weddlc' is a native of Virginia, his 
birth ha\ing occurred in Flc.yd county, on 
the 13th of X'^ovember, 1848. His paternal 
grandfather was one of two brothers who 
came to this country from Germany, one 
settling in \'irginia while the other became 
a resident of Maryland. John B. Weddle, 
the father of our sul)ject, was a minister of 
the German Baptist church, and spent his 
entire life in the Old Dominion. For maiiy 
years he devoted his energies to evangelistic 
work, riding over the country' in company 
with Elder B. F. Aloornaw. They made 
trips to Xorth Carolina, West Virginia and 




RESIDENCE OF DARIUS W. WEDDLE. 




' ^i.x^4^-tA^ ^jyyy^ 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



309 



Tennessee, organizing many societies of the 
{".ernian I>a[)tist or Dunkard cliurch. Rev. 
Wetklle (lied at the age of forty-eight years, 
and a career of great usefuhiess was thus 
ended. In his family were six children, five 
sons and a daughter, but only two, Darius 
and C. Al., came to Ohio. 

Upon the home farm Darius W'eddle 
was reared, there remaining until twenty- 
two years of age. He spent one year in 
the State Agricultural College, at Ashland, 
near Lexington, Kentucky, formerly the 
home of Henry Clay, but not liking the mili- 
tary feature of that school, he left at the 
end of one year. \\'hile there he stood first 
as plow boy. Subsequently he spent two 
years in Illinois and Kansas, engaging in 
farm work, but did not enjoy western life 
and returned to the east. He afterward 
\\ent to Canada and later he further con- 
tinued his education in the Lebanon Na- 
tional Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio. 
He had previously met many graduates from 
that institution from whom he had received 
la\oraljle reports of the work done there. 
Accordingly he entered the school, remain- 
ing in the institution for two terms and was 
graduated on the completion of the com- 
mercial course, with the class of 1877. His 
studies, however, were interrupted by farm 
Nvork, so that his course was not a continu- 
ous one. After spending a ■ year in Leba- 
non, in order to find work he went to Day- 
ton and Troy. Thinking he was best fitted 
for the duties of the farm, he started out 
into the country to secure a position. He 
had no acquaintances in Aliami county and 
on the way he met an old man ^^•ith whom 
he rode back to town, for it was Saturday 
and the majority of the farmers had gone 
to the city to do their marketing. The old 
gentleman took a deep interest in Mr. Wed- 

18 



die and introduced him to Isaac Studebaker, 
one of the most extensive and prosperous 
farmers of the county. Mr. W'eddle of- 
fered to work f(jr twenty dollars per month 
and Mr. Studebaker ottered him eighteen 
dollars per month. Finally they agreed 
that he was to work one month for twenty 
dollars and if both were satisfied at the end 
of that time he was to continue in the employ 
of Mr. Studebaker. After working a season 
Mr. Weddle returned to Lebancjn, where he 
completed his commercial course and then 
again entered the employ of Mr. Studebaker, 
who paid him two hundred and sixty dollars 
per year. It was said that that gentleman 
was a very hard taskmaster, ^md many men 
who entered his employ soon left it. He 
did a large business and was a very energetic, 
pushing man, but he ne\'er required anything 
of his employes that he would not do him- 
self. Although Mr. Weddle remained long 
in his employ there was nex'er any trouble 
between them. . Mr. Studebaker would go 
into the harvest fields Avith his men and 
bind the grain, at which work he was an 
expert, but Mr. Weddle found it possible 
not only to keep up with him but to do a 
little more. He also proved to be his match 
at corn husking, and in this way he won the 
favor and friendship of Mr. Studebaker so 
that a pleasant relationshii) always existed 
between them. As time passed his em- 
ployer placed more and more confidence in 
Mr. Weddle, and on leaving hon:e he would 
place his business in the hands of our sub- 
ject, who continued in his employ for two 
years, or until he was married to his daugh- 
ter, Anna W., who was then a young lady 
of sixteen years. 

The marriage of the young couple was 
celebrated January 24, 1878, at which time 
arrangements were made whereljy Mr. 



310 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



W'eddle was to operate the Studebaker farm 
and receive one-tliird of tb.e crops, the owner 
to furnish all the supplies. Later Mr. W'ed- 
dle rented the farm upon which he now re- 
sides for two years, and on the expiration 
of that period Mr. Studeliaker offered to 
sell him the property, compn'sing one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land, for ninety-six 
hundred dollars. He said he would make 
a donation of six thousand dollars and take 
ncJtes to he paid annuall}-. Altogether Mr. 
and Mrs. W'eddle have recei\-ed frcjm her 
father's estate ten thousand dollars, an equal 
amount being given to his other children, 
there ha\ing been three daughters in the 
family. In 1893 Mr. W'eddle erected a 
handsome brick residence at a cost of five 
thousand dollars. It stands on a natural 
building site, commanding an excellent \iew 
of the surrounding country. The old barn 
was burned on one occasion, but Mr. Stude- 
baker rebuilt it. 

Mr. W'eddle has devoted his attention 
to the raising of grain and in his work fol- 
lows the most progressive methods. He 
rotates the crops every three years, raising 
clover, wheat and corn, and his corn crops 
are equal to any raised in this section of the 
state. When ^Ir. W'eddle assumed the man- 
agement of the farm it was \ery much run 
down, having been rented to tenants who 
took poor care of it ; in fact, it was consid- 
ered the poorest farm in the locality. Much 
of the land was swampy, so that the place 
was called the frog pond, but he has placed 
about twenty-two hundred rods of tiling on 
it, and has thus reclaimed about sixty acres 
of corn land, which has become the most 
valuable in the \'icinity. It is on this por- 
tion of the farm that he raises his best crops, 
the tifth corn crop in succession averaging 
se\entv bushels of corn to the acre, while 



wheat is produced at thirty-three bushels to 
the acre. Mr. W'eddle is most progressive, 
in all his methods, and not only understands 
the practical work of the farm but also the 
scientific principles which underlie agri- 
cultural pursuits, and one of the best evi- 
dences of th.at fact is that while land in his 
neighborhood will not sell as high per acre 
as it would twentj' years ago, his farm has 
doubled in. cash value since that date. The 
State Experimental Station in the pa^■t sup- 
plied him with seeds to grow and hi^ place 
was called a sub-station. He has grown 
nine \arieties of wheat in one season. He 
attends farmers" institutes which are organ- 
ized for the purposes of j)ri)moting agri- 
cultural interests, and is a reader of many of 
the agricultural papers. He keejjs thor- 
oughly abreast with the times, and his ex- 
ample has been followed by many of his 
neighbors, who have found that his niethods 
are practical and yield excellent results. Air. 
W'eildle considers that he owes a gxeat deal 
of his success to his wife, who is regarded 
as one of the best financiers among the la- 
dies of Miami county. She was born on 
the home farm in Elizabeth township. June 
30, 1 86 1, a daughter of Isaac S. and Anna 
( Warner j Studebaker, and a granddaugh- 
ter of Abraham Studebaker. Educated in 
the country schools, she has always been a 
great reader, is a most industrious wife aufl 
congenial companion. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. W'eddle ha\e been 
born the following children : William Har- 
vey, who died in infancy; Albert S., who 
is now a student in the senior year in the 
Troy High School ; James Arthur, who died 
in infancy; Carrie Estella and Dora Lee, 
students in the home school ; Louanna, who 
died in infancy; and Isaac Studebaker, who 
completes the family. In his political \iews 



9 





L 



/? 



dy^^a.c) ^ 




^^^^^^^z^'^^^ 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



811 



Mr. W'eddle is a Republican, but has never 
sought or desired office, prefering that his 
attention shall be given to his business af- 
fairs. He was reared in the German Bap- 
tist church, but was not a member until af- 
ter he came to Miami county. He and his 
wife now hold membership in the Casstown 
German Baptist church, in which he has 
served as deacon, trustee, treasurer and cor- 
respondent. His church honored him by 
wishing to appoint him to the ministry but 
he refused. He has often been sent as a 
delegate to the national meetings, and was 
in attendance at the meeting in Roanoke, 
Virginia, in 1899. While there he visited 
his old home in Virginia. He again loiiked 
upon the scenes of his boyhood and renewed 
the friendships of his youth in the winter 
of 1899- 1 900. Perhaiis the most salient 
feature in the career of Mr. Weddle h.is 
been his untiring energy, but this has been 
guided by sound judgment and resolute pur- 
pose and to-day he is one of the prosperous 
farmers of his adopted county. 



ISAAC H. STINSMAN. 

For long years connected with the busi- 
ness, public, social and mora! interests of 
Miami county, Isaac H. Stinsman ever com- 
manded the respect and esteem of his fellow 
men. and at his death the community lost 
one of its valued residents that had long 
contributed to the substantial development 
.and welfare of this section of the state. He 
was born in Montgomery county, Pennsyl- 
vania, April 13, 181 7, and in early manhood 
became a surveyor, liaving fitted himself for 
the profession by study in an academy. He 
gained practical experience through his as- 
sociation with William Pemberton in the 
survey of what is now the B'g Four Rail- 



road, about 1843. They located the line, 
made the survey through the country sur- 
rounding Sidney and assisted in making 
the grade. Mr. Stinsman gave two years to 
the work, after which he returned to Penn- 
sylvania on a visit, but in the meantime he 
had become favorably imj^ressed with the 
Buckeye state, and soon after again sought 
a home in Ohio, making a settlement in 
Miami county. 

Here, on the 25th of October. 1850. in 
Lost Creek township, he was united in mar- 
riage to Mrs. Catherine A. Addis, whose 
maiden name was Lyons. Her husband had 
died of cholera at Xenia. Ohio, leaving her 
with two children. She was a native of 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, afld had known 
Mr. Stinsman while living with the Swayne 
faniilv. After his arrival in this state Mr. 
Stinsman purchased eighty acres of land 
near Ouincy, in Champaign county, and be- 
gan farming and teaching school, having in 
the meantime followed the latter profession 
in Pennsylvania. He spent fi\-e years in 
Champaign county and then came to Lost 
Creek township, Miami county, locating 
upon a part of his present farm in 1854. He 
also engaged in teaching here and continued 
land surveying. He was likewise connected 
A\ ith the construction of the ])ike. He cleared 
his farm of the timber which covered it, 
transforming it into richly cultivated fields, 
erecting thereon the residence about twenty- 
one years ago. His first home was a log 
cabin, furnished in primitive style, but as 
time passed he was enabled to secure many 
of the comforts of life and the cabin home 
was replaced with a more modern and com- 
modious dwelling. Mr. Stinsman devoted 
his life to general farming and added to his 
original purchase until he had one hundred 
and six acres of rich land, which yielded to 



812 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



him a good return tor the care and lahor be- 
stowed upon it. 

An exceptionally well-informed man. his 
kniiwledge on public and religious questions 
Avas liroad and comprehensive. In politics 
he was a life-long Democrat, and studied 
so closely the issues of the day that he was 
always ready to defend his position by sound 
arguments. He frequently served as dele- 
gate to his party's conventions and for nine 
years held the office of justice of the peace, 
discharging his duties in the most fair and 
impartial manner. He took an active inter- 
est in literary societies, in which were dis- 
cussed the vital issues of the tmie. and could 
hold his Dwn in debate with such men as 
Judge Clyde? He was also well read- in both 
ancient and modern histor}' and in political 
economy, and in early life was well versed 
in Latin and Greek. A man of strong in- 
tellectual powers and scholarly attainments, 
he gave much time to study and original in- 
vestigation and was one of the best informed 
men iii this section of the state. A mem- 
ber of the Lost Creek Christian church, he 
served as its clerk for a number of years 
and was well \-ersed in the bible, his belief 
being the result of close study and careful 
research. He presided at public meetings, 
particularly Sunday school gatherings, and 
frequently served as Sunday school super- 
intendent in his own church. For fortv 
years he was a subscriber for the Cincinnati 
Enquirer and always enjoyed reading that 
paper. He lived on good terms with his 
neighbors and was held in the highest re- 
gard by all who knew him. He died un- 
expectedly, but his end was a peaceful one, 
and he passed to the reward prepared for 
■the righteous September 30, 1898, leaving 
to his family the heritage of an untarnished 
name. 



Mr. antl Mrs. Stinsman were the parents 
of five children ; Horace, who is in the em- 
ploy of the Missouri Pacific Railroad Com- 
pany in their shops at Kansas City. Kansas; 
John, who is city treasurer at Spokane, 
Washington : Elwood, who is foreman in the 
Missouri Pacific shops at Kansas City; Ida, 
wife of Charles S. Kessler, a printer at Ros- 
well, Xew Mexico; and Frank. ]Mr. Stins- 
man also reared his wife's two children, — ■ 
Albert Addis, who is now a contractor in 
Kansas Citv. Kansas, and Lyda, wife of 
James Gearhart, of Smith cmmty. Kansas. 

Frank Stinsman, who was engaged in 
the operation of the old home farm until 
1900 and is now working in the car shops 
at Dayton. Ohio, was born September 27, 
1871. on the old homestead. His prelim- 
inary education was acquired in the common 
schools and supplemented by study at An- 
tioch College, in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and 
he afterward completed a course in civil and 
mechanical engineering in the State Uni- 
versity at Columbus, Ohio. He devoted four 
years to the study of mathematics in its ap- 
plication to the practical affairs of life, and 
then, upon his return home, he assumed the 
management of his father's farm, which 
he successfully conducted until 1900, his 
mother acting as his housekeeper. He is an 
exceptionally well-informed man. and al- 
though he has left the .school-room, his 
studies being ended, yet daily his store of 
knowledge is increased by reading, ex- 
perience and observation. He is a great 
reader of the best literature and much re- 
sembles his father in this regard. He has 
always kept up his study and investigation 
on the subject of chemistry and is well in- 
formed in history, science and ancient and 
modern classics. His mother, too. is well 
informed on all sul)jects of general interest, 



GENEALOGICAL AM) BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



813 



and they occupy an envialjle ixisiticm in so- 
cial circles where true worth and intelligence 
are received as passports into good society. 
In connection with general farming the son 
carried on sur\e_ying to some extent, and is 
a practical and enterprising l:)usiness man, 
whose efforts ha\e l)een attended with cred- 
itable success. Mrs. Stinsman is a member 
of the Christian church, and while her son 
Frank is not connected with any religious 
organization he is an exemplary member of 
Social Lodge, No. 247, F. & A. 'SI., at Lena, 
Ohio, and follows closely the ethical teach- 
ings of the order. He also belongs to Dia- 
mond Chapter, No. 83, R. A. M.. at St. 
Paris, Ohio, and to Fidelity Chapter, No. 
88, O. E. S., in wlrch he has served as 
worthy patron. He has been very active in 
the blue lodge and has ser\-ed in many offices, 
including that of senior deacon. Mr. Stins- 
man is a man of genuine worth and enjoys 
the high regard of all with whom he has 
l)een brought in contact. 



JOHN H. WILGUS. 

John H. Wilgus is one of Ohio's nati\'e 
sons and for many years has been a resident 
of Miami county, where he is successfully 
engaged in the operation of a farm. He 
was born in Warren county October 5, 1831, 
his parents being Thomas and Anna ( Hunt ) 
Wilgus. The former, a nati\'e of New Jer- 
sey, came to this state during jiis boyhood, 
the family locating in Warren county. As 
they traveled o\-er tlie state they passed 
through Cincinnati, then a mere hamlet con- 
taining only three houses, and the father, 
William \\Mlgus. was offered all of the land 
upon which the cit}- now stands in exchange 
for his team antl wagon. He was one of 



four brothers who came from England to 
Am.erica prior to the Revolutionary war, 
and during the struggle for indepmdence 
he served as quartermaster-general. The 
original family name was Wildgoose. Mr. 
Wilgus made a permanent home in \A'arren 
county, where he died at the age of eighty- 
eight years. His three sons, \\'illiam, James 
and Thomas, came to Miami count}- about 
1834 and all reared families here. William 
resided in Lost Creek township, where he 
died when more than eighty years of age. 
He had one son, Evan ^Vilgus, who is liv- 
ing in Brown township. James was a doctor, 
who engaged in the practice of medicine in 
Boone. He left four children: H. L.. who 
is living in Ann Arbor ; Elizabeth, who oc- 
cupies the old homestead: Clara, wife of 
\\'illiam McFarland. of Columbus. Ohio; 
and James Aha. who resides at Platte\-ille, 
Wisconsin, and is a professor in the normal 
school there. 

Thomas Wilgus settled in Lost Creek 
township where his son William now resides. 
He resided on that farm for many years and 
carefully prosecuted his laliors. About twen- 
ty acres had been cleared when he took up 
his residence upon the farm and the other 
improvements were all the work of his hands. 
He owned over fi\e hundred acres of land, 
all in one body, and bought and sold other 
lands. As his sons reached maturity he di- 
vided his land among them, giving to each 
one hundred acres, while to his daughters he 
gave money. At his death his estate was 
settled in accordance with the law. Through- 
out his entire life he carried on agricultural 
pursuits and his success resulted from his 
well directed efforts. He became one of the 
stockholders and builders of the pike, tak- 
ing a contract for the construction of some 
four miles of the pike in this county and then 



314 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



subletting it to others. He also became a 
stockholder in the railroad, but that proved 
an unprofitable investment. He was one of 
the leading stock-raisers in this section of 
the state, and exhibited many fine animals 
at the county fair. In the work of improxe- 
ment and progress he took a deep interest and 
contributed in no small degree to the sub- 
stantial' welfare of the community. In poli- 
tics he was a Whig and Republican and 
kept well informed on the issues of the day. 
He held various local offices, including that 
of township trustee. A member of the Wes- 
ley Chapel Methodist church, he contributed 
largely to the new house of worship, donat- 
ing- the land for the purpose and deeding it 
to the trustees. He was one of the pil- 
lars in the church, and in his life exempli- 
fied his Christian faith. His home was for 
many years the headquarters of ministers 
who visited the neighborhood. \\'hile firm 
in support of his belief and ever unflinching 
in the advocacy of what he believed to be 
right in all walks of life, he a\'oided litigation 
and concerned himself little with other peo- 
ple's affairs. He died in March, 1885, at the 
age of seventy-seven years, and in his death 
the commimity lost one of its valued citi- 
zens. By his first marriage he had two 
children — John H., of this review: and 
Alary, who became the wife of John Babb. 
They resided in Lost Creek township, but 
both are now deceased, Mrs. Babb baving 
died at the age of sixty years. Airs. 
Wilgus died when only twenty-two years of 
age, and Mrk Wilgus afterward married 
Hannah Robinson, who passed away two 
years before his death. They had four chil- 
dren — William, who resides on the okl home- 
stead : Thomas, who resides in Brown town- 
ship on land formerly owned by his grandfa- 
ther, William Wilgus ; and Anna, who be- 



came the wife of Harrison Brecount and died 
at the age of twenty-five years. For five 
years past the Wilgus family have held a re- 
union, three having been held in Miami 
county and two in Logan county where the 
descendants of one of the four brothers who 
came to America from England are located. 
As many as one hundred of the famih" name 
are present on those occasions. 

John Hunt \\'ilgus. whose name intro- 
duces this review, was only three years old at 
the time of his mother's death, and until 
about fifteen or sixteen years of age he lived 
either with his paternal or maternal grand- 
parents in ^^'arren county. He then re- 
turned to his father's home, remaining un- 
der the parental roof until his marriage. 
which occurred in .\ugust. 1857, when he 
was twenty-six years of age. the lady of his 
choice being Miss Delcina Frazee. a daugh- 
ter of Lewis and Rebecca (Wolcott) Fra- 
zee. She was born on the farm where she 
now lives. The first of the name to locate 
here was Moses Frazee, whose father was a 
native of France and the original American 
immigrant. Aloses Frazee was married in 
\ irginia to Priscilla Morris, who came to 
Ohio, locating near Cincinnati. He located 
in Miami county about 1812 and purchased 
land from a man who had entered it from 
the government. He had four sons and e-ght 
daughters, the former being Moses, Lewis, 
David and Xewton, who died in early life. 
Of the eight daughters only one is now liv- 
ing. Priscilla, widow of David Pence, of 
Westville, Ohio. She is now eighty-six years 
of age and is the only survivor of her imme- 
diate branch of the Frazee family. Moses 
li\-ed and died on a Miami farm, passing 
away at the age of seventy-nine years, antl 
his wife was more than seventy years of 
age at the time of her death. One of the earl- 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



315 



est ministers in the Baptist church in this lo- 
cahtv. he laljored earnestly to advance the 
cause of Christianity among the pioneer set- 
tlers of the community. David Frazee re- 
sided on a farm in Miami count}' until altcnit 
1 85 1 when he removed to Clark county. 
Ohio, where he died. His son, James Fra- 
zee. now resides in Clark county. ]\Ioses, 
Jr.. hecame a Baptist minister and died in 
middle life, while de\'oting his energies to 
that faith. Lewis Frazee, the father of Mrs. 
AVilgus, married Rebecca W'olcott, a daugh- 
ter of Jdhn Wolcntt. Of their eight chil- 
(iren three are li\ing, namely : Morris, of 
Cono\er : Sarah, wife of David Sise, of 
Lost Creek ; antl Moses. Lewis Frazee re- 
mained upon his farm until his death. He 
inherited property from his father who gave 
to each of his sons an ecpial amount of mon- 
ey. ^Ir. Frazee served as colonel of a mili- 
tia and was in command on the old training 
days in Lost Creek, thus winning his title. 
He died at the age of thirtv-fixe years, and 
his wife remained upon the old homestead 
for twenty years thereafter. She then went 
to Champaign county, Ohio, where her 
death occurred in her eig'htieth year. Her 
eldest child was onl_\- tweh'e years of age 
at the time of her husband's death, but she 
managed to keep all of her children to- 
gether, sa\e one daughter, who went to live 
elsewhere and lived to see all her family set- 
tled in life, .\fter leaving the old homestead 
her sons operated it until it was purchased 
by Mr. \\'ilgus on the first of January, 1863. 
In the meantime Mr. \\'ilgus resided up- 
on another farm. His wife, however, was 
born on the old Frazee homesteatl I'ebruary 
20, 1837. in the old brick house which her 
grandfather had erected and which forms a 
part of the present home built b}' Mr. W'il- 
gus in 1872. The farm now com[)rises two 



hundred and twenty acres, and upon it the 
present owner has made all the principal im- 
provements. He makes a specialty of the 
growing and feeding of stock and for some 
years, in connection with his brother, Will- 
iam, he was engaged in breeding short horn 
cattle, continuing that industry for thirty 
years. They were pioneers in that line and 
were very successful. Many fine short horns 
were exhibited by them at the annual fairs 
and won first premiums. 

L'nto Mr. and Mrs. Wilgus have been 
born six sons — Lewis, who is now agent at 
Conover, Ohio ; J. Franklin, who is engaged 
in farming near the old homestead ; G. Rous- 
seau, who after pursuing a normal course, in 
Lebanon, Ohio, and a business course, taught 
school for five years in Lost Creek town- 
ship and is now operating the home farm, 
being recognized as one of the leading and 
enterprising agriculturists of the commu- 
nity; Thomas, a cabinet-maker of Piqua 
Ohio: Ralph H., of L<3st Creek tiiwnship; 
and William, at home. All of the sons were 
reared under the parental roof and received 
good educational privileges, thereby l)eing 
fitted for life's practical and responsible du- 
ties. Thomas is a graduate in the scientific 
department of the Delaware College of the 
class of 1895 and was a successful teacher for 
two years. G. Rousseau recei\ed excellent 
educational privileges and to his life work 
has brought a comprehensive and accurate 
knowledge of business principles. Mr. and 
Mrs. Wilgus now have eight grandchildren. 
.■\bout eighteen years ago Mrs. Wilgus had 
the sight destroyed in one of her eyes, and 
for six years she has been blind, Init she still 
presides over her home, her counsels and ad- 
\-ice being important factors in its conduct. 
Mr. \\'ilgus is a Republican in his political 
views, l)eing a stanch advocate of the party 



310 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



princiiiles and lias serx'ed as trustee and in 
other tiiwnsliip offices. His life has been 
quietly jjassed. yet his career is that of an 
honorable, enterprising and successful busi- 
ness man whose advancement is most credit- 
able, for it has come as the diametrical re- 
sult of his own efifnrts. 



JAAIES H. KINNA. 

In the great competitive struggle of life, 
when each must enter the field and fight his 
way to the front, or else be overtaken by dis- 
aster of time and place, there is ever par- 
ticular interest attaching to the life of one 
who has turned the tide of success, has sur- 
mounted obstacles, and has shown his abil- 
ity to cope with others in their rush for the 
coveted goal. Such Mr. Kinna has done, 
and to-day he stands among the representa- 
tive business men of Tippecanoe City, al- 
though at the present time his business ef- 
forts are not directly connected with the 
commercial life of the town. 

He was born in Aliddletown, ]\Iar\'land, 
April 28, 1849, 'I'l^ is 'I son of Samson 
and Charlotte (Routzahn) Kinna. For 
many generations the Kinna family resided 
in Maryland. The father operated a mill 
in Middletown until 1867, when he remo\ed 
wit)- his family to Harbaugh \'alley, where 
he remained until his death, in June, 1898. 
His wife also died at that place, April 18, 
1868, and, Nvith the exception of our sub- 
ject, his children yet reside there. James 
H. Kinna, of this review, spent the first 
eighteen years of his life in his native town 
and then accomiianied his parents on their 
removal to Harbaugh Valley, where he re- 
mained for two years. In 1870 he came to 
Ohio. He had started for Illinois, where 



his paternal grandninther was li\ing. l)ut 
on arriving in Ohio he sto])i)ed to vis't an 
aunt, Mrs. John Clark, of Tippecanoe City, 
and was there offered a position in the mill. 
He had previously learned the milling Inisi- 
ness under the direction of his father, and 
thus equipped for the practical duties of life, 
he entered the employ of John K. Herr, 
with whom he remained for more than a 
year. He then spent a few days in Ne- 
braska, and afterwards returned to Mary- 
land. In 1873, ho\ve\-er, he again came to 
Tippecanoe Citv and accejited the jjosition 
of head miller with his former employer, 
lja\'ing entire charge of the business. He 
served in that caiiacity from June, 1873. un- 
til October, 1873. when he returned to Marv- 
land. In Ma\', 1876, he secured a situat.on 
in the Patapsco ]\Iills at Baltimore, Mary- 
land, and continued there until October, 
1879. They were then running at a ca- 
pacity of six hundretl barrels and were con- 
sidered the largest mills in the countrv. 

In January, 1878, 'SU. Kinna was united 
in marriage, in Tippecanoe City, to Miss 
Mary Herr, daughter of Benjamin Herr 
and a niece of John K. Herr. They began 
their domestic life at the mill, near Balti- 
more, but in October, 1879, returned to 
Ohio, and Mr. Kinna rented a mill a mile 
south of Trciy. After operating" it for two 
years with fair success, he returned to the 
employ of John Herr, in whose ser\!ce he 
at first worked in Tippecanoe City. After 
:i short time he purchased stock in the news- 
paper mill, became superintendent of con- 
struction and placed the mill in successful 
operation. It proved one of the leading in- 
dustries of the place and was later .sold to 
the American Straw-Board Company. For 
a time Mr. Kinna operated a mill at Sidnev, 
and in August, 1888. he formed a jiartner- 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



817 



ship witli U. J. Favorite and H. H. Bryant.. 
This iirni purchased the old mill at Tippe- 
canoe, thus succeedingf Air. Herr, and re- 
modeled the plant, putting in the new roller 
process at great expense. A prejudice ex- 
isted against roller flour and some of the 
old men of the locality called for the burr 
flour, hut after using it for a time they 
found that that manufactured by the roller 
process was superior. The firm of Kinna, 
Favorite & Bryant operated the mill at its 
fullest capacity and built up a very large 
business, which was attended with satis- 
factory financial results. The partnership 
proved a most pleasant one and close friend- 
ships were formed between the men. 
Througiiout the existence of the firm Air. 
Kinna remained as the miller, scj that all 
of the details of the manufacture of the 
flour were under his immediate supervision. 
In April, 1897, the firm sold out and the 
same year Mr. Kinna purchased his present 
farm, comprising forty-five acres, just west 
of the village. The place is a delightful one, 
improved with a fine residence and all the 
accesories of the model farm. Mr. Kinna 
is now quite extensively engaged in tobacco 
growing, and the same determination and 
close application which characterized his in- 
tlustrial career is manifest in his agricultural 
pursuits. 

Airs. Kinna, wife of our sul)ject, was 
born in Tippecanoe City, July 24, 1854, a 
daughter of Benjamin ami Alargaret 
( James ) Herr. The father was born near 
Hagerstown, Alaryland, and came to Ohio 
in company with his Ijrother. John K. Herr. 
He learned the miller's trade at Dayton and 
afterwards rented a mill at Ivnightstown, 
Indiana. There he was united in marriage to 
Margaret James, who was ])orn in the 
Hoos'ier state, antl imniediateU' afterwartl, 



in 1853, they came to Tippecanoe Cit\-, where 
Mr. Herr rented and o])erated a mill. He 
continued in business in connection with his 
brother until his death, which occurred in 
1862, at the age of thirty-six years. Four 
children survived him, namely: Mrs. Kinna; 
Harvey, who engaged in milling with his 
uncle and died at the age of twentv-eight 
years; Fanny, widow of Harry Hortini. pro- 
prietor of the Tippecanoe Herald, and 
Charles Benjamin, a grain dealer of Troy, 
residing in Tippecanoe Cit_\'. The mother 
c.f this family is still living. After remain- 
ing a widow for seven years, she married 
l<ilin K. Herr. her first husband's bri.ither, 
and thev had one daughter. Nellie, now the 
wife of John Smith, with whom Airs, Herr 
is still living. John K. Herr died in 1892. 
Bv his first marriage he had four children: 
I'lmma, wife of Everett Booher; John, of 
L'avton, Ohio; Jacob, who is living in Tip- 
pecanoe City; and Kate, wife of Richard 
Smith, of Aliami county. 
j Air. and Airs. Kinna have two children, 
tiny Herr and Alargaret AI., the latter now 
a student in the high school. In his po- 
litical affiliations Mr. Kinna is independent, 
but usually votes the Prohibition ticket. He 
and his family are members of the Baptist 
church, in which he is holding the oflice of 
trustee. He belongs to the Royal Arcanum 
and his wife was a member of the Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union. His path 
lias ever been upward, both in a spiritual 
and temporal sense, and, as this review 
shows, he is distinctively a self-made man, 
one of nature's noblemen, — of excellent 
judgment, fair in his views, but strong in 
advancing ideas which he believes to be 
right. He is a generous friend and is 
highly honorable in all his relations with 
his fellow men. 



318 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



WILLIAM B. BROW'X. 

i 
A meinl)er of one of tlie old pioneer fami- 
lies of Miami county, William B. Brown 
was born September 19, 1833, in Lost Creek 
township, on the farm now owned 1)y An- 
drew Ralston. His grandfather. William 
Brown, was a native of the Emerald Isle, and 
about 1796 left his home near Belfast and 
emigrated to America. He was then about 
eighteen years of age, his birth having oc- 
curred in 1778. The family was of Scotchr 
Irish ancestry and of Presbyterian faith. It 
is supposed that his marriage to Ellen Kelly 
occurred in Clark county, Ohio. The lady 
was a daughter of Solomon Kelly and was 
l)orn in South Carolina, whence she emi- 
grated to Clark county where her parents 
died. Some years after their marriage Will- 
i;mi Brown and his wife removed to Lost 
Creek township, Miami county, and in 1S52 
took up their abode in Fletcher. He had 
entered the farm now owned and occupied by 
the subject of this re\iew. William B. 
Brown, on section 26. Brown township, 
while still li\ing in Lost Creek township. 
The old patent bearing date March 12, 
1829, was signed by Andrew Jackson, then 
president of the United States. The land 
had not then been divided int(j townships, 
and when the division was made Brown 
township was named in his honor. The 
farm has always remained in possession of 
the family. It was inh.erited by his son, John 
Brown, and his maiden sister. Jane. At 
the death of John Brown his interest passed 
ti) his widow and children, one of wlnjui is 
Mrs. W. B. Brown. Jane Brown married 
Joseph \'an Horn, and, dying without chil- 
dren, willed her interest to W. B. Brown, 
her nejihew. who 1 y marriage to his cousin, 
Loui<a J. Br;:wn. the only daughter of John 



Brown, united the two interests, so that the 
original farm is now owned by our subject 
and his wife. 

John Brown, the father of our subject, 
married Nancy Bigger, daughter of John 
and ]\Iargaret Bigger. The former came 
to Miami county in 1834, when his daugh- 
ter Nancy was ten years old. With his 
family he settled on the farm in 1852, and 
there Louisa was born August 21, 1853. 
She was reared and has always lived upon 
this farm. Her father here died when about 
thirty-seven years of age, leaving a widow 
and four children. The widow remained on 
the old homesteail until her death, which oc- 
curred in her sixty-eighth year. They had 
a family of four children: William W., 
who died in 1888, at the age of thirty-seven 
years ; Louisa J. ; James Hearst, a practicing 
physician of Centralia, Kansas; and John 
Campbell, who is an attorney-at-law in Hel- 
ton, Kansas, and dean in the university at 
that place. 

William Brown, the original representa- 
tive of the family in this county, came to the 
present farm with his son, John, dying Au- 
gust 21, 1864, at the age of eighty-six years. 
He was a weaver by trade and operated a 
loom at his own home. Of the Fletcher 
Presbyterian chiuxh he was a charter mem- 
ber and ve'ry strict in his views pn religion. 
He denied his children even the privilege of 
whistling or cracking nuts on Sunday, being 
very strict according to the old Puritan 
ideas of religion. He had five sons and sev- 
eral daughters, namely : Solomon Kelly ; 
Joseph, who was an Iowa pioneer and died 
in that state when about eighty-one years of 
age; James, who went south and was acci- 
dentally killed at Fayette, Mississippi ; 
John, who was mentioned above : Archibakl 
Steele, who removed to Iowa and died when 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



319 



about sixty-six years of age; Elizabeth and 
Jane, who were two of triplets, the third 
being Archibald Steele; Elizabeth, who be- 
came the wife of Thomas Heston and died at 
Fletcher, at the age of twenty-eight years; 
and Jane, who became the wife of Joseph 
\^an Horn and died on the family home- 
stead, October 8, 1893. 

Solomon Kelly Brown, having arrived 
at years of maturity, wedded Mary Ralston, 
an aunt of Andrew Ralston. He was a 
farmer in Lost Creek township for seven 
}ears, but after his wife's death he removed 
to Paulding county, Ohio, about 1844. In 
1847 he went to Oregon, becoming one oi' 
the pioneers of the Willamette valley. He 
established his home at Corvallis, where he 
remained until his death, which occurred 
w hen he was twenty-three years of age. He 
had four children, to of whom died in early 
life, while William B. and Andrew R. went 
to Oregon with him. At that time a large 
number of emigrants crossed the plains to 
the Pacific coast. Their train was com- 
posed of forty-seven wagons, each drawn 
Ijy from two to five yoke of oxen. The 
journey consumed six months and sixteen 
days, and William B. Brown, the subject of 
this review, can recall many incidents of 
that journey. His brother Andrew re- 
mained in Oregon, but in the spring of 1849 
William Brown went with his father to the 
gold diggings on Feather river in California. 
They spent one season there, taking out 
more than seven thousand dfillars worth of 
gold. In the fall of 1851 William Brown 
went from his home to California, where he 
worked for two years in the mines, pros- 
pecting when he could and working for 
others when he had no stake. He made but 
lutle progress, and. in consecjuence, hired 
out on a ranch at one hundred dollars per 



month. He afterward returned to the 
mines, but was not very successful. Prices 
were very high, he having to pay a dollar 
and ten cents a pound for flour, while other 
products of consumption were proportion- 
ately high. After making several efforts at 
prospecting, his work being hindered by 
heavy snows and other difiiculties, he finally 
left the diggings, where he had suffered 
many hardships. For two days at a time 
he had to live on beef alone, as no flour could 
be secured. On another occasion he li\ed 
lor three days on dried apples and sugar. 
He traveled from one mining camp to an- 
other, finally reaching Scott's ri\er, where 
lie did an immense amount of work for 
\ery little return. However, after he had 
spent a few months upon a ranch, he again 
sought for gold, but with such po(.ir success 
that he returned to Oregon, where he en- 
gaged in farm work with his father until 
the outbreak of the Cayuse Indian war at 
\\'alla Walla. Pie there volunteered in the 
United States ser\'ice, spending one winter 
in bringing the Indians into subjection. 
About four hundred volunteers were en- 
gaged in battle at W'alki Walla against five 
thousand Indians, during which the chief 
\\as killed. The engagement was rather a 
running fight, and continued almost con- 
stantly for four days. 

During two summers Mr. Brown was 
connected with a government sinneying 
partv, and thus traveling saw much of ti'.e 
wild country of that state. The hope of 
finding gold, which is e\er before one ni 
the mining regio is, again decided him to 
make his way to the camps, and he worked 
in the mines both of Oregon and California. 
In 1864 he prospected in Idaho and lafer 
became the owner of a large stock rancli 
there. However, he sold that and soon at- 



320 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



terward went to Helena, Montana. In 
1866 lie determined to return to Ohio, and 
made his way home h}- way of tlie Missouri 
river. Since that time he has heen identi- 
fied w itli tlie agricuUural interests of Miami 
county. 

On the ist of October, 1884, Mr. Brown 
was united in marriage to his cousin. Mean- 
while he liad .spent some time in Iowa, and 
in 1872 he took ciiarge of the farm for his 
Aunt Jane. He operated it, his aunt acting 
as his housekeeper, and after liis marriage he 
still carried on the farm fur his aunt, wIk) 
bequeathed it to him at her death. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Brown are consistent and 
faithful nienil)ers i)f the Presbyterian clnirch 
at Fletcher. In his political ^■iews he is a 
Democrat, but does not seek or desire public 
office, preferring to gi\-e his attention to his 
agricultural pursuits. He built the jiresent 
home during his aunt's life time. He has 
two sets of buildings upon the farm, and 
has a very valual)le and highly improved 
property. He has made two trips to Ore- 
gon since his return from the west, one 
in i88r and the other in 1890, spending the 
summer cm the Pacific slope. His nephew, 
Ralph Otis Brown, son of Andrew Brown, 
is operating the farm, and he and our sub- 
ject and his wife are now the only living 
representatives of the old Brown family 
once so numerous in Aliami countv. 



EDGAR E. BAILEY. 

When a life record is ended and the last 
pages of line's history written, it is natural 
to review the work and note what is com- 
mendable and worthy of emulation in the 
annals of a career. In studying the his- 
torv (if Mr. Bailev we see that there was 



nuich in his life to awaken admiration, re- 
spect and confidence on the part of his fellow 
men. He was born in Montgomerv county, 
Ohiii, near the city of Dayton, January 8, 
1838, his parents being Henry and Rachel 
(Baker) Bailey. The parents came to 
Ohio in 1833, taking up their abode on a 
farm near Dayton, where occurred the birth 
of our subject. The latter was there reared, 
his bo\-hood days being passed in the usual 
manner of farmer lads until sixteen years of 
age, when he abondoned the plow in order to 
enter upon mercantile life. Accordingly he 
went to Sparta, Illinois, where he was em- 
ployed as a clerk in a drug store for two 
years. On the expiration of that period 
he came to Miami county and located in 
Concord township, following farming" until 
187 1. He then removed to Champaign 
county, Ohi(->, and purchased a tract of land 
near Addison, on which he carried on agri- 
cultural piu'suits until 1884. In that year 
he returned to Troy antl, purchasing lantl 
ir the vicinity, devoted his time and energies 
to its cultivation, although he retained his 
residence in the city. 

On the _'6th of October, 1870, occurred 
the n:arriage oi ^{y. Bailey and Miss Eliza- 
beth M. Peck, a daughter of Joshua and 
Mary (McCullough) Peck. Mr. Peck was 
born February 14. 180J, was left an orphan 
at an early age and was reareil near Troy. 
The mother was born Xovemlier 2"/, 1803. 
He learneil the mason's trade and foUoweil 
that pursuit for some years, but afterward 
engaged in farming. By his marriage he 
became the father of six children, namel}' : 
John, Joseph, ]\lary. Mrs. Elizalieth Bailey, 
Isaac and Blair ; all are now deceased e.xcept 
Mrs. Bailey and Isaac. The father died Octo- 
ber 4. 1870, aged sixty-eight years, and 
his wife passed away December 13, 1S82, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



321 



at the age of seventy-nine. They were 
members of the Christian churcli, and were 
people of the highest respectabihty, widely 
known for their sterlingf worth. 

In his political views Mr. Bailey was a 
stanch Republican and kept well informed 
on the issues of the day, so that he gave an 
intelligent support to the principles which 
he advocated. He, however, never sought 
or desired political preferment, yet served as 
trustee in Champaign county. He held 
membership with the Masonic fraternity in 
Addison, Ohio, and was true to its beneficent 
principles. Starting out in life for himself a 
poor boy, he advanced steadily step by step, 
his determined purpose enabling him to 
overcome all the difficulties and obstacles in 
his path, while his honorable dealing and 
capable management brought to him the 
success for which he labored. At his death 
he left an estate of two hundred acres of 
land in Staunton township, known as the 
Andrew Knoop farm, and located on the 
Troy and Casstown pike, two miles from 
the city of Troy. He passed away January 
3, 1899, and man}- friends mourned his loss, 
for he was widely and favorably known 
throughout the communit}'. Mrs. Bailey 
still survives her husband and is li\'ing in 
Troy, where she has a large circle of warm 
friends. 



LEVI RUDY. 



On his present farm on section 4, New- 
ton township, Levi Rudy was born April 2, 
1846. There the days of his boyhood and 
youth were passed, and to his father he gave 
the benefit of his services in the fields until 
1865, when he began farming on his own 
account by renting the old homestead for a 
period of five years. When that time had 



gone by with the capital which he had ac- 
quired through his indefatigable efforts, he 
purchased a farm some distance south — the 
place now occupied by Ernest Brinkman. 
There he remained from 1878 until 1885, 
when he returned and purchased the old 
home farm. As a companion and helpmeet 
on life's journey he chose ]\Iiss Susan Dee- 
ter, their marriage having occurred in 1865. 
Five children were born of their union, 
namely: Charley, who is living in Coving- 
ton; John C, a farmer in Xewton township; 
Samuel A., who is with his father; Jesse, 
also at home; and Hannah, wife of Charley 
Gorman, who is living on her father's farm. 
Mr. Rudy owns sixty acres of land on 
section 4, Newton township, and carries on 
general farming and tobacco raising. He 
has also been oi^erating threshing machines 
for thirty-fi\'e years, and has three separ- 
ators, three engines, a clover huller, fodder 
busker, hay boiler and corn sheller. In 
fact, his is one of the most modern, up-to- 
date farms in the community, supplied with 
all the latest improvements which facilitate 
the work of the agriculturist. His fellow 
townsmen, appreciating his worth and 
ability, have called him to ptiblic office and 
for nine years he has served as supervisor 
of district number eight. In politics he is 
a Democrat, and is a member of the German 
Baptist church, contributing liberally to its 
support. 



GENERAL ^^■. P. ORR. 

There is pride for the old and successful, 
and inspiration for the young and ambitious, 
in the history of a man who has started a 
poor boy, and by his energy, perse\erance 
and native ability conquered adverse cir- 
cumstances and step by step won his way to 



32: 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



hoiiiir. wealth and fame. In this free land 
of America every county has some man 
w hose success is the pride of generous souls, 
and the envy of narrow, malicious hearts. 
The multitude applaud the winner in life's 
battle, but it is only the student of biograph- 
ical history that appreciates how the victory 
was won. One of the men of Miami county 
wh() has traveled the thorny path of pov- 
erty, climbed the hill of difficulty, and at 
last reached the high plane of success, is 
General William P. Orr. 

He was born in Covington, Miami coun- 
tv, Ohio, in 1834. His father, Joshua Orr, 
was a native of Virginia; his mother, Ann 
( W'orley ) Orr, of Kentucky. They had six 
sons: Nathan W., John A., William P., 
Thomas T., Caleb W. and Joshua W., the 
last two being twins. Five of the six served 
iii the L'nion army, and the sixth volun- 
teered but was rejected on account of phys- 
ical disability. 

William P. Orr received his education in 
the common schools of Covington, then at 
that early age a small enterprising village 
on the banks of the Stillwater, in Newberry 
township, of this county. ^ At the early age 
of fourteen years he commenced for him- 
self the battle of life. When seventeen 
years of age he came to Piqua to learn the 
trade of carriage painting, but the paint 
shop was too close and narrow for the boy 
and he fell an easy victim to the gold fever 
tluit was then prevailing in Miami county. 
In March, 1852, in his eighteenth year, he 
started for California on the overland route, 
and drove a team of five yoke of oxen over 
the old emigrant trail, and was one hun- 
dred and thirteen days making the trip. The 
personal experiences and hardships of that 
trip would make interesting reading to the 
friends of General Orr. He seldom refers 



to those days, but that trip dexeloped in the 
boy the industry and firm determination to 
succeed that afterward made him the suc- 
cessful business man. He remained in Cali- 
fornia two years, working in the mines, and 
made and saved a little money with wihch 
to return home. He then engaged in the 
mercantile and grocery business in Coving- 
ton in 1854. He contmued in that line until 
1869, gradually enlarging his business until 
he had a general dry-goods, grocery and 
hardware store. He purchased all kinds of 
produce from the farmers and shipped the 
same. He also had a flouring mill and saw- 
mill, and packed pork every winter. The 
business prospered under iiis management 
and he gradually accumulated wealth. 

In February, 1869, he sold his store and 
mills and removed to Piqua, where he has 
been engaged in the linseed oil business for 
thirty-one years. The business was not al- 
ways prosperous, for twice were his mills de- 
stroyed by fire, antl ad\erse circumstances 
came; but nevertheless, his personal energy 
and business ability were such that he won 
prosperity and compelled success. In ad- 
dition to the linseed oil business, he engaged 
in the grain trade and ran a line of canal 
boats on the Miami and Erie canal. He 
also engagetl in other business enterprises. 
He built three strawboard mills in Piqua, 
a large linseed oil works, and in connection 
with Samuel Statler, in 1891, he built the 
Hotel Plaza, one of the finest hotels be- 
tween Cincinnati and Toledo. 

So well es'tablished was his character as 
a safe, sagacious and successful business man 
that his experience and ability were in de- 
mand, and his reputation become national, as 
one of the shrewd business men of the coun- 
try. He was vice-president of the Piqua 
Rolling Mill Company, president of the 



CEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



823 



Piqua Strawboard Company and the Piqua 
I'"urniture Company, president of the Citi- 
zens' National Bank, of Piqna, and director 
of the Se\-entii National Bank, of New York 
city. He is also a director of the F. Gray 
Woolen Mills Company and of the Piqna 
Underwear Company. He is now treas- 
m^er of the American Linseed Company, 
also of the American School Furnitnre 
Company and a director in botli companies 
and president of the Miami \'alley Rail- 
road Company. 

General Orr, notwithstanding his many 
busy enterprises, has ever been loyal to the 
city of Piqua, and cheerfully gives a por- 
tion of his time to her welfare. For over 
thirty years he has served in the city coun- 
cil of Piqua, and most of that period was 
president of the council. He has done as 
much, and perhaps more, to build up the 
city of Piqua than any other resident of that 
enterprising and wide-awake city. For her 
prosperity and welfare he has given much 
time and thought. His. hands are ever ready 
and his purse is ever open to advance Piqua's 
progress. . He, with other public-spirited 
citizens, has made Piqua known as one of 
the prosperous manufacturing cities of Ohio. 

For thirty years General Orr has been 
an active and. consistent member of the 
Presbyterian church, of Piqua, and his in- 
flence is ever on the side of temperance, 
morality and Christianity. On May 8, 
1864, General Orr enlisted in the One Hun- 
dred and Fifty-second Ohio \^jlunteer In- 
fantry, and was mustered into service as 
captain of Company B. He was mustered 
out September 2, 1864, by reason of expira- 
tion of term of service. This regiment saw 
hard service in Virginia, and was in sev- 
eral severe skirmishes with the Confederate 
forces. Governor Asa S. Bushnell was a 



captain in this regiment, and a number of 
distinguished citizens of Ohio were in the 
ranks. The regiment was composed of the 
Twenty-eighth and two companies of the 
1 hirty-fifth Ohio National Guards, and when 
the regiment was mustered out it retained 
its state organization, and Captain Orr was 
elected lieutenant-colonel of "the regiment. 
He still retains his love for the old soldiers, 
and for many years has served as trustee of 
the Soldiers" and Sailors' Home of Ohio, 
situated near Sandusk3^ 

General Orr became a Republican with 
the birth of his party, and in e\ery campaign 
from 1856 to 1900 he has given his time 
and money in support of its principles, and 
for the success of its candidates. He voted 
for General John C. Fremont in 1856. and 
for every Republican candidate since, be- 
cause he loved the principles of the grand 
old party. In 1890 he was unanimously 
nominated for congress in the fourth dis- 
trict of Ohio, and in the campaign that fol- 
lowed he cut down the Democratic major- 
ity of thirty-five hundred to fourteen hun- 
dred and ten. In the redistricting of the 
state Miami county was placed in the sev- 
enth congressional district. General Orr 
was Miami county's unanimous choice for 
congress in 1892, and received the vote of 
the county for six hundred and twenty-one 
ballots. Although unsuccessful in the con- 
\ention, yet he lost no fame as a man, and 
gained prestige as a politician. In 1896 he 
\\as again a candidate for congress, and af- 
ter a long and hard contest he was defeated 
by a political combination that is often made 
in recent years to thwart the will of the 
people. 

On the 13th of January, 1896, he was 
appointed and commissioned quartermaster- 
oeneral on the staff of Governor Asa S. 



324 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Biislinell and served for fdur }ears. When 
the Spanish-American war l:)egan the office 
was not one of ornament, but hard work. 
Cieneral Orr went to Cohimbus April 25. 
1898, and entered upon tlie then arduous 
(huies of quartermaster-general, and under 
his direction Ohio equii^ped twehe thousand 
soldiers, supplied the troops witli tents, cloth- 
ing and rations and sent them to the held. 
General Orr was highly complmented for his 
efficient services as quartermaster-general of 
Ohio by the secretary of war. and the pa- 
pers of his office were said to be in better 
shape, and the equipment of troops was fur- 
nished more pi^omptly and in better j:ondi- 
tion. than those of any other state. This 
report from the war department at that time 
was a high compliment to Ohi(j. and to the 
practical Inisiness administration of Gov- 
ernor Bushnell. ?^Iany items of interest oc- 
curring in General Orr"s administration of 
his ()ffice would be very interesting reatling, 
but the history of Ohio in the Spanish- 
American war will be written by other his- 
torians. He was supported by his county 
for governor at the Republican state conven- 
tion of 1899, and at the Republican state 
comention of 1900 he was chosen by ac- 
clamation as elector-at-large on the Repub- 
lican national ticket for Ohio. 

\\". P. Orr was married in Covington, 
Ohio, in September. .1854, to Miss INIartha 
Morrison, the daughter of Aaron and Xancy 
^lorrison. Two sons were born to this 
union. Aaron Morrison and Lewis Hoover 
Orr. General Orr was theii a youth of 
twenty years. His noble wife shared with 
him the struggles and trials nf life fur o\-er 
twenty-se\en years. She lived long enough 
to enjoy with him the comforts that wealth 
and success always bring, and then passed 
away in January. 1S82, leaving behind her 



the record of a fond and faithful wife, a 
loving and tender mother. General Orr re- 
mained a widower f(^r over two years, when 
lie was united in marriage to Miss Frances 
M. Meily. on March 25. 1884, in St. .Mark's 
chapel, \\'estminster Abbey, London, by 
Archdeacon Farrar. Mrs. Orr is the daugh- 
ter of John and Katherine Meily, and a 
sister of Mrs. C. S. Brice. Mrs. Orr takes 
an active interest in every enterprise for the 
higher culture of women, served as president 
of the Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs 
for the year 1899, and is president for the 
year 1900. 

The abo\e is the record of an active, 
busy life, and General Orr is still in the 
harness. Firm aiul decided in his convic- 
tions, bold and aggressive in action, he has 
doubtless made enemies. Indeed envy and 
enmity always follow the successful man, 
whether the success comes in business, poli- 
tics or religion, but time, which makes all 
things e\en, and adjusts the scale in which a 
man's worth is weighed, will record that 
the life of W. P. Orr has not been in vain, 
for it has shown that in our home and 
countr}- a man may begin in the humble 
walks of life and rise by his own industry 
and ability to rank among those who are 
iionored and respected by the citizens of 
the state and nation. e. s. w. 



JOSEPH E. MUMFORD. 

Jt)seph E. ^Mumford, deceased, was foi 
many years actively connected with the mer- 
cantile interests of Miami city, and belonged 
tc that class of representative American cit- 
izens who, while promoting their individual 
prosperity, also advance the general welfare. 
He was born July 8. 1844. on the old home- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



327 



stead in Elizabeth township, his parents 
being- John and Mary M. (Crawmer) Mum- 
ford. No event of special importance oc- 
curred to vary the monotony of farm life 
through his early years, but at the age of 
nineteen he left the plow and began learning 
the carpenter's trade under the direction of 
Peter Smith, a neighbor. He followed that 
pursuit until the spring of 1880, and for a 
number of years was actively identified with 
the building interests of the county. He 
was well known as a contractor for school - 
houses, and erected a few of these institu- 
tions of learning in the immediate neighbor- 
hood. In the spring of 1880 he entered 
upon a mercantile career, in partnership with 
Jesse M. Smith, now of Dayton, and was 
connected with commercial pursuits until 
the failure of his health caused his retire- 
ment from business in the winter of 1893. 
For thirteen years he had given his atten- 
tion exclusively to the store and had suc- 
ceeded in building up an excellent trade. In 
1883 his partner, Mr. Smith, retired and 
was succeeded by Mr. Mumford's wife, who 
was associated with him in business for 
some time. She was also appointed post- 
mistress during President Arthur's admin- 
istration, as a successor to Mr. Smith, and 
continued to serve in that capacity until the 
store was sold, with the exception of a brief 
period during the Cleveland administration, 
when Mr. Smith again was postmaster, hav- 
ing in the meantime returned and opened a 
separate store. That mercantile establish- 
ment was purchased by Mr. Mumford and 
his wife, who carried on the business suc- 
cessfully until disposing of their entire stock. 
They carried a fine line of well selected 
goods, Mrs. Mumford making most of the 
purchases. She possessed excellent business 
and executive ability, and her careful man- 

19 



agement contributed not a little to the suc- 
cess of the enterprise. Mr. Mumford en- 
joyed an unassailable reputation in business 
circles. His weakest point as a merchant 
was his liability to sell goods on credit, 
was a much better salesman than collector, 
for his accommodating spirit led him to 
gi\'e his customers all the time they wished 
in which to pay for their purchases. In 
this wav he frequently lost money, but al- 
together his mercantile career was a pros- 
perous one. 

Mr. Mumford was twice married. In 
1869, at the age of twenty-five years, he 
wedded Miss Mary Ellen Norton, who died 
about seven years later, leaving two chil- 
dren : William Firman, who was educated 
in Buchtel College at Akron, Ohio, and died 
of consumption June 24, 1896, at the age of 
twenty-six years, and Lulu Fair, who was 
Ijorn June 10, 1873, and is now the wife of 
Frank Fosdick, of Carthage, Missouri. The 
son was a successful teacher in Miami and 
Huron counties, and .in the latter county he 
married Sarah Jeanette Culler, who died of 
consumption eight months later. William 
then returned to Miami county, where he en- 
gaged in teaching until failing health caused 
him to put aside all professional cares. He 
died in Huron county, and was laid to rest 
by the side of his wife. The children, who 
died previous to the death of his first wife, 
were : Emory B., who was a twin brother 
to William Firman, born July 17, 1870, and 
died May 26, 1871 ; and an infant boy, who 
was born and died January 21, 1875. Mr. 
Mumford was again married November 20, 
1879, in Troy, his second union being with 
Miss Nancy E. Eddy, a daughter of William 
and Caroline (Head) Eddy, both of whom 
are now deceased. The old Eddy home- 
stead is situated on the Springfield pike, two 



828 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



miles west of Miami city, and tliere her 
only brotlier, William A., now resides. Mrs. 
Mumford was born in Perry county, Ohio, 
and when a maiden of fifteen summers came 
to Miami county with her parents, the fam- 
ily locating in Elizabeth township, where 
the father died on the 20th of June, 1879, 
the mother on the 15th of July, 1887. Mrs. 
Mumford pursued her education in the coun- 
try schools, and remained at home until her 
marriage, which has been blessed with one 
daughter, Mary Grace, born June 12, 1890. 
Mr. Mumford continued merchandising 
until 1893, when impaired health forced 
him to put aside business cares. About a 
year later he was stricken with paralysis 
and continued an invalid until his death, 
which occurred November 25, 1898. His 
last remaining hours was the sweetest to 
him, for in the assurance of his bright hope 
he looked upon death as the door to a life 
more glorious than he could know here, and 
arranged- for his own funeral as calmly as 
one prepares for a pleasant journey. His 
standing in business circles was indeed envi- 
able, and as a citizen he held a leading place 
in his community, owing to the active sup- 
port and encouragement which he gave to 
all measures for the public good. He was a 
wide-awake and progressive man, who at- 
tempted to secure material improvement. 
He advocated the introduction of telephones 
and railroads and the establishment of town- 
ship high schools, although many of the 
measures which he advocated were not suc- 
cessful, owing to the opposition of many 
heavy tax j^ayers, but nevertheless he was in- 
strumental in securing the adoption of many 
measures which have contributed to the 
general prosperity and marked advancement 
of his community. His ambition on behalf 
of his business interests and his countv was 



too great for his strength. In politics he 
was a Democrat and labored earnestly for his 
party's success. He served as township as- 
sessor for nine years and frequently at- 
tended the county conventions as a dele- 
gate. The Masonic fraternity of New Car- 
lisle numbered him among its valued mem- 
bers and he was also a representative of the 
Odd Fellows society. Of the Universalist 
church he was long a faithful follower and 
served as deacon for sixteen years. He 
possessed those sterling qtialities, which in 
every land and in every clime command re- 
spect. He was a man of strong convictions, 
yet never unpleasantly aggressive ; was true 
to principle and had an abiding charity that 
won him the esteem and good will of all 
classes of people. His wife is also a mem- 
ber of the Uni\ersalist church, and with 
her daughter she occupies the pleasant home 
in Alcony, which was erected by her hus- 
band. She is a lady of culture and refine- 
ment, possessed of natural ability, and the 
circle of her friends in the comnnmity is 
extensive. 



HENRY NEAL. 

Henry Neal, who is one of the promi- 
nent and influential representatives of agri- 
cultural interests -in Miami county, was 
born May 7, 1848, in Monroe township, on 
the farm where he now makes his home. 
His father, William Neal, was born Septem- 
ber 10, 1808, in the same township, and was 
a son of George and Margaret ( Million) 
Neal, early settlers of that locality; in fact, 
Mrs. Neal was born on the old family home- 
stead occupied by her son Henry. She was 
a daughter of Francis Million, who was 
born INIarch 14, 1786, and married Jemi- 
mah Sweet, who was born -\pril 22. 1787. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



329 



Tlieir wedding was celebrated in Tennes- 
see, wlience they came to Miami county, 
where j\Ir. MilHon entered the farm upon 
which ^Ir. Neal now resides. He built a 
Jog cabin and secured from the government 
one hundred and five acres of land, which 
was covered with a heavy growth of tim- 
ber, consisting of walnut, oak, hickory and 
sugar maple trees. Subsequently he re- 
moved to the farm upon which Philip Class 
now resides, and there his death occurred in 
1848. 

William Neal, the father of our subject, 
was a youth of fourteen years when he 
went to that farm to work for Mr. Million, 
and was employed in the fields there during 
the greater part of his time until his mar- 
riage to Mr. Million's daughter, Lucinda. 
The wedding occurred October zt,, 1828, 
at which time his father-in-law gave him 
fifty-five acres of land of the old homestead. 
He afterward purchased the remaining fifty- 
five acres and upon that farm made his home 
until his death. In his business affairs he 
was successful, and as the years passed by he 
added to his property until his landed pos- 
sessions aggregated four hundred acres, 
and he was accounted one of the substantial 
agriculturists of the community. He pur- 
chased and brought to the county the first 
McCormick harvesting machine in Monroe 
township, and always followed progressive 
methods in his farm work. His death oc- 
curred February i. 1874, and his wife passed 
away September 27, 1892. 'In their family 
were seven children : Melinda, who was 
born July 19, 1829, and is the widow of 
John Perry, a resident of Newberry town- 
ship; Phoebe, who was born February 22, 
1832, and resides on the old homestead; 
Matilda, who was born November 8, 1833, 
and died August 13, 1893; Israel, who was 



born June 2, 1837, and is now living a re- 
tired life in Decatur; Anna, who was born 
February 16, 1839, and died June 24, 1892; 
William F., who was born April 15, 1841, 
and is now a farmer living north of Man- 
chester, Indiana; and Henry, of this review. 
One son, Israel, served his country in the 
civil war as a member of the One Hundred 
and Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry. 

Born and reared upon the old family 
homestead, this farm is endeared to Henry 
Neal through the associations of childhood, 
as well as those of mature years. He pur- 
sued his education in the public schools of 
the neighborhood and in the schools of Troy. 
He remained with his parents until his mar- 
riage, on the 29th of October, 1867, to Miss 
Alsada Karns, a daughter of Abraham 
Karns. both of whom were natixes of Mon- 
roe township. After their marriage the 
young couple began their domestic life on 
another part of the old homestead, where 
they remained until the father's death, wlien 
they erected the residence in which he now 
makes his abode. He owns the original 
old homestead which was entered by his 
Grandfather Million. This was a tract of 
one hundred and five acres, but he has added 
to it until he now has one hundred and fifty- 
seven acres of rich and arable land. He 
purchased and brought into his neighbor- 
hood the first self-binding reaper, and all the 
latest improved machinery is found upon his 
farm, so tliat his work is carried on along 
progressive lines. He has a very valuable 
and desirable place, which in its neat and 
thrifty appearance indicates his careful su- 
pervision. 

Mr. and Mrs. Neal have no children of 
their own, but adopted one son, Lee R. ^^■ il- 
son, who was graduated in the township 
school and in the Tippecanoe High School. 



330 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



In October. 1899, he entered the Indianapo- 
Hs Business University, but soon afterward 
was called home on account of the death of 
Mrs. Neal, on the 20th of November of that 
j-ear. Xot long afterward, however, he se- 
cured a scholarship from the Indianapolis 
Young Men's Christian Association enti- 
tling him to pursue a Young Men's Chris- 
tian Association course in Chicago. This he 
accepted and is now a student in the latter 
city. 

In his political views 'Sir. Xeal is a Re- 
publican, and has served as school director 
altogether for twelve years, although the 
period of his incumbency has not been con- 
tinuous. He is a worthy representative of 
one of the honored pioneer families of the 
countv. is one of the most progressive agri- 
culturists, and is a citizen who gives his 
support in a large measure to those move- 
ments which contribute to the general wel- 
fare and prosperity. 



O'KANE & HOFFMAN 

The members of the firm of O'Kane & 
Hoffman are publishers, of the Buckeye 
and proprietors of The Buckeye Press and 
Jul) printing plant. 

The senior member of the firm, Walter 
Collins O'Kane, was born in Columbus, 
Ohio. His father is Henry O'Kane, secre- 
tary of the Franklin Insurance Company, of 
Colum1)us. Mr. O'Kane was educated in 
the public schools of Columbus, then spent 
one year in the high schol of that city, and 
then entered the preparatory school of the 
Ohio State University, where he remained a 
student until he was giaduated in the class of 
1897. He was then employed on the local 
staff of the Columbus Evening Dispatch, 



until he \olunteered. in June, 1898, in the 
Tenth Regiment of the Ohio Volunteers and 
served until March, 1899, as sergeant-major. 
On being mustered out, he was again em- 
ployed on the local staff of the Columbus 
Evening Dispatch, until, in connection with 
Arthur S. Hoffman, he purchased The Buck- 
eye of E. S. Williams & Company, in Sep- 
tember. 1899. 

Arthur Suliivant Hoft'man. the junior 
member of the firm, was born in Columbus, 
Ohio. His father was Judge Ripley C. Hoff- 
man. He was educated in the Columbus 
schools and was graduated from the Colum- 
bus high school : also a graduate in the Ohio 
State University in the class of 1897. He 
then engaged in teaching, and for two years 
was teacher of English in the Coshocton 
high school. In September, 1899, with W. 
C. O'Kane. he purchased The Buckeye, pub- 
lished in Troy, Ohio. 

The young men composing the firm of 
O'Kane & Hoffman are well equipped by 
education and native ability to make a success 
in life in whatever ax'ocation they choose to 
follow. They have chosen journalism, and 
in their hands "The Buckeye" has grown in 
popularity and is without question the lead- 
ing weekly newspaper published in Miami 
county. The subscription list is continually 
increasing, and the business is prosperous. 
They are young men of good habits, honest, 
industrious and enthusiastically in love with 
their work, and each has a bright future be- 
fore him. E. s. w. 



LEVI FARWELL DILLA\\'AY. 

The record of a busy and useful life is 
an inspiration to the young, a salutary lesson 
to those who are engaged in the stern duties 
of life, and is a source of pride to the chil- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



831 



dreii anil gramlchiklren of tliose who have 
made the workl better by tlieir Hving. Such 
a hfe we record in this Ijrief sketch of Levi 
Farwell Dillaway. Other men have become 
more famous, but few have done more real 
hard worlc where business and duty have 
called them. 

L. F. Dillaway was born in Granville, 
Washington county. New York, March 24, 
1824. He is the son of Samuel C. and Eliz- 
abeth H. (Allen) Dillaway, both natives of 
Boston, Massachusetts, the father born June 
5, 1795, the mother, January 25, 1797. They 
^vere married in their natix'e city, February 
27, 1 82 1. They made their first home in 
Charlestown, Massachusetts ; thence they re- 
moved to Randolph and afterwards to Gran- 
ville, New York. Samuel C. Dillaway was 
a Baptist preacher and devoted his life to his 
ministerial work. He spent the best and 
most fruitful years of his life in the church 
at Granville. Under his ministration many 
were converted who in after years became 
successfiTl workers in the church, among the 
number being A. D. Gillette, who became a 
.pastorof a prominent church in Philadelphia ; 
Rev. Vaughn; and Rev. Orville Maon, who 
went with his wife to Arkansas, which was 
then a territory, as a home missionary to 
the Indians. 

Mr. Dillaway was an active promoter of 
home and foreign missions and of the Sun- 
day-school Union, being a life meml^er of the 
American Baptist Missionary Union. He 
died in Granville. November 24, 1850. After 
his death his wife lived with her son, L. F. 
Dillaway, and removed with him to Ohio, 
dying at his home in Higginsport, Brown 
county, Ohio, February 7, 1857. 

Their family consisted of four children : 
Charlotte, who was born June 24, 1822, and 
<lied October 4, 1825; Charlotte Amelia, 



who was born January 22, 1826, and 
died July 27, 1827; Levi F. ; and Phar- 
cellus C. who was born February 24, 1828, 
and died when nineteen years old. The sub- 
ject of this sketch was left the comfort and 
hope of his parents until they crossed the 
river of death. 

L. F. Dillaway, our subject, was educat- 
ed in the Granville Academy, and was first 
employed as a clerk in Poultney. Vermont, 
where his father had pastoral charge of a 
church for several years. He was the suc- 
cessor of Rev. Clark Kendrick, whose son. 
Professor A. Kendrick, was teacher of Greek 
in Rochester L'niversity. This the writer 
mentions as an evidence that Mr. Dillaway's 
father was a worker in the vineyard of the 
Lord, worthy of his caHing. Mr. Dillaway 
was employed as clerk for about four years 
in Poultnev, Vermont, and then returned to 
Granville Academy, where he completed liis 
education. While in the academy he taught 
a class, in part payment of his tuition. He 
then went to Boston and spent a winter as 
clerk in a drug store. 

In 1845 li^ moved to Higginsport, Brown 
countv, Ohio, and was employed as a clerk 
in a dry-goods store three years. In that time 
he saved from his salary three hundred 
dollars, and this amount, together with some 
borrowed capital, enabled h'm to engage in 
business for himself. He carried on mer- 
chandising in Higginsport until 1859. His 
business was prosperous and he did not con- 
fine himself alone to dry goods. The last 
year he was there he .purchased over five 
hundred thousand pounds of tobacco and 
sent miich of it to Philadelphia and Balti- 
more, over the mountains in the old Cones- 
toga wagons. The merchants of to-day can 
scarcely realize the difficulties of such a 
venture. 



332 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



In 1859 he came to Troy in order to ed- 
ucate his children. The Troy schools, then 
as now, bore an enviable reputation through- 
out tlie state. He purchased a farm close to 
the city and resided thereon for three years. 
He moved into Troy in 1862 and engaged in 
mercantile business as a salesman in a dry- 
goods store. He next went into the army 
as an employe in the quartermaster's de- 
partment at Louisville. Kentucky, Thomas 
D. Fitch being c|uartermaster. There he re- 
mained about one year, after which he re- 
turned to Troy and engaged in merchandis- 
ing in partnership with Elias and Freeman 
Skinner. He also engaged in the grain 
business during the last two years of the 
war. In 1865 he and Judge Davis purchased 
a stock of dry goods and remained in part- 
nership for five years, when the Judge re- 
tired, and Mr. Dillaway continued in busi- 
ness alone for fi\'e }-ears. Afterwards he as- 
sociated with different partners until 1888, 
when he retired from active business and de- 
voted himself to the carc'of his property in- 
terests — the har\-est of a long, industrious 
and economical life. 

Mr. Dillaway was married, November 
26, 1849, to Miss Elizabeth Holden. at Hig- 
ginsport, Ohio. She was a nati\-e of Thet- 
ford, Vermont, liorn February 17, 181 3. the 
daughter of Xehemiah Holden, who enlisted 
at the age of fourteen years in the 
Revolutionary war and served under Gen- 
eral Washington, whose notice he attracted. 
The General asked him if he did not want to 
go home to his mother. His reply was, "She 
sent me to fight for independence and told 
me never to come home if I was shot in the 
back." The Holdens came of liberty-lov- 
ing ancestry, and Mrs. Dillaway's genealogy 
can be traced to Oliver Cromwell. Her 
uncle. Oliver Holden, was probably the first 



music publisher in the United S'tates. He is 
yet famous as a composer and was the au- 
thor of that grand old hymn "Coronation," 
whicli is sung in every clime, and has warmed 
the enthusiasm and religious devotions of 
millions of the sons and daughters of Prince 
Emmanuel. Mr. Dillaway has in his home, 
as one of the precious heirlooms, the desk 
upon which "Coronation" was written. 
01i\-er Holden imported the first organ into 
the United States. Mrs. Dillaway's cousin, 
Josiah Tyler, was a missionary in South 
Africa for forty years, and the author of 
several valual)le puljlicat'ons of a historic na- 
ture. Mrs. Dillaway died at h.er home in 
Troy, June 15, 1899, aged eighty-six years 
and three months. Three daughters blessed 
the home of Mr. Dillaway: ]\Iary .\.. who 
married Rev. G. C. Herriott and resides in 
Oakland, California: Harriett T-. who died 
in Troy, May 14, 1846. at the age of twen- 
ty-three years: and .\nna D.. the wife of 
Colonel Thomas D. Fitch, wlio resides in 
Troy, and with whom her father n'lakes his 
home. 

Mr. Dillawa_\- has been identified with the 
Presbyterian church all h's mature years. 
He served as a member of the official board 
for more than twenty years. He was 
a meml:>er ni the city council for two 
terms, also a member of the board of edu- 
cation for si.x years and part of that time 
was its president. He was also a inem- 
lier of the original board of trustees of the 
Riverside Cemeter}-, near Troy. In ]iolitics 
he was a Republican until 1884. He then 
cast his lot with the Prohibition i)arty until 
the party divided at the Pittsburg national 
convention in 1896, since which time he has 
acted with the Union Reform party. A man 
of i)ositi\'e con\ict;ons and tremendous en- 
ergy, he has been active in whate\er en- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



333 



gagetl his attention, wlietlier it was business, 
politics or religion. He never was a cipher 
anywhere or at any time. Successful in 
business, earnest in political convictions and 
devoted in his religion, he is now nearing the 
sunset of life with a record of which his chil- 
dren and grandchiklren may well be proud. 
Commencing a poor boy, ending with a com- 
petence, his life is an example of what e\'ery 
poor boy in this republic can accomplish by 
energy, perseverance and pluck that never 
surrenders to adverse circumstances. 



COLONEL O. H. BINKLEY. 

One of the bravest soldiers Miami 
county sent to the Ijattlefields of the south 
was Colonel Otho H. Binkley, who was 
born Septemljer i, 1826, in Somerset, Ohio. 
He was the son of Samuel O. and Julia A. 
(Ream) Binkley. When he arrived at the 
age of twenty-one he settled in Troy, Ohio, 
where he remained, except during his ser- 
vice in the Union army, until his death, 
which came to him October 9, 1898, swiftly, 
silently and without warning. The cause 
of his death was apoplexy. Before the war 
he was known as a modest, diffident young- 
man, careful in business and pleasant in 
social circles. He had a love of miltary tac- 
tics, and when the \\ar came he was a good 
drillmaster, and his services as such were 
in demand in the regiments of raw recruits 
Ohio was sending to the army of the Union. 

He enlisted in the One Hundred and 
Tenth Ohio Volunteer Lifantry September i, 
1862, and soon after was commissioned 
major of the regiment. He was promoted 
to lieutenant-colonel January r, 1864, for 
gallantry and efficient service in the cam- 
paign of the Wilderness. He was engaged 



with his regiment in over thirty battles and 
skirmishes. He fought with his regiment 
in the year 1863 in the battles of Winches- 
ter, Brandy Station and Mine Run. In 1864 
he was with his regiment in the battles of 
the Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Har- 
bor, Petersburg, I\b.)nocacy, and was with 
Sheridan at Winchester, Fisher's Hill and 
Cedar Creek. In 1865 he was in the final 
assault on Petersburg, and in the battle of 
Sailor's Creek. From the second day of 
the battle of the Wilderness he was in com- 
mand of the regiment by reason of the fact 
that the colonel J. Warren Keifer, was 
wounded, and subsequently promoted. A 
soldier, who was in his regiment, in a mem- 
oir of liim, wrote that "In battle he was 
calm and collected as on parade ground. 
Never needlessly exposing himself, or his 
men, he was always found at his post of 
duty apparently insensible to danger. He 
never commanded his regiment to go where 
he was not willing to lead. He was not am- 
bitious or anxious to gain military renown, 
but always went promptly and cheerfully 
when duty called. There were no priva- 
tions suffered by his men which he did not 
share. The battle over, his next care was 
for the wounded — to see that they were 
provided for." He was mustered out with 
his regiment June 25, 1865. After the war 
he became a member of the Loyal Legion, 
Ohio Commandery. 

After the war he returned to Tr(jy, and 
for more than thirty-three years made his 
home in this city. He never married, but 
lived with his sister, and after her death 
with his niece, Mrs. Stella Clayton. He 
lived a quiet, retired life, so modest in his 
demeanor, so gentle in his manner, so pure 
in his life, that those unacquainted with 
his career would never know that he was 



334 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the gallant veteran of tliirty battles, and 
had within his frail bod)' a lion heart and a 
dauntless spirit. Those who knew him best 
lo\-ed him most. e. s. w. 



URIAH VALEXTIXE. 

Uriah \'alentine. one nf the old and 
highly respected citizens of Xewberry town- 
ship, springs from sturdy German ancestry, 
and in his life has displayed the possession 
of those sterling qualities which have ever 
made the German race a power for good in 
the localities where its representatives ha\e 
lived and labored. His grandfather, John 
Valentine, was born in (jermany, and on 
emigrating to America located in Frederick 
county, ^Maryland, upon a farm, where his 
death occurred about 1840. He was at that 
time eighty-four years of age. His chil- 
dren were: Frederick, David, Daniel. Sol- 
omon, John, George: Mary, wife of Jacob 
Krause; and Catherine, wife of Samuel 
Singer. 

Frederick Valentine was born in Fred- 
erick county, Maryland, was reared in the 
usual manner of farmer lads and learned 
the shoemaker's trad.e. which he followed for 
a time. Subsec|uentl_\- he gave his attention to 
farming and purchased a small tract of land 
upon which he spent his remaining days, 
his death occurring about 1840. He .served 
ii! the war of 1812, being stationed al^out 
Baltimore. He married Catherine Bowerso.x, 
who was l)orn in Frederick county, Mary- 
land, a daughter of Valentine Bowerso.x, 
also a native of that state. Mrs. \'alentine 
died about 1821, and the father afterward 
married Elizabeth Kramer, a widow, whose 
death occurred about 1855. There were 
two children by the first marriage. Josiah 



was twice married, and in the fall of 1844 
came to Ohio with his brother, Uriah, locat- 
ing in Seneca count}-, whence he removed 
to Findlay. Hancock county, where his 
death occurred. Uriah was the younger 
son. The chiklren of the second marriage 
were: John Jacob, of Maryland, who 
wedded Mary Ann Shyn)ck : Eli David and 
Daniel Lewis, who are residents of Mary- 
land: James Augustus, who came to Ohio 
and located near Mansfield : Mary Magdalen, 
of Maryland : and Calvin Luther, who is also 
li\-ing in that state. 

Uriah \'alentine was born December 26, 
1819, on the old homestead in Frederick 
county, Maryland, was there reared to man- 
hood and obtained his education in the sub- 
scription schools. He was only two vears 
old when his mother died and he then went 
to live with his grandfather, \'alentine Bow- 
ersox. His early life was one of arduous 
toil, for as soon as old enough to handle a 
plow he began work in the fields and was 
thus engaged fn)m early morning until late 
ai night. At the age of sixteen he began 
learning the tailor's trade, and followed that 
pursuit after coming to Ohio. In 1844 he 
and his brother took up their abode in Sen- 
eca count\-. this state, ha\ing made the jour- 
ney mostly on foot, although they tra\eled 
for a short distance by stage. Mr. X'alen- 
tine of this review went to Tiffin, where 
he worked at his trade for a short time, 
and in the s])ring of 1845 he came to Cov- 
ington, where he engaged in the tailoring 
business for one year in ihe eniplov of A. 
Routzon. On the expiration of ihat period 
he returned to Maryland and worked for 
his grandfather for seven years. He then 
again came to Miami county and was once 
more in the emplov of Mr. I\<iutzon for 
three vears. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



335 



On the 19th of Fel)ruan-. 1854, Mr. 
Valentine was united in marriage to Har- 
rietta Finfrock. widow of Samuel Jay. They 
took up their aljode in Versailles, Ohio, 
where Mr. \'alentine worked at his trade 
until 1866, when they located on his present 
farm of ninety-four acres, which was the 
homestead property of Mrs. Valentine's 
father, George Henry Finfrock. By the 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Valentine was 
born one child, Lycurgus Bradford, whose 
birtii occurred in Versailles, Darke county, 
December 2/. 1857. He was educated in 
the country schools and married Hannah 
Swank, daughter of Henry Swank, by whom 
he has two chiklren, Eddie Leander and 
Clara Naomi. Mrs. Valentine died March 
10, 1885, in her sixty-second year, and her 
loss was deeply mourned by many friends 
throughout the community. Mr. Valen- 
tine still resides upon the farm, which he 
has owned and operated since 1866. He 
is a member of the Lutheran church, and is 
a stanch Denmcrat in his political views. 
For more than eighty years he has traveled 
life's journey and his career has been an ac- 
tive, useful and honciralde one, winning him 
the respect and confidence which should 
ever be accorded to one "who reaches that 
veneralile period of life. 

It will be interesting in this connection 
to note something of the history of the Fin- 
frock family to which Mrs. \'alentine be- 
longed. Her great-grandfather was a na- 
tive of Germany, and her grandfather. 
George Henry Finfrock, was born in that 
country, whence he came to the United 
States in early manhood. On reaching this 
country be was sold to pay bis passage. He 
settled near Lancaster city. Pennsylvania, 
where he followed the blacksmith's trade. 
He was an excellent mechanic, and his me- 



chanical ability w^s often displayed for the 
benefit of the boys of the neighborhood, for 
\vhom he manufactured jewsharps. He 
was always a friend to the young people, 
and did what he could to make their lives 
happy. Both he and his wife were mem- 
bers of the Lutheran church. His children 
were as follows : John, who made his home 
near Cbambersburg. Pennsylvania, until his 
death ; Peter, who married Barbara Palmer 
and \\as a wagon-maker by trade, following 
that pursuit until his removal to Miami coun- 
ty, where he de\-eloped a farm in the midst 
of the forest, in what is now Xewberry 
township, making his home thereon until 
his death ; and George Henry. The last 
named was born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and was married there to Ann 
Ivlary Bowersox, whose l)irth occurred in 
the Keystone state. They afterward re- 
moved to Carroll county. Maryland, and 
Mr. Finfrock operated his father's farm 
for several years. Li 1832 he came with 
his family to Miami county and in the midst 
of a heavily timbered region in Newberry 
township developed the farm now owned 
l)v Uriah Valentine. The ji>urney from 
Maryland was made in wagons and they 
were three weeks upon the way. During 
the first winter of their residence in Ohio 
they lived with an uncle, George Keifer. in 
Greene county, and the following spring 
came to Newberry township. There bis 
borne was a little cabin. 20x20 feet, Ijuilt of 
round logs. It contained but one room, in 
tlie end of which was a big fireplace, the 
smoke making its escape through a mud 
and stick chimney. Mr. Finfrock owned 
one hundred and ninety -six acres of land 
which he entered from the government, at 
a dollar and a quarter per acre. He 
was a carpenter by traile and was thus en- 



330 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



abled to keep everything alx)ut liis place in 
good repair. In the operation of his land 
he was assisted Ijy his sons and ultimately 
became the owner of a valuable property. 
When he came to Ohio he had just money 
enough to meet the expenses of the jour- 
ney, but as the years passed he added con- 
tinually to his capital and became the pos- 
sessor of a comfortable home. He died in 
1856. in his seventy-sixth year, and his 
wife has also passed away. They were 
members of the Lutheran church, and in 
his political belief Mr. Finfrock was a Demo- 
crat. 

Mr. Finfrock, brother of ^Irs. \'alen- 
tine, as born in Carroll county, Maryland, 
Feliruary ^5, 1826, and was six years of 
age when his parents brought him to Ohio 
with their other children, six in number. 
He walked most of the distance, although 
so young. He aided his father in clearing 
and developing the farm, and therefore his 
educational privileges were very limited. 
The schools of the neighborhood were con- 
ducted on the subscription plan, and his 
tirst teacher was John Perry. Mr. Fin- 
frock remained at home until he was twenty- 
two years of age, when he started out in 
business on his own account, learning the 
plasterer's trade, which he followed for 
thirty-five years. He was married April 
17, 1853. to Mary Umholts. For a year 
they resided in Versailles, after which he 
purchased his present farm, locating there- 
on. There his wife died November 6, 1853, 
and on the 22d of April, 1857, he wedded 
Mary Elizabeth Routson,(laughterof George 
and Xancy (Abel) Routson. Her death oc- 
curred February 24, 1S68, and on the 21st 
of November, 1869, he wedded Elizabeth 
M. Black, daughter of \^'illiam Black. By 
his first marriage he had one child, Mary 



Ann, who was born October 29, 1853, and 
died in infancy. The children of the sec- 
ond marriage are as follows : Milton Alex- 
ander, who was born February 19, 1858, 
and is a school teacher of Darke county; 
Josephine, l)orn January 24, 1859: David 
Clinton, who was born in 1862, and is now 
deceased ; and Israel Calvin, who was born 
January 28, 1865, and is a farmer of Darke 
county. Tlie children nf the third marriage 
are : Edith May, who was born August 2, 
1872, and is the wife of Lloyd Scando, of 
Pleasant Hill; Marietta Elizabeth, who was 
born February 2t,, 1875, and is the wife of 
Grant Stone, of Bradford; Carmina Ma- 
tilda, born December 4, 1877; Fanny, who 
was born October 4, 1879, and died in in- 
fancy; and George Henry,, who was born 
May 28, 1883. 

Mr. Finfrock has devoted his time to 
farming since abandoning the plasterer's 
trade, and is now the owner of eighty-seven 
acres of the home farm, and an ad- 
ditional tract of eighty-three acres. He 
is an enterprising agriculturist, widely 
and favorably known in his commu- 
nitv. When eighteen years of age he united 
with the Lutheran church and has since 
been one of its consistent members. In 
politics he is a stanch Democrat and has 
held a number of minor offices. 



WILLIAM H. .McMAXUS. 

William Henry McManus, of Picpia, is 
a native of Elizabeth township, Miami coun- 
ty, his birth having occurred on the 25th 
of July, 1855. His father, Benjamin F. Mc- 
^lanus, was born in Albany, New York, 
August 9, 1824. and was of Scotch lineage, 
John H. McManus. the grandfather of our 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



UT 



sul3Ject. was a native of Scotland, and in tliat 
land married Eve Brendel, daughter of Sam- 
uel and Barbara Brendel, of Glasgow. In 
the year 1796 Mr. and Mrs. McManus 
crossed the Atlantic to th^ New World and 
he lix-ed to an advanced age. They had three 
sons in the civil war; Irvin. who died on 
Do\'er's Island ; Henry, who was never heard 
from after the battle of Pittsburg Landing; 
and James, who lived to return, and died in 
Mercer count v. Ohio, in December, 1898. 

Benjamin F. ]\IcManus. the father of our 
subject pin-sued his education in .\lbany, 
New York, until he accompanied his parents 
on their removal from the Empire state to 
Cumberland county, Pennsyh-ania. When 
a young man in his twenty-third year he took 
up his abode in ]\Iiami county, locating in 
Troy on the 8th of April, 1847. About 1851 
he married ^liss Sarah J, ^^'rigley, a daugh- 
ter of John and Rebecca ( Holmes) Wrig- 
ley. The parents came from England and 
first settled in Kentucky, whence he after- 
ward removed to Montgomerv county, Ohio, 
later coming to Elizabeth township, Miami 
count}-. He owned a carding mill, manu- 
factured woolen goods and dealt in oiL. 
He was recogn-zed as a leading business 
man and a prominent citizen. 

\\'illiam Henry McManus. whose name 
introduces this record, pursued his education 
in the public schools of Miami county and 
for six years successfully engaged in teach- 
ing. He learned the carriage-maker's trade 
and for nineteen years followed that pur- 
suit in Troy. In 1896 he came to Piqua 
and was foreman of the Piqua Wagon 
Works until their recent destruction by fire. 
He has a comprehensive and thorottgh un- 
derstanding of the business in all of its de- 
partments and was fully competent to dis- 
charge the important duties devDlving upon 



him. As a business man he is very reliable 
and at all times has enjoyed the confidence 
of those with whom he has been connected. 
For t\\^o years he served^ as a member of 
the city council, giving his earnest sup- 
port to all measures which he belie\'es calcu- 
lated to prove of public benefit. He is a 
citizen of sterling worth, progressive and 
enterprising and in the active affairs of life 
lias justly won and merited the confidence 
and esteem of his fellow men. 

Mr. MciNIanus wedded Miss Priscilla 
Covault. daughter of L. C. Co\-ault, of Lost 
Creek township, who was one of the pio- 
neers of the community, very active in town- 
ship affairs and a leader in religious work 
in that section of the county. Mr. ancF 
Mrs. Timothy Covault. the grandparents 
of Mrs. McManus, were wed in their eastern 
liome and the following day startetl down 
the Ohio ri\er in a flatboat to estalilish a 
home in the then far distant wilderness. 
They traveled with a party who built a fort 
called Fort Covault, in honor of the grand- 
father who was the leader of the party and 
who was shortly afterward killed by the 
Indians. The family were early identified 
with the Baptist church and the active part 
which they took in all public affairs has 
made their name inseparably connected with 
the pioneer history of the state. 

Mr. ]\Ici\Ianus is a Democrat in his po- 
litical affiliations, socially is connected with 
the Royal Arcanum and has served as grand 
representative to the state lodge on several 
different occasions. Both he and his wife 
are active members of the Methodist church 
and take a deep interest in its work. They 
are greatly devoted to their only child, a 
son, Melville Wright McManus, of whom 
they have every reason to be proud. He was 
born at Troy, October- 28, 1882, began his 



338 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



education in the schools of that city and at 
the present time is serving his country in the 
distant Phihppines as corporal in Captain 
Gilmer's Company of the Thirty-first United 
States \'olunteer Infantry. He enlisted at 
Fort Thomas June i. 1899. and probably 
his parents were never called upon to make 
any greater sacrifice than when they gave 
their beloved and only son to tlie service of 
his country. He sailed on the ill-fated 
IManauense, which proved unseaworthy. 
The story of the heroism displayed by the 
Thirty-first on that terrible passage has been 
repeatedly told and will be recounted as long 
as history lasts, for seldom has such great 
heroism and sacrifice been displayed. For 
ten days and ten nights they bailed the water 
in which they were forced to stand up to 
their waists, and the water was intensely hot. 
coming from the boilers. The men had to 
endure great suffering, but with unflinching 
bravery they stood at their posts until the 
harbor was reached and they were released 
from their awful positions. Corporal Mc- 
^lanus", letters to his Piqua friends and par 
ticularly to Colonel Batelle are extremely 
interesting and have been published in the 
local press. The young man is tall, straight 
aufl sijldierly in bearing, and i\^o^^^ a mere 
bov he has l)een imbued with a military in- 
stinct and ambition and studied tactics as 
ardently as other boys read stories. At the 
Piqua high school he organized and was 
captain of the cadets and was major of the 
battalion. Many citizens of Piqua and 
prominent men of the town and county are 
greatly interested in the promising career of 
Corporal ^IcManus and desire to see him 
'spared to return to his patriotic and devoted 
parents, as well as to see him promoted in 
the army. The promotion would be well 
deserved, for he is well versed in all militar)- 



tactics, possesses a sturdy loyalty of the true 
soldier, is popular with his comrades and 
has displayed unflinching braver\- in defense 
of the stars and stripes. 



JOHN A. XUXLIST. 

John A. Xunlist. proprietor of the City 
H(5tel of Tippecanoe City, is a genial host 
whose pleasant manner and unfailing court- 
esy have won him the favor of the traveling 
public and secured to him a liberal patron- 
age. He was born in X'ieder Erlinsbach, 
Switzerland, on the 7th of December. 1844, 
his parents being A'ictor and Catherine 
(Buser) Xunlist. In their family were the 
following children. John A.. John D., \\'ill- 
iam L.. Lena. Emil. Albert and Louisa. All 
of these now reside in Ohio. 

A\'hen the subject of this review was a 
lad of twehe years he began earning his own 
living, working in a silk mill in his native 
city. In the spring of i860 he came to 
America, crossing the Atlantic on a sailing 
vessel which, after a voyage of fifty-seven 
days, reached the harbor of Xew York. 
Making his way to Ohio he took up his 
residence in Shelby county, where the father 
purchased a farm. Soon afterward he was 
bound out to a man in St. Johns. ]\Iercer 
county. Ohio, to learn the Ijlacksmith's trade, 
and with him continued from July. 1861, 
until March, 1862, when, without consult- 
ing his parents, he responded to the call of 
liis adopted country for aid and became a 
private in Company C. One Hundred and 
Eighteenth Ohio \'olunteer Infantry. The 
regiment went to Camp Allen, thence to 
Kentucky and through that state into Ten- 
n.essee. where Mr. X'unlist was taken ill with 
typhoid fever. Soon afterward he was sent 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



339 



back to Lexington, Kentucky, and later was 
in the hospital at Covington. Kentucky, for 
some time. As he was then only eight- 
een years of age his father secured his re- 
lease from the service, and returning to Ohio 
he began work for Fred Huber in a butcher 
shop, where he remained until 1871. when 
he went to Dayton. Ohio, remaining there 
from April until October of that year. He 
then came to Tippecanoe City, where he was 
engaged in the butchering business until 
1873, at which time he removed to Spring- 
field, Ohio, but after a year there passed 
returned to Tippecanoe City. Here he con- 
ducted the Henn Hotel until 1877. when he 
purchased the hotel, which he has since con- 
ducted. It was then known as the Carl 
Hotel but is now carried on under the name 
of the City Hotel. He has made many 
excellent improvements in the building and 
in its furnishing and has a well equipped 
hostelry, in which he has met with gratify- 
ing success. 

On the 19th of June, 1871. Air. Xunlist 
was united in marriage to Miss Julia Mess- 
ner. a nati\'e of Buffalo, New York, and they 
now have four children : Minnie, v.'ife of 
Jacob Hanil. who conducts a hotel at West 
Milton; Lulu, Frank D. and Edward S., 
ar home. They also lost one child, Victor, 
who died at the age of seven months. He 
was the third in order of birth. Mr. Nun- 
list is a member of the D. M. Rouzer Post, 
G. A. R., of Tippecanoe City and is past 
commander. He belongs to the Catholic 
church and in politics is a Democrat, on 
which ticket he has been elected city council- 
man, serving in that office from 1884 until 
1890. He started out in life for himself 
when only twelve yeas of age and \v.\y 
truly be called a self-made man, for his 
steady advancement has been the outcome of 



untiring diligence, guided by sound judg- 
ment. His worth as a man and citizen is 
widely acknowledged, and he has gained 
many warm friends among his fellow towns- 
men and among those who are entertained 
ar the City Hotel. 



DORSEY HONEYMAN. 

Dorsey Honeyman is numbered among 
the native sons of Miami county, his 
l)n-th having occurred June 24. 1866, 
on the old homestead farm now oc- 
cupied by William Michaels. His fa- 
ther, Audrey Honeyman, was born in 
Union township, Miami county. Septem- 
ber 16, 1830. and, havingf arri\ed at years 
of maturity, he wedded Alary Pearson, a 
daughter of Moses Pearson. In their fam- 
ily were four children : Mary E.. who died 
in infancy; Esther, wife of Albert McMan- 
us ; Dorsey ; and Minerva, who also died in 
infancy. The father of our subject re- 
mained on the farm with his family until 
his marriage, which occurred in 1857. Soon 
afterward he removed to Monroe township, 
on section 29. his father giving him forty 
acres of land there. The place was improved 
with a house of one room, and a log stable. 
There Mr. Honeyman remained until about ' 
1870. when he removed to the farm now 
occupied by his son Dorsey. having there 
one hundred and fifty-six acres of land on 
sections 19 and 20, Monroe township. To 
the development and improvement of that 
farm he devoted his energies until his death, 
which occurred in January, 1892. The 
buildings upon the place were erected by 
him and he made excellent improvements, 
becoming the owner of one of the attractive 



S40 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and valuable farms of the neighborhood. 
As his financial resources increased he also 
extended the boundaries of his farm by ad- 
ditional purchases and became the owner of 
three hundred and thirteen acres. In poli- 
tics he was a Democrat, but gave no active 
attention to campaign work, preferring to 
•devote his time and energies to his business. 
He died January 2, 1892. and was laid to 
rest in the old family burying ground. His 
wife passed away some years previous, 
being called to her final rest in September, 
1870, when only thirty years of age. 

Dorsev Honeyman was born and reared 
on the old family homestead and assisted 
in the cultivation of the farm until his fa- 
ther's death, when he assumed its manage- 
ment and has since made it his home. He 
now owns one hundred and fifty-six acres 
■of rich land in this tract and also has other 
property, including eighty-eight acres in one 
tract and twenty acres in another tract, mak- 
ing in all about two hundred and sixty-four 
acres. His methods of farming are practical 
and progressive and he thoroughly under- 
stands the. business in every detail, his well- 
tilled fields indicating his careful supervision 
while the improvements upon the farm stand 
as monuments of his thrift and enterprise. 

In March, 1887, occurred the marriage 
■of Mr. Honeyman and Miss Annie Stock- 
slager, and to them have been born four chil- 
■dren, three of whom are living : Guy, Ethel 
and Dessie. Bertha, the eldest daughter, is 
now deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Honeyman are 
widely and favorably known in this locality, 
having a large circle of friends who esteem 
them highly for their sterling worth. He 
is a representative of one of the old families 
of Miami county and is a public-spirited 
citizen who well deserves mention in this 
volume. 



SAMUEL D. FRANK. 

When the tocsin of war sounded and the 
n.ews flashed over the country that Fort 
Sumter had been fired upon, a spirit of pa- 
triotism was aroused at the north that 
burned brighter and brighter until the su- 
premacy of the national government at 
Washington was established and the Con- 
federacy overthrown. Among those who 
loyally responded to the country's call for 
troops was Samuel D. Frank, and in private 
life he has been as true and faithful in the 
discharge of his duties of citizenship as when 
he followed the starry banner upon south- 
ern battlefields. He has been called to serve 
in many public offices and is now the effi- 
cient postmaster of Troy. 

Mr. Frank is a native of Darke county, 
Ohio, his birth having occurred where the 
city of Greenville now stands, on the nth of 
August, 1 84 1, his parents being George and 
Mary (Lutz) Frank, natives of Pennsyl- 
vania. They located in Darke county, Ohio, 
about 1838. and in 1842 they came to Miami 
county, where the father carried on agri- 
cultural pursuits as a means of livelihood. 
He died in Mercer county, Ohio, February 
9, 1898, in the ninety-second year of his 
age, and his wife passed away March 9, 
1888, when about seventy-seven years of 
age. her death also occurrmg in Mercer 
county. 

Mr. Frank, whose name introduces this 
review, was the fourth in their family of 
six children, and with one exception all are 
yet li\ing. He was reared on a farm, 
acquiring a common school education, and 
August 18, 1862, when twenty-one years 
o*^ age, he joined the boys in blue of Com- 
pany A, One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Vol- 
in.teer Infantrv. He went to the front as a 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



841 



corporal, and when discharged held the 
rank of first sergeant. He participated in 
the battles of Mine Run, the Wilderness, 
Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor and Monoc- 
acy, and others of minor importance. On 
the 9th of July, 1864, at Monocacy, he sus- 
tained a gunshot wound. This unfitted him 
for further service and he received an hon- 
orable discharge on the 24th of December, 
following. 

Mr. Frank immediately returned to his 
home and in 1865, on the Republican ticket, 
was elected sheriff of Miami county, and 
the able manner in which he discharged his 
duties led to his re-election in 1867. In 
1869 he was elected treasurer of Miami 
county, serving for a term of two years. 
Thus he was in the public service of the 
county for six consecutive years, and is the 
only man who, while holding the office of 
sherifif, has been elected treasurer. Subse- 
quently he served as county commissioner 
for twenty months and has held a number 
of minor positions. In 1896 he was chosen 
presidential elector for the seventh con- 
gressional district of Ohio and had the honor 
of casting his vote for William McKinley. 
On the 1 6th of March, 1898, he was ap- 
pointed by the president to the position of 
postmaster of Troy and is now capably fill- 
ing that office, his administration being char- 
acterized by promptness and fidelity in the 
discharge of his duties. He has long been 
recognized as a leader in the ranks of the 
Republican party of his community. 

On the 20th of December, 1866, Mr. 
Frank was united in marriage to Miss Sallie 
C. Looney, of Miami county, and they now 
have four children : Lee C. ; Mabel, wife of 
J H. Scott ; Maude and Florine. Mr. Frank 
is a member of Coleman Post, G. A. R., of 
Troy, and he and his wife are members of 



the Methodist Episcopal church. For more 
than a third of a century he has been a resi- 
dent of this city and his straightforward and 
honorable career commends him to the re- 
spect and regard of all who know him. 



JEREMIAH HOLLOWAY. 

Jeremiah Holloway is the oldest sheet- 
iron roller of Piqua. He has ded a busy, 
useful and honorable life and well deserves 
representation in this volume. He was born 
June 9, 1837, at Brierley Hill, Stafford- 
shire, England, and there spent his boyhood 
days and learned his trade. He was also 
married in the land of his birth, and with 
his wife and two children came to America 
in September, 1868, on the steamer Nebras- 
ka. He took up his abode at Pittsburg, 
where he remained for a short time, after 
which he lived at various times at Iron- 
vale and Wheeling. West Virginia; Iron- 
ton, Pennsylvania; Pittsburg; Portsmouth, 
Cleveland and Niles, Ohio; and Covington, 
Kentucky, spending ten years in the latter 
place. In 1889 he took up his abode in 
Piqua, where he has since made his home, 
employed as a sheet roller. Through his 
long and active business career he has 
worked in rolling mills and thoroughly un- 
derstands the business, both in principle and 
detail. 

In December, 1862, Mr. Holloway was 
married to Miss Myra Adderley. who was 
born April 20, 1840, at Brierley Hill, Staf- 
fordshire, England. Eight children were 
born unto this worthy couple, namely : Will- 
iam I.; Jeremiah, who died in infancy; Ann 
Elizabeth, wife of Almond H. Porshall; 
Percival, who is employed in the rolling 
mills ; Oscar and Jerry Adderley, who are 
also employed in the rolling mills; Edna 



342 



GENEALOGICAL AND BfOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



M., who is a teacher in the Spring street 
school; and Irwin A., who is also employed 
in the roUing mills. Mr. Holloway belongs 
to the Episcopal church and his wife is a 
member of tlie Methodist church. She is 
a highly educated, inteUigent woman and 
has many warm friends in this community. 
Mr. Holloway exercises his right of fran- 
chise in support of the men and measures of 
the Republican jjarty. but has never sought 
nor desired the honors and emoluments of 
office for himself. He has depended entirely 
upon his own efforts for his advancement in 
life, and his indefatigable labor has been the 
ladder upim which he has mounted to a place 
among the substantial citizens of Piqua. 



CHARLES C. JOXES. 

Charles C. Jones, now deceased, was for 
many years a prominent agriculturist of 
Brown townshii) and was a man whom to 
know was to respect and honor. He was 
born in the township where he so long re- 
sided, and on the farm "adjoining his home- 
stead. His birth occurred October 13, 1837, 
his parents being Solomon and Mary ( Tuly) 
Jones. His father was born in Shelby county. 
Kentucky, December 25, 1816, and was 
brought to Ohio by his parents. Having 
arrived at years of maturity, he ntarried 
]\Iary Tuly, daughter of Thomas and Eliza- 
beth (Borden) Tuly. She was born in New 
Jersey, January 24, 18 14, and when six years 
of age was brought to Ohio, the family set- 
tling in Warren county, whence they came to 
Miami county when she was twelve years 
of age. Her parents died in this county, the 
former at the age of forty-six years and 
the mother at the age of seventy-five years. 
Solomon Jones began his domestic life in 
Lost Creek township, but, during the in- 



fancy of our subject, removed with his fam- 
ily to the present homestead farm in Brown 
township. He died at the age of thirty- 
eight years, leaving four children, namely : 
Charles Clinton; Elizabeth, who died at the 
age of sixteen years; Miranda, wife of 
Henry Chambers, of Princeton, Indiana; 
and Caroline, wife of Henry Eyer, of Troy. 
The mother of this family remained on the 
farm and is still living there with her daugh- 
ter-in-law. Mrs. Charles C. Jones. 

Mr. Jones, whose name introduces this 
review, was about eighteen years of age 
when his father died, and after two years 
passed in Fletcher he assumed the manage- 
ment of the old home place. During the 
Civil war he volunteered at Camp Piqua, 
August 12, 1862. and served for two years 
and eleven months with the One Hundred 
and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He 
participated in the battles of the Wilder- 
ness, \\'inchester. Locust Grove and Kelly's 
Ford. At \\'inchester he was captured by 
"Stonewall" Jackson's army and held as a 
prisoner of war for forty days, being among 
the last prisoners of war exchanged. He 
rose from the ranks to the position of ser- 
geant, and at the close of the war received 
an honorable discharge, having made an ex- 
cellent military record as a brave and loyal 
soldier. 

After his return home Mr. Jones re- 
sumed the operation of the home farm, and 
later purchased his sister's interest in the 
property. His mother had remained on the 
old homestead and superintended the culti- 
vation of a portion of it. The home 
place comprised one hundred and sixty 
acres, to which Charles C. Jones added 
from time to time until the farm is 
now four hundred and seven acres in 
extent. It is improved with four sets of 




Ji^ 



N 



HT 

4 





GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



345 



excellent farm buildings and all of the iilace 
is rented, except the uriginal homestead, 
which is occupied by ]\lrs. Jones and her 
family. In connection with the raising of 
grain Mr. Jones became an extensive and 
successful stock raiser, and kept on hand 
a fine grade of horses and cattle. During 
his life time he operated the entire farm 
and was very successful in both branches 
of his business. In 1874 he erected the pres- 
ent resilience. He was married in that year, 
on the 28th of May. to Miss Jeanette R. 
Reynolds, who was born in Urbana, Ohio, 
Septemlier 2j, 1855. her parents being Ben- 
jamin and ]\Iary Ann (Townsend) Rey- 
nolds, She li\-ed at Urbana until her mar- 
riage, and to her husband she was ever a 
faithful companion and helpmate. Their 
union w^as blessed with seven children : Fred 
R,, l)orn March 6, 1876, who is cultivating 
a part of the farm; Edith C, born Septem- 
ber 30, 1877; Thomas E,, born December 

2. 1879, who is living on the old farm ; Mary 
B,. born May 9, 1882; Blaine, who was 
born May 13, 1884, and died at the age of 
two years and three months; Reah A., born 
March 27, 1886: and Charles Leonard, born 
November 30, 1896. All of the children are 
living- at home, Fred R. was married De- 
cember 24, 1895, to Clara A. Anderson, of 
Shelby county, and after four years of mar- 
ried life she departed this world, dying May 

3. 1900- 

Mr, Jones died October 13, 1899, on 
the sixty-second anniversary of his birth. 
His death occurred quite suddenly as the 
result of heart trouble, which had been con- 
tracted by exposure in the army. For two 
or three 3'ears previously he had suffered 
considerably from his heart, but it was not 
thought that he was in a precarious condi- 
tion, and even upon the dav of his death he 
20 



attended to his business affairs. His de- 
mise came as a great IjIow to his many 
friends as well as to his immediate family. 
In politics he was a stalwart Republican, 
unswerving in his support of the principles 
of the party, yet was never an aspirant for 
office. For twenty-three years he held mem- 
bership in the Masonic fraternity, of Lena, 
and was buried with ^Masonic honors, many 
lodges throughout the county sending dele- 
gations to the funeral to pay the last tribute 
of respect to a brother whose life was a 
splendid exemplification of the benevolent 
principles of the fraternit}-, its mutual help- 
fulness, kindness and forbearance. He was 
an earnest, upright man. always just, and 
not without that greater attribute of mercy. 
In his farm work he took just pride, made 
first-class improvements upon the place, laid 
hundreds of rods of tiling and did all in his 
power to make a good home for his family 
and supply them with all the comforts of 
life. He was laid to rest in the family bury- 
ing ground beside his father and sister. His 
friends were legion; he had no enemies. In 
all life's relations he commanded the respect 
of all with whom he came in contact, and 
to his family he left the priceless heritage 
of a good name. Mrs, Jones and her chil- 
dren still reside upon the old homestead, 
their residence being one of the best in the 
northeastern part of Miami county. The 
family is one of prominence in the com- 
munity. Its members occup)' leading posi- 
tions in society, and are respected for their 
good equalities of both heart and mind. 



MADISON ROBINS. 

It is the plain, unassuming citizen who 
silently but surely makes the history of a 
country, and the subject of this sketch has 



346 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



been not that alone, but a plain, unassuming 
soldier and local official, and has proven de- 
pendable in his relations to every trust in 
him. The brief record of his career may 
not prove exciting, but it will be found to 
contain a lesson in industry, in integrity 
and in patriotism that should not be lost to 
the rising generation. 

Madison Robins was born in Lost Creek 
township, Miami county, Ohio, October 3, 
1834, a son of Benjamin and Permilla (Co- 
vault) Robins. 

Benjamin Robins, the father of or sub- 
ject, was born in Ohio. His father, Rich- 
ard Robins, emigrated to Miami coimty, 
Oliio, at an early day and located on one 
Iiundred and sixty acres in Staunton town- 
ship, of this county, where lie was one of 
the pioneers. The land he entered was af- 
terward owned by his grandsons, Madison 
and Erastus Robins. His son, Benjamin 
Robins, had a family of ten children, of 
whom Madison Robins was the third born. 
Benjamin Robins died on February 24, 
1854, his wife on April 16, 1843, aged thir- 
ty-eight years, and their remains rest in the 
Lost Creek Baptist church cemetery. 

During the infancy of our subject his 
parents removed to Staunton township, lo- 
cating on section 4, where he was reared to 
manhood. Through the summer months he 
followed the plow, in the fall he aided in 
harvesting the crops and in the winter sea- 
son he pursued his education in the com- 
mon schools. He started out in life for 
himself when twenty years of age, renting 
the old farm which he afterward purchased. 
He lived there until 1870, when he removed 
to Springfield, Ohio, making his home in 
that city for eighteen months, during which 
time he engaged in buying and shipping 
hogs. At the expiration of that period he 



returned to the farm, where he made his 
home for about nine years, after which he 
spent eighteen months in Trtiy. He then 
came to his present home in Staunton town- 
ship and has since given his time and at- 
tention to buying and shipping timber. 

On the 14th of October, 1855, Mr. 
Robins was married to Miss Elizabeth Earn- 
heart. They now have two children, 
named Lucinda J. and Sarah F. .Mrs. 
Robins was the daughter of John ami 
Elizabeth (Robinson) Earnheart. and 
was born in September, 1833. Her father 
died June 14, 1863. aged sixty-five years and 
eight months, and her mother December 10, 
1862, at the age of fifty-nine years and five 
months. Mrs. Robins joined the Lost 
Creek Christian church when fifteen years 
of age and her husband in 1868. They are 
members of the Troy Christian church and 
Mr. Robins is a deacon in that body. Their 
daughter, Lucinda J., married Hiram Beard 
and they have two children, Charles M. and 
William O. Their daughter, Sarah F.. 
married Joseph J. Hart, and they have one 
ilaughter named Ferry Pearl. 

In 1864 Mr. Robins left his home and 
family to aid in the defense of the Union, 
enlisting on the 14th of May of that year 
as a member of Company K, One Hundred 
and Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
and was mustered in at Camp Dennison. The 
regiment was sent to guard Washington, and 
Mr. Robins served in the vicinity of that 
city until the expiration of his term of one 
hundretl days, when he was mustered out as 
sergeant of his company, in Septemlier, 
1864. In politics Mr. Robins is a stalwart 
Republican. In 1891 he was appointed 
township trustee to fill a vacancy, as the 
successor to S. D. Frank, and by re-election 
has been continued in that office for eight 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



347 



years, and has proved a most competent and 
faithful official. The promptness and fidel- 
ity with which he discharges his duties is 
indicated by the fact that he has been the 
popular choice of his fellow citizens through 
almost a decade. In all life's duties he has 
been alike honorable, and is regarded as one 
of the leading, influential and valued citi- 
zens of his community. 



JAMES C. MOORE. 

For the second time James C. Moore is 
•occupying the position of county recorder of 
Miami county, his record being character- 
ized by marked fidelity to duty and superior 
ability in the discharge of the tasks that 
devolve upon him. A native of Adams 
■county, Ohio, he was born on the uth of 
March, 1859, his parents being Elihu and 
Elizabeth (\\'right) Moore. The former, 
a native of the Buckeye state, was born in 
181 2, and died near Troy, Ohio, in 1889. 
The mother died in Darke county, Ohio, at 
the age of fifty-six years. James C. Moore, 
the youngest of their nine children, five of 
whom are yet living, attended the common 
schools, and after acquiring a good pre- 
liminary education matriculated in the Na- 
tional Normal University, in Lebanon, Ohio, 
in 1883. He spent two years in that insti- 
tution, and then began teaching, a profes- 
sion which he had followed for four years be- 
fore he entered upon his normal course. He 
spent thirteen years in the school room as an 
educator, and in the years 1894-95 was su- 
perintendent of schools for the townships of 
Concord and Staunton, in Miami county. 
He had the ability to impart clearly and 
readily to others the knowledge he had ac- 
quired, and his efficient work won him pres- 
tige among the educators of this locality. 



In politics Mr. Moore is an active Re- 
publican. He keeps well informed on the 
issues of the day, and takes great interest in 
supporting the principles of his party and 
securing their adoption through the power 
of his ballot. In the fall of 1895 he was 
elected recorder of Miami county and so 
capably filled the office that he was re-elected 
for a second term in the fall of 1898, receiv- 
ing the largest vote of any candidate on the 
ticket who had an opponent, his majority 
being fourteen hundred and seventy-two. 

In August, 1885, occurred the marriage 
of Mr. Moore and Miss Alice C. Foster, of 
Miami county. They now have four chil- 
dren. — Emma B., Eugene, Harry and Ethel 
May. Mrs. Moore is a daughter of John 
and Ruth (^ Thomas) Foster, natives of 
Pennsylvania, whence they removed to 
Miami county, Ohio. The father lived to 
be sixty-four years of age, and the mother is 
still living, her home being in Troy. Mr. 
Moore is a Univcrsalist in religious belief, 
while his wife is a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church. Socially he is connected 
with Troy Lodge, No. 43, I. O. O. F.. and 
with Concord Encampment. He is true to 
the best interests of citizenship, is most loyal 
to the trusts reposed in him and commands 
the respect of his fellow men by his fidelity 
and worth. His standing, both in political 
and social cuxles, is high, and he is very 
popular as a county official. 



JOHN G. PETERSON. 

One of the enterprising farmers of 
Staunton township is Mr. Peterson, who 
owns and operates a tract of ninety acres 
on section 20. He was born in Staunton 
township May 28, 1831, a son of Ralph and 



348 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Sarah (Hardinbrook) Peterson. The fa- 
ther was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, 
near Cincinnati, and came to Miami county 
in 1827, locating on the farm where the 
birth of our subject occurred. He there en- 
tered one hundred and sixty acres of raw 
land from the government, the tract being 
still in its primitive condition. He then 
erected a double' log house of two rooms, 
after \\hich he laegan the arduous task of 
clearing the land, which was cqvered with 
a heavy growth of oak, walnut and maple 
trees. His large forest of maples led him 
to establish a sugar camp, which he con- 
ducted for a great many years. He was 
also successfully engaged in the raising of 
grain, and extended the scope of his labors 
by conducting a cooper shop. His indus- 
try was very marked, and he was actively 
connected with business interests for many 
years. He continued his residence upon 
the farm until his death, which occurred 
when he was eighty-three years of age. He 
was a leading and influential citizen, who 
served for three years as county commis- 
sioner, holding that position at the time 
the jail was built in Troy. The main part 
of the county infirmary was also built dur- 
ing his incumbency, and his official support 
was given to these and to all other measures 
which he believed would prove of public 
benefit. In politics he was a Republican, 
earnest in his advocacy of the principles 
of the party. 

The parents of our subject had a family 
of eleven children: Mary and Alexander, 
both deceased ; Emily, wife of Jeremiah 
Counts, of Sedalia, Missouri ; Madison, who 
lives in Piqua; John G. ; Jacob, who is living 
on a part of the old homestead farm; Julia 
A., who died in infancy; Martha, wife of 
William Cushion, a resident farmer of 



Staunton township; Adeline, deceased wife 
of Dr. \\'alton, of Piqua ; William, who is 
living in Piqua ; and Charles, now deceased. 

Mr. Peterson, of this review, was born 
and reared on the old home farm, and ob- 
tained his education in the public schools of 
the neighborhood. The first school which 
he attended was held in a building construct- 
ed of logs, and furnished after the primitive 
manner of the times. He assisted in the 
work of the farm until sixteen years of age, 
and then began learning the stonecutter's 
trade, at which he worked until i860, when 
he returned to the old farmstead, which he 
operated in connection with his brother, 
Jacob, until 1866. In that year he came 
to the farm upon which he now resides. In 
the meantime, however, he responded to the 
coimtry's call for troops, enlisting on the 2d 
of May, 1864. as a private of Company K, 
One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio \'ol- 
unteer Infantry. He was mustered in at 
Camp Dennison and participated in the de- 
fense of \\'ashington, being stationed at 
Fort IMarcy, on th.e Potomac river, until 
honorably discharged, in September of that 
year. 

Mr. Peterson was married, December 29, 
1856, to Miss Catherine Brooks, and to them 
have been born four children : Ada, wife 
of Theodore Shearer; Willis, a farmer of 
Staunton township ; Frederick now deceased ; 
and Stella, at home. The family reside on 
section 20, Staunton township, where Mr. 
Peterson owns and operates ninety acres of 
rich and arable land. The place is con- 
veniently situated on the Troy and Piqua 
pike, thus ha\ing easy communication with 
the town. Mr. Peterson carries on gen- 
eral farming, has placed his fields under a 
high state of cultivation and has made many 
of the improvements on his place. His. 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



349 



agricultural methods are progressive, and 
he is accounted one of the wide-awake and 
practical farmers of the neighhorhood. His 
ballot supports the men and measures of 
the Republican party. He was one of the 
organizers of the Farmers' Club, organized 
for the purpose of promoting agricultural 
interests by the interchange of progressi\'e 
ideas, and for twelve years he has been a 
consistent member of the Christian church at 
Troy. 



MICHAEL HONEYMAN. 

Among the pioneers of Miami county 
who have passed to "the undiscovered coun- 
try from whose bourne no traveler returns" 
is Michael Honeyman, who became a resi- 
dent of this locality in 1823. He was 
born in Pennsylvania. Septeml^er 1. 1820, 
and three years later was brought to the 
Buckeye state by his parents, Benjamin and 
Mary (Knife) Honeyman, who made the 
trip westward by water and team. On 
reaching Miami county the father settled on 
the farm which Benjamin Honeyman now 
owns. Under the parental roof the subject 
of this review was reared and also became fa- 
miliar with the arduous duties of developing 
and improving new land. He attended the 
common schools through the winter months, 
but in the summer seasons aided in the work 
of field and meadow. On the i8th of De- 
cember, 1845, he was united in marriage 
to Miss Lucinda Hoover, whose birth oc- 
curred near Milton, Miami county, on the ist 
of May, 1828. She was a daughter of John 
Hoover, whose birth occurred on the same 
farm in 1804. Her grandfather was John 
Hoover, Sr., a native of South Carolina, 
who was married in his native state and 
thence came to Ohio, locating on the farm 



wliich was the birthplace of his son, John, 
and his granddaughter. Mrs. Honeyman. 
He erected a log cabin of two rooms and be- 
gan clearing the hea\-y timber from his 
land. As John Hoover, Jr., attained suffi- 
cient strength to cope with the hard labor, 
he assisted his father in the work of the 
farm and remained at home until his mar- 
riage. He wedded Mary Carroll, and to 
them were born 'twelve children, nine of 
whom reached man and womanhood. For 
his second wife he chose Mrs. Brombaugh, 
and they had a family of four children. 
Unto Mr. and [Mrs. Honeyman were born 
thirteen children, namely : Sarah Jane, now 
deceased ; Webster, who has also passed 
away; Benjamin F., who is living in Union 
township ; Almeda and John, both deceased ; 
George, who is living in Tippecanoe City; 
Davis, a farmer residing in Concord town- 
ship; Handford, who makes his home near 
Gettysburg, in Darke county, Ohio; Har- 
vey, who carries on agricultural pursuits in 
Staunton township, Miami county; Enie- 
line, wife of Ira Grisso, who operates the 
home farm; Elizabeth, who died in infancy; 
Cora B., wife of B. F. Fritz, who is living 
jiear Kessler ; and Enos, who is associated 
W'ith Mr. Grisso in the operation of the home 
farm. 

It was in 1846 that Mr. Honeyman, of 
this re\-iew, removed to Monroe township, 
securing a tract of land which he cultixated 
and improved until i860, when he came to 
the farm upon which his death occurred, 
July 26, 1893. He devoted his energies to 
the cereals best adapted to this climate and 
to the raising of such stock as was needed 
for home use. He first became owner of a 
tract of eighty acres, but to this he added 
until he had about two hundred acres 
in Monroe township. He was also 



350 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the owner of eighty acres in Concord 
township, Miami connty, besides fifty-three 
acres near Rocliester, Indiana. In 1869 
he built a fine l)rick residence upon 
his farm, and all the improvements seen 
there stand as monuments to his thrift and 
enterprise. He was a successful agricult- 
urist, whose progressive, yet practical, meth- 
ods enabled him to annually add to his capi- 
tal until he became the possessor of a com- 
fortable competence. At the time of his 
death both Mr. and Mrs. Honeyman had 
been members of the German Baptist church 
for forty-two years, and were ever faith- 
ful to their professions. His life was ever 
honorable and upright, his business reputa- 
tion unassailable, and all who knew him en- 
tertained for him the highest regard. His 
life was unmarked by events of startling im- 
portance, but at all times it was character- 
ized by fidelity to every manly principle, 
and he thereby won a host of warm friends 
who greatly mourned his loss. In his death 
the family lost a faithful and loving husband 
and father, the communit}' a valued citizen, 
and Miami county an honored pioneer well 
worthy of representation in her history. 



JAMES H. CALD\\'ELL. 

James H. Caldwell has spent his entire 
life ujion the farm which he now occupies, 
his birth having there occurred on the 2d of 
February, 1841. He is a representative of 
one of the honored pioneer families of this 
section of the state. His paternal grand- 
parents were Stephen and Catherine Cald- 
well, natives of Maryland, in which state 
the former died. The latter spent her last 
years in the home of her son, James, and 
was called to her final rest at the advanced 



age of ninety years. This worthy couple 
had a family of four children: Martha, 
who became the wife of John Myers and 
died at Gettysburg, Ohio; Margaret, who 
died in 1863; James, the father of ouf sub- 
ject; and one who died in childhood. James 
Caldwell was born near Emmitsburg, Mary- 
land, August 6, 1797, and died in February, 
1 86 1. In the state of his nativit}' he wedded 
Hannah Bouey, who died in September, 
1853, ^^ the age of thirty-nine years. Leav- 
ing his home in Maryland, James Caldwell 
walked to Ohio and located a farm in Darke 
county, about 1832. He then returned on 
foot to his home, and later removed his 
family to the Buckeye state, making the 
trip with wagons. He, however, again 
walked the entire distance. About 1835 
he purchased a quarter-section of land in 
the extreme northwest corner of Xewton 
township, and there made his home until his 
death, which occurred in 1861. By trade 
he was a blacksmith. His children were : 
Xancy, wife of Ephraim Pierson; and James 
Harvey. 

The latter has made farming his life 
work. He was reared to that pursuit, be- 
ginning work in the fields as soon as old 
enough to handle the plow. Through the 
winter seasons he attended the country 
schools until about nineteen j-ears of age, 
and in the summer months he assisted in 
the work of plowing, planting and harvest- 
ing. In 1861 his father died and the entire 
management of the old homestead devolved 
upon him. \\'hen the country became in- 
volved in hostilities between the north and 
south he greatly desired to enlist but was 
compelled to remain at home until 1864, 
when he responded to the call for one hun- 
dred-day men, and was made second lieu- 
tenant of Company G, One Hundred and 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



'651 



Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry. When that 
regiment was consolidated with another he 
hecanie a private. Throughout his husi- 
ness career lie has carried on agricultural 
pursuits, and is todav the owner of a xal- 
uable and attractive farm of eighty acres, 
upon which he has made excellent improve- 
ments. These well tilled fields yield to him 
a golden tribute, and the substantial build- 
ings, kept in good repair, indicate his careful 
super\ision and progressive spirit. 

On the 4th of July. 1861, Mr. Caldwell 
was united in marriage to Miss Eunice 
I'earson, who was born in Newton town- 
ship, December 18, 1837. and is a daughter 
of Joseph and L_\xlia ( Macy ) Pearson. Her 
paternal grandparents were Benjamin and 
Esther Pearson. Her maternal grand- 
father, Paul Macy, was born in North Caro- 
lina, was of Quaker faith, and was a direct 
tlcscendant of Thomas Macy, the first white 
man that lived on Nantucket Island. He 
had a S(in, Jnhn, and the latter became the 
father of four sons, Thomas, John, Richard 
and Jabez. Of these Thomas, the eldest, had 
a son Joseph, whose son Paul was the great- 
grandfather of Mrs. Caldwell. John Macy 
was married and had a son John, whose 
daughter Bethiah had a son Paul. The last 
named became the father of Lydia and she 
had a daughter Eunice. Richard Macy had 
a son Zacheus and he a daughter Phebe, and 
she a daughter Sarah, and she a son Will- 
iam, and he a daughter Delilah, and the last 
named married David S. Macy, an uncle of 
Mrs. Caldwell. Jabez Macy had a son 
Matthew, and he had a son Matthew, and 
the latter had a daughter Eunice, and she 
had a daughter Lydia, who became the wife 
of Joseph Pearson and the mother of Mrs. 
Caldwell. Paul Macy. the great-grand- 
father of Mrs. Caldwell, was born March 



5, 1740, and died on the 2d of August, 1832, 
at the very advanced age of ninety-two 
years. His wife, Mrs. Bethiah ^lacy, was 
born March 8, 1744, and died on the 29th 
of September, 18 10. Her ancestry can be 
traced back to John Folger, who came from 
England in 1636, and settled at Martha's 
Vineyard. Among his descendants was 
Peter Folger, the grandfather of Benjamin 
Franklin. The line of descent is traced 
ciown through Johanna Folger, John Cole- 
man, Elihu Ciileman and Eunice Coleman 
to Bethiah Macy, the great-grandmother of 
Mrs. Caldwell. By her marriage the last 
named become the mother of the following: 
Eunice, who was born November 30, 1762, 
and died August 13, 1840; Thomas, born 
I'ebruary 28, 1765, and died February i, 
1833 ; Judith, bom March 22, 1767; Matilda, 
who was born March 2, 1770, and died May 
3, 1832; Jemimah, who was born April 6, 
1772, and died October 16, 1823; Phoebe, 
born April 26, 1775, and died in December 
of the same year ; Lydia, born ]\Iarch 2j, 
1777; Paul, born January 10, 1780; Obed, 
who was born May 26, 1782, and died Feb- 
ruary 21, 1821 ; Hannah, born August 11, 
1784, and died November 30, 1825 ; Phoebe, 
who was born March 10, 1789, and died 
January 19, 1842. 

Paul Macy, the grandfather of Mrs. 
Caldwell, was liorn January 10, 1780, and 
married Eunice Macy, who was born May 
25, 1782, and was a descendant of another 
branch of the Macy family. With their 
family and a colony of Quakers they left 
North Carolina for Ohio, making the jour- 
ney in wagons. They settled in Montgom- 
ery county, and for many )-ears the grand- 
father followed farming there, but died at 
the home of his son Obed in Troy, Ohio, 
having survived his wife. They were mar- 



352 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ried March 5. iSoi, and tlieir children were : 
Phoebe, l)iirn January 17, 1802; Thomas, 
born September 30, 1804; Ly(Ha, who was 
born December 19, 1806. and died .\pril 7, 
1846; Annie, born February 10, 1809, and 
died September 11, 1863; Beulali, born Feb- 
ruary I, 181 1, and (bed April 11, 1845; 
John G., born September 2/, 181 3; Paul, 
born February 8, 1816, and died October 
31, 1819; David S., born May 28, 1818, 
and died Sei)tember 27, 1862; Eunice, born 
February 21, 1821 ; and Obed, born May 26, 
1826. 

The children of Mr. and ]\Irs. Caldwell 
are : Lyvirgia, who v-as born April 10, 
1862, and is the wife of D. O. McCool, of 
Newton township, by whom she has four 
children, LeRoy, Harvey, Harry and Marie; 
Charles C, who was born August 12, 1863, 
and married Emma Cox, by whom he has 
four children, Viola, Carl, Thern and Ina; 
Lizzie, who was burn November 30, 1867, 
and is the wife of Samuel Hart, of Newton 
township, by wlmm she has a daughter, 
Ethel ; and Jennie, who was born March 10, 
1874, and is the wife of Clinton Snyder. She 
has two children. Park and Herman. 

Since early manhood Mr. Caldwell has 
taken a deep and active interest in political 
affairs, and gives his support to the Repub- 
licn party, of whose principles he is a stanch 
advocate. He does all his power to pro- 
mote the growth and insure the success of 
the party, and is able to defend his position 
by intelligent argument. He and his wife 
belong to the Christian church at Pleasant 
Hill, and he is a member of Arnold Post, 
G. A. R., of Bradford. He served for one 
term as township trustee and for se\'en years 
was a director of the county infirmary, and is 
a member of the Grange. His life has been 
well spent in earnest devotion to daily duties. 



His career has lieen a quiet but useful one, 
and through consecutive lalx)r and earnest 
])urpose he has won a competence that 
classes him among the substantial resitlents 
of Miami countv. 



JOSEPH H. GREEN, M. D. 

On the list of leading medical practition- 
ers of Miami county appears the name of Dr. 
Green, who is now successfully practicing 
in Troy. He was born in Miami county, 
near the city which is now his home, on the 
23rd of August, 1833, his parents being- 
William and Cassa (Sayers) Green. The 
father was born in Mifibn county, Pennsyl- 
vania, January 12, 1809, and died in Miami 
county in 1883. By occupation he was a 
farmer. The ancestry of the family can be 
traced back to Connecticut where representa- 
tives of the name lived in colonial days. Se\'- 
eral members of the family loyally served 
their country in the war of the Revolution. 
Mrs. Green, the mother of our subject, was 
born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, and died 
in Miami county in 1839. 

The Doctor spent his boyhood days upon 
the home farm and acquired his preliminary 
education in the district schools. When 
about twenty-one years of age he entered 
the University of Michigan, where he com- 
pleted the work of the sophomore year, and 
with a broad general knowledge to serve 
as a foundation upon which to rear the su- 
perstructure of professional learning, he took 
up the study of medicine in Troy under the 
direction of Drs. Abbott and Harter. He 
was graduated in the ]\Iedical College of 
Ohio, in the spring of i860 and afterward 
attended lectures in the Jefferson Medical 
College, at Philadelphia, and in the Bellevue 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



353 



Hospital Medical College, of Xew York 
city. After his graduation in i860 he prac- 
ticed in Troy for one year. 

In the fall of 1861 he entered the United 
States army as assistant surgeon, serving for 
three years, six months and fifteen days, 
and when mustered out held the rank of 
surgeon. He was attached to the army of 
the Cumberland under command of Gen- 
erals Rosecrans.Buell, Sherman and Thomas, 
and upon his return to Troy, he again took 
up the practice of medicine, in which he has 
met with splendid success, gaining distinc- 
tive preferment in connection with his 
chosen calling. For twenty years he has 
been in charge of the greater part of the 
surgical work in this city and vicinity and 
now makes a specialty of gynecology. For 
forty years he has been recognized as a 
leading physician in Troy and to-day occu- 
pies a front rank as a representati\'e of a 
calling in which advancement must depend 
entirely upon individual merit. Since 1868 
he has been a member of the American Medi 
cal Association, also of the Oiiio State Medi- 
cal Society and the Miami County Medical 
Society. 

In November, 1865, was celebrated the 
marriage of Dr. Green and Miss Almira 
Childs. of Miami county, and they have two 
children, Mary, now the wife of Hon. M. 
K. Gantz an ex-member of congress, and 
Joseph C, who is yet in school. In politics, 
the Doctor has always been a Republican 
and believes most firmly in the principles of 
the party whose honored leader at present 
came from Ohio. Socially, he is connected 
with A. H. Coleman Post, G. A. R., of Troy. 
Since the age of twenty-two years he has 
been a Mason and is now a member of Cole- 
man Commandery. No 17, K. T. All who 
knnw him entertain fur him the highest re- 



gard and his life has been characterized by 
devotion to every duty. The success which 
has attended his efforts is but in natural 
sequence, for his position became assured as 
an able ]jh}-sician, a man of sterling integ- 
rity and one devoted to his profession and 
to the interests and welfare of those to whom 
he ministered. He possesses marked judg- 
ment and discernment in the diagnosing of 
disease and has been peculiarly successful 
in anticipating the issue of complications, 
seldom making mistakes and never exag- 
gerating or minifying the disease in render- 
ing his decisions in regard to them. He is 
a physician of great fraternal delicacy, and 
no man e\Tr obser\'ed more clusely the ethics 
of the professional code or showed more 
careful courtesy to his fellow practitioners 
than does Dr. Green. 



JOSEPH \V. WEST. 

The record of a just and upright life 
is always interesting and edifying. Such 
a life has been that of Joseph W. West, a 
a well-known farmer on section i. Staunton 
township, who is more than worthy of men- 
tion in such a work as this. 

Mr. West was born in Baltimore, Mary- 
land December 11, 1849, and while yet in 
his youth accompanied his parents on their 
removal to a farm near his native city. 
There he remained until 1870, when, having 
attained his majority, he decided to seek a 
home and fortune in the Buckeye state. For 
a year he was employed on a farm near Day- 
ton, Montgomery county. He then took up 
his residence in Staunton township. Miami 
county, and was employed on one of the 
farms belonging to the Knoop brothers, 
George, Jacob and John, who were well and 



354 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



widely known for their no1)le and generous 
qualities and who, noting his industry and 
honest, straightforward course, esteemed 
him highly as a worthy and deserving young 
man and reposed such confidence in him that 
they placed means in his hand with which 
to carry on farming operations and jjut him 
on one of their l>est farms, setting aside for 
his use one hundred and seventy acres of as 
good land as lies in the Miami valley. 

Ahout this time — the exact date was 
Octol^er 30. 1876. — Mr. West married Mar- 
tha J. Leaxelle. a nati\e of Covington. 
Miami coimty. Ohio, born June 16, 1849. 
Mrs. West's father died in the year of her 
birth and her mother was given employment 
as housekeeper liy the Kno^p lirothers. .\s 
she grew to womanhood Miss Leavelle ac- 
quired such a place in the affections of the 
Messrs. Knoop. that at his death, in 1877. 
John Knoop 1)equeathed to her the farm on 
which she and her husband were living. 
Other heirs contested the will but finally 
C(impromised and iMr. and i\Irs. \\'est bought 
the farm where they now live. Their union 
lias lieen blessed by one daughter. Jessie 
Pearl, who was born August 4 1877, gradu- 
ated from the Troy high school in the class 
of 1897 and was married to \\', iM. Baker, 
June 20. 1900. iMrs. Baker has decided 
musical talent. Mr. Baker is the junior mem- 
ber of the dry-goods firm of Baker & Son. of 
Troy, Ohio. 

Mr. West is now ser\-ing liis fellow citi- 
zens as one of the trustees of Staunton town- 
ship, itie is exceptionally well informed con- 
cerning the national and intcrnat'onal issues 
of the times, votes with the Repuljlican 
party and is always most earnest in support 
of its principles. iHe takes a deep interest in 
fraternal societies and since 1893 has been a 
valued member of the Masonic lodge of 



Tippecanoe City and has held office in that 
organization almost continuously. In 1895 
he was elected junior warden, in 1898 he 
was elected senior warden and the following 
year was chosen master, which p()sition he 
has since held. iHe is an exemplary member 
of the society which through many centu- 
ries has inculcated among men the spirit of 
mutual helpfulness. forbearance and l.)rotherly 
kindness. In 1885. he became a member of 
Troy Lodge. No. 43. I. O. O. F., and has 
filled all of its chairs and is past grand of 
that lodge. He is also a member of the 
Christian church and in his life shows forth 
his faith. During the many years of his 
residence in this section of the state, his con- 
duct has e\er commended him to the cmifi- 
dence and good will nf his fellow men. 



ED X. LOV. M. D. 

A member of the medical fraternity of 
Troy, Dr. Lov is numbered among tlie na- 
tive sons of Ohio, his birth having occurred 
in Piqua. on the 2i.st of iNIay. 1872. His par- 
ents were John \\'. and Cynthia ( Buckles) 
Loy. He was born in Butler county. Ohio, 
in 1820, and came to iMiami county in 1839. 
iMrs. Loy was a daughter of James and 
Margaret ( Northcott ) Buckles, and was 
born in Lost Creek township, iMiami coun- 
ty, March 17, 1831. The father is a car- 
penter and contractor and now resides in 
Pifjua. The Doctor is the \oungest of his 
nine children, and under the parental roof 
he spent his boyhood days, en. joying' the 
usual sports of childhood. He pursued his 
preliminary education in the iniblic schools, 
and in 1890 was graduated in the Piqua 
high school. He did not put aside his 
text-books then, for he entered the school 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



355 



room as a teaclier, and for four years fol- 
lowed that profession in Washington town- 
ship. Having determined to make the prac- 
tice of medicine liis hfe work he then began 
reachng under the direction of Dr. J. C 
Faimestock, of Piqua. and later attended 
the Pulte Medical College, of Cincinnati, 
where he pursued his studies for two years. 
On the ex])iration of that period he matricu- 
lated in the Chicag(i Homeopathic Medical 
College, in wliich he was graduated on the 
22d of March, 1898, winning second hon- 
ors in a class of forty. Thus with a com- 
prehensive knowledge of the science of medi- 
cine he enteretl u])on his professional career 
in Troy, on the ist of June, 1898. In the 
spring of 1899 he was appointed health 
officer of the city, and already he has won 
a liberal patronage, for his ability and skill 
have been recognized and ha\e awakened 
public confidence. , 

On th-e 1st of December, 1898, was cele- 
brated the marriage of Dr. Loy and Miss 
Alberta Carson, of Piqua, a daughter of 
James and Willa ( Munger) Carson. They 
have a ]5leasant home in Troy, and have 
made manv warm friends, who esteem them 
highly for their per.sonal worth. They 
have one son, Robert Bellville, born No- 
vember 9, 1899. The Doctor is a man of 
pleasing personality, of imiform courtesy 
and genial manner, and these qualities, when 
added to accurate professional kn(nvledge 
always insure success to those who repre- 
sent the medical fraternity. 



CHARLES A. WOOD. 

The deser\'ed reward of a well-spent life 
is an honored retirement from business, in 

which to enjoy the fruits of former toil. To- 



day, after a useful and beneficial career, Mr. 
Wood is quietly living at his pleasant home 
in Piqua, Ohio, surrounded by the com- 
forts that earnest labor has brought him. 
Mr. Wood was born in Hollis, New Hamp- 
shire, February 24, 1820, the seventh son 
of Deacon Phillip and Dorothy Davis Wood. 
Deacon Phillip Wood was born in 1780, at 
the family homestead which is now standing 
in Dracut, Massachusetts, and was the son 
of Abijah and Ester (Lewis) Wood, Abi- 
jah Wood was the son of Benjamin Wood, 
who was the great-grandfather of General 
Leonard Wood, of Cuban fame. They were 
of English Puritan stock and came to the 
colony of Massachusetts in 1635 from Ames- 
bury. Wiltshire. England, leaving there on 
account of religious persecution. Both the 
paternal and the maternal grandfathers of 
the subject of this sketch were soldiers of 
the Revolution; his grandfather Wood, ac- 
cording to ]\'Iassachusetts records, was at 
the battle of Concord, Massachusetts, at 
Bennington, Vermont, and at the capture 
of Burgo}-ne. His grandfather Davis was 
at the siege of Boston, u 'der Washington, 
and at Ticonderoga, on Lake Champlain. 

Charles A. Wood, the subject of this re- 
view, was reared in his native town where 
he attended school a few weeks each winter 
until sixteen years of age, when, having to 
make his own living, he worked on a farm 
in the summer seasons and in the wofids in 
the winter months cutting wood until his 
twenty-third year, when he came to Piqua, 
Ohio, and engaged in farming and various 
other occupations until 1870. He and his 
eldest son, C. L. Wood, engaged in the store 
and lumber trade at Dunkirk, Indiana, for 
eight years, then came back to Pi(|ua aufl, 
in company with C. L. Wood, started the 
Piqua planing mill and lumber yard. In 



856 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1870, after fifty years of incessant toil, Mr. 
Wood ga\ e up all active business. ■ 

In 1840 Mr. Wood was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Hannah Washer, of Bedford, 
New Hampshire, and their union has been 
blessed with the following children . Charles 
Leonard, who resides in Piqua, Ohio; George 
Philip, who resides in Kokomo, Indiana; 
and Marcus Davis, who resides in Dunkirk, 
Indiana. In 1873, some years after the 
death of his first wife, Mr. Wood married 
Mrs. Sarah Brown, who still lives and makes 
a happy Christian home for their declining 
years. 



LEOXIDAS CONOVER. 

Leonidas Conover, the efficient and popu- 
lar postmaster of Covington, was born in 
Miamisburg, Montgomery county, April 4, 
1847. •t^i'' grandfather, William Conover, 
was a natixe of New Jersey, and on coming 
to Ohio, in 1800, established a home in 
Montgomery count}-. He then returned to 
his native state and in 1805 brought his 
family to the west. Here he spent his re- 
maining days, devoting his energies to farm- 
ing. He had reached the venerable age of 
ninety-three years when called to his final 
rest. In her maidenhood his wife was Miss 
Sutphen, of Xew Jersey. C. S. Conover, the 
father of nur sulject, was als(_) licirn in Xew 
Jersey, and dietl on his farm near Miamis- 
burg in 1890. His wife was Ellen Denice, 
and her death occurred in .Miamisbin"g in 

1854. 

The subject of this review pursued his 
education in the public schools of his native 
town, and in February, 1864, when only 
seventeen years of age, he responded to the 
country's call for aid, enlisting as a private 
in Company D, One Hundred and Eighty- 



fourth Infantry, under Captain Joseph 
Wise. They joined the regiment at Colum- 
bus, where they were in camp for a time, 
but afterward proceeded south to Xashville, 
thence to Chattanooga and later to Bridge- 
port, Alabama. Mr. Conover was mustered 
out at Nashville, in September, 1865, and 
received an honorable discharge at Colum- 
bus a month later. He then returned home 
and attended school the following winter. 
In 1869 he went to Kansas and spent one 
year as a traveling salesman for a firm en- 
gaged in the nursery business. On the 
expiration of that period he returned home, 
but afterward again went to the Sunflower 
state where he spent four years in a similar 
manner, once more taking up his abode 
in Ohio, in 1876. A subsequent trip to 
Kansas resulted only in a short stay, after 
which he accepted a position as salesman 
with J. W. Lingo, of Lebanon, Ohio, 
a dealer in hardware and farm implements. 
He ne.xt became connected with D. ^I. 
Ostorne & Company, of Auburn, Xew 
York, with which firm he remained for 
se\en years. He then traveled for four- 
teen years for ]Morris Woodhull, manu- 
facturer of carriages and buggies, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, and in 1887 he came to Cov- 
ington, where he has since made his home. 
During Mr. Cono\er's traveling career, a 
period of nearly twenty-five years, he cov- 
ered many states in the east, west, north- 
west and south, and won for himself an en- 
viable reputation as a salesman. His ser- 
vices have always been in demand, and by 
his genial, warm-hearted maimer he has 
made innumerable, life-long friends. Rec- 
ognized as an active factor in political af- 
fairs, he was called to serve as a member of 
the Covington council, and in April, 1898, 
he resigned his position to accept the office 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



357 



of postmaster, whicli place he has since 
creditably filled, his administration being 
characterized by promptness and fidelity in 
the discharge of his duties. 

Mr. Conover was married, January 7, 
1874, to Miss Laura Ralston, of Lebanon, 
Ohio. She died at Franklin, Ohio, Jan- 
uary 19, 1880, leaving a daughter, ]\Iaud, 
now the wife of William Todd, of Red Lion, 
Ohio. In Covington, on the 3d of Novem- 
ber, 1887, ]Mr. Conox-er was again married, 
his second union being with Miss Emma F. 
Hartzell, of this city. Their children are 
Leon Schenck, Lucile and Athenea. 

In his political views Mr. Conover is a 
Republican, and gi\es an unwavering sup- 
port to the men and measures of the j^arty. 
He belongs to Langston Post, G. A. R., and 
is a valued and representative citizen of Cm-- 
ington, well deserving of the public trust 
which is accorded him. 



WILLIAM H. FRANCIS. 

William H. Francis is accounted one of 
the leading representatives of commercial 
interests in Troy, and his business methods 
have not onl)' won to him success but have 
gained him the confidence and regard of his 
fellow townsmen. He is a senior member 
of the firm of Francis, Clemm & Company, 
lumber dealers, and from the public he re- 
ceives a liberal patronage, which is accorded 
him by reason of his straightforward busi- 
ness methods and his earnest desire to please 
his customers. 

A native of Ohio, his birth occurred in 
Butler county on the 3 1 st of January, 1 848, 
his parents being Jacob and Maria (Young) 
Francis, natives of Pennsylvania. The fa- 
ther came to Ohio in 1797, before the admis- 



sion of the state into the Union, and settled 
in what is now Butler county, and the year 
1825 witnessed the arri\-al of ]Mrs. Francis 
in. the Buckeye state. By occupation he 
was a farmer, but during the war of 1812 
he put aside all business considerations, 
joined the army, and aided in defending the 
republic against the oppression of England. 
His father, George Francis, was a soldier 
of the Revolution, and died in Butler coun- 
ty, Ohio, at the age of sixty-nine years. 
Jacob Francis was called to his final rest July 
21. 1890. when almost ninety-se\'en years of 
age, while his wife passed away in Butler 
coi.nty. Ohio, in February, 1892. Jacob 
Francis was twice married. His first wife 
v.-as Lydia Ford, by whom he had eight chil- 
dren, three of whcnu are still living. Our 
subject is a child of the second marriage. 
In a family of eight children William H. 
Francis was the sixth in order of birth. Fi\-e 
of the number are now living. He was 
reared in ihe usual manner of farmer lads, 
his time being occupied by the work of the 
schoolroom and the fields, and naturally some 
attention was given to the sports whicli 
usually find favor with boys. Having ac- 
quired his preliminar}- education in the 
schools near his hdine he afterward entered 
tht Lebanon, Ohio. Normal School, where 
he remained for two years. Subsequently 
he engaged in teaching, and for five years 
successfully followed that profession. On 
the 1st of [March, 1876. he embarked in the 
lumber business at Arcanum, Ohio, where 
he continued fiir thirteen ^-ears, after which 
he came to Tro}-. in 1889. Here he has 
carried on business and now has the largest 
stock of any lumberman in Troy, reciving 
a liberal patronage, which he well merits. 
He also conducts a branch yard at Arcanum 
and one at Ingomar, and his extensive oper- 



358 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ations bring to him gratifying success. He 
is likewise interested in the Troy Wagon 
Works, and is a man of resourceful ability, 
Avho carries forward to successful completion 
\\hate\er he undertakes. His keen dis- 
cernment and unflagging energy have been 
important factors in his career and are ac- 
counted dominant elements in his success. 
In November, 1876, occurred the mar- 
riage of Mr. Francis and Miss Ella Gifford, 
a native of Preble county, Ohio, and a 
daughter of Anuel and Sarah Gifford, who 
were early settlers of Preble county. They 
have two children, Jesse and Opal. The 
parents hold membership in the Methodist 
Episcopal church and he contributed most 
liberally to the construction of the new house 
of worship erected by that deiiomination in 
Troy. In politics he is a stanch Republican, 
but has never sought or desired public office, 
preferring to give his time and energies to 
his commercial pursuits. His reputation in 
jjusiness circles is unassailable and has stood 
the test of many years' connection with the 
lumber interests. His worth commends 
him to public confidence and regard, and his 
circle of friends in the community is very 
extensive. 



DR. GODWIN V. DORSEY. 

Godwin Volney Dorsey. the only son of 
James Maxwell and Martha (McComos) 
Dorsey, was born in O.xford, Butler county, 
Ohio, November 17, 18 12. He was a grad- 
uate of Oxford College, now known as the 
Miami University, and in 1836 was grad- 
uated in the Ohio Medical College. He w.s 
a prominent physician of Miami county and 
was an able politician. For many years he 
was president of the Miami County Medical 



Society, also a member of the State Medical 
Society. He was the author of a number of 
professional papers, which appeared in the 
medical journals, and established for him 
the reputation of being a learned and able 
physician. 

In the political field he was a leader in 
the Democratic party until the formation of 
the Republican party, when he united with 
that organization and was one of its trusty 
leaders up to the date of his death. As a 
Democrat he was a member of the constitu- 
tional convention of 1850-51 and was very 
active in its deliberations. He was twice 
nominated for congress by his party, and 
twice defeated. He was a delegate to the 
national Democratic con\-ention in 1856, and 
supported James Buchanan as the Democrat- ' 
ic candidate for president. In 1857 he was 
the Democratic candidate for state auditor. 
In i860 he supported Stephen A. Douglas 
for president. When Fort Sumter was fired 
upon he stood by the old flag, and was a bold 
uncompromising Union man and united with 
the Republican party. In 1861 he was 
elected state treasurer and was re-elected in 
1863, In 1864 he was a delegate to the na- 
tional Republican convention which re- 
nominated Abraham Lincoln, and in the same 
year was chairman of the Republican state 
executive committee. He was an elector on 
the Grant and Colfax ticket of 1868. For 
twenty years he was a member of the board 
of trustees of the Miami University, was 
president of the Citizens' National Bank, of 
Piqua, and was a successful business man. 

In July, 1836, he was married to Miss 

• McGorkle, daughter of Hon. John 

McCorkle, who bore him eight children and 
died in 1855. In 1856 he married Mrs. L. 
P. Morrow, of Indianapolis, Indiana. After 
a busv life and an honorable career Dr. Dor- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



859 



sey died in Piqua on the 15th day of May, 
1885. 

He was a man of scholar!}' attainments, 
well versed in the classics, and was also a 
man of thought and was a leader of men. 
He was a good sjjeaker on the political plat- 
form, not so eloquent as logical, but was a 
man of firm convictions and had the courage 
to advocate whatever he believed to be right, 
whether it was jxjpular or unpopular. He 
will long he remembered in Miami county. 

E. s. w. 



GEORGE F. IRWIN. 

The welfare and prosperity of a commu- 
nity depend more largely than is generally 
recognized lipon an efficient police force, 
and it is of greatest importance that men- 
who stand as conservators of the public 
safety, of right and liberty, should be those 
whose records are irreproachable, who are 
fearless in conduct, faultless in honor and 
stainless in reputation. Such men become 
the safeguards of the public, awakening the 
confidence of the law-abiding elements and 
the fear of those who have little regard for 
the law. Certainly no higher testimonial 
to his efficient service could be given than 
the statement of the fact that George F. 
Irwin for sixteen years filled the office of 
city marshal in Troy. On the 2d of April, 
1900, he was appointed chief of police by 
the mayor and confirmed by the unanimous 
vote of the city council, and is now accept- 
ably serving in that capacity. 

He was born in Troy, September 19, 
185 1, and few of its residents are more 
widely, and certainly none are more favor- 
ably, known. His father, John Irwin, was 
for many years the miller at the canal lock. 
The mother, who bore the maiden name of 



Amy Horner, was a native of the Buckeye 
state, and died in 1858, but the father, long 
surviving, passed away at the age of seventy- 
seven years, in Oxford, Ohio. 

During his early boyhood George F. 
Irwin followed the tow-path along the 
Miami and Erie canal. He first became 
identified with the political interests of Troy 
in an official capacity when elected to the 
office of marshal, on the 6th of April, 1884. 
For seven successi\-e terms he was re-elected 
to that position; his last term will complete 
an occupancy of that office of sixteen years. 
His service was at all times most commend- 
able and efficient. Soon after his election to 
the office he broke up a noted gang of coun- 
terfeiters that had been operating in the old 
icehouse in the town, and for his service he 
was handsomely rewarded l)y the United 
States government with a nice sum of 
money. He was largely instrumental in 
procuring and working up the evidence in 
the Shank murder case, which resulted in 
sending Shank to the penitentiary for life. 
This gave him a wide and favorable repu- 
tation as a successful detective, and made 
him very popular in the southern part of the 
state. He has also been very successful in 
procuring and restoring stolen property to 
the owners. In the prosecution of his du- 
ties he has formed a wide acquaintance 
throughout the state among detectives and 
police officers, who are willing and ready at 
all times to render him a helping hand, as 
by his integrity and fair dealing he has en- 
deared himself to all of them. He is a 
most conscientious, prompt and reliable man 
in the discharge of the duties devolving upon 
him, and his fellow townsmen repose the 
utmost confidence in him. For over six 
years he did all of the police work of Troy, 
but the city council then created a police 



360 



GENEALOGICAL .IXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



force, to whicli they have added as the city 
grew until at present they have an efficient 
corps of officers. 

In 1886 Mr. Irwin was united in mar- 
riage to j\lrs. Sally E. Bates, nee Leavell, of 
Troy, who was born in tlie western part of 
Miami county. Socially Mr. Irwin is con- 
nected with Franklin Lodge, No. 14, F. & 
A. M.. ul Truy; Troy Lodge, I. O. O. F., 
and the Ancient Order of United Workmen 
ill Piqua. He is also a consistent member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. Since 
attaining liis majority he has given his sup- 
port to the Republican party, and has la- 
bored earnestl)' and efficiently in its behalf, 
his efforts largely promoting its interests. In 
Troy, where he !uis so long resided, Mr. 
Irwin i^ faniiliarh' known as "Pappy,"' a 
term that is indicative of his good fellow- 
ship, his genial manner and his uniform 
kindness. All these are qualities of the 
man, and it is only when justice requires 
sternness that the other side of his nature 
is shown. His circle of friends is very ex- 
tensive, and he is considered one of the lead- 
ing men of Troy. 



\\TLLI.\M W. SAXDO. 

William W. Sando is engaged in the 
manufacture of lumber in Bloomer and is 
conducting a successful and constantly 
growing business. He well deserves men- 
tion, not only as a leading" representative of 
industrial interests, but also as a member 
of one of the pioneer families of the Buck- 
eye state. His grandfather, Joseph Sando, 
was a native of Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and was married there to ]Mrs. 
Catherine Hoovler, a widow. They came 
to Ohio prior to 1834, locating in Darke 



county, near the Miami county line. Mr. 
Sando finally sold his place there and re- 
mo\ed to a place a half-mile from George- 
town, making Iris home thereon until his 
death, in 1867. His wife passed away in 
1865. Their children were as follows : Will- 
iam, who was accidentally killed when a 
young man; Samuel: Josej)!!, of Cieorge- 
town, Miami county; Jacob, a resident of 
Laura, Miami county ; Sarah, wife of Samuel 
Harshbarger, of Xewberry township ; Amy, 
who became the wife of Daniel Isenbarger, 
and died in Darke count}', Oliio; Maria, de- 
ceased wife of Aden Davenport; Susan, 
who also married Aden Da\-enport. 

Samuel Sando, the father of our sub- 
ject, was born on the old family homestead 
in Darke county, west of Georgetown, in 
November, 1834, was reared to manhood 
under the parental roof and obtained his 
education in the district schools. He began 
to earn his own living at an early age and 
had few advantages. He worked at the car- 
penter's trade, drove a team or performed 
other such labor as he could secure that 
would yield him an honest living. He was 
married, in 1853, to Miss Celia D. Hill, a 
daughter of Jonas and IMary (Marcum) 
Hill. After his marriage the father took 
up his abpde near Georgetown, where he 
remained until 1866, performing various 
kinds of labor. He at one time carried the 
mail from Georgetown to Brookville. About 
1865 he removed to Darke county, locating 
four miles east of Arcanum. He resided in 
that county for a few years and then went 
to Georgetown, where he was employed in 
a sawmill for a few months. He later 
purchased an interest in a sawmill, and 
subsequently entered into partnership with 
J. C. Henderson, carrying on business 
in Darke countv until the summer of 





W. W. SANDO. 



MRS. W. W. SANDO. 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



3(53 



1880. The business relationship with Hen- 
derson, liowever, had been cHssolved in 
1875. Five years afterward Mr. Sando 
came to Bloomer, estabhshed liis mill and 
enoaeed in the manufacture of lumber until 
1895, his son, ^^'illiam W., owning a half 
interest in the enterprise. ■ In that year the 
father sokl his share to the son. He is still 
engaged at work in the mill. In his politi- 
cal affiliations Mr. Sando is a Republican, 
and is a member of the L'nitetl Brethren 
in Christ church. His wife was born No- 
vember 2^. 1833, in Union township, Miami 
county. Her fatlier. Jonas Hill, was born in 
Tennessee February 25. 1787, and was there 
married to Mary ^larcum, who was born in 
that state February 8, 1795. From the 
state of their nativity they removed to Ohio 
at an early day and located upon a farm in 
Union township, Miami county, where Mr. 
Hill died February 18, 1859, his wife de- 
parting this life .\ugust 3, 1875. Their 
children were as follows : Nancy, who was 
born November 19, 181 5. was married to 
Amos Penny, June 12, 1837, and died June 
6, 1861, in one of the western states. Char- 
lotte, who was born July 14, 181 7, was mar- 
ried, August 12, 1832, to Thomas Thomp- 
son, and later she became the wife of Van 
Vleet. Her death occurred November i, 
1888. Elizabeth, who was born May 4, 
18 1 9, married David Fetter, April 8, 1836, 
and died May 9, 1859. Martha, born June 
22, 1 82 1, was married August 8, 1839, to 
Peter Vore, and died near Converse, Indi- 
ana, in December, 1899. Temperance, born 
Feljruary 4, 1823, became the wife of Dow 
W'illiamsson February 7, 1858, and died in 
Bloomer April 7, 1895. Priscilla, born Oc- 
tober 9, 1825, was married, in 1843, to John 
Porter and died in 1869. Daniel, born Sep- 
tember 7, 1827, was married, in Julv, 1850, 
21 



to Elizabeth Pipinger, and died April 8, 
1 85 1. Nathan, who was born October ig, 
1829, died July 15, 1833. Asa, born Octo- 
ber 29, 1 83 1, died July 17, 1833. Celia 
D., born November 27,, 1833, was married, 
March 4, 1854, to Samuel Sando, father of 
our subject. \Villiam W., born November 
6, 1835, was married, June 11, 1851, to 
Sarah Tucker, who died in 1866, and on 
the 2d of May, 1867, he wedded M. J. Win- 
tro. their home being now in Laura. John 
M., who was born December 11, 1839, mar- 
ried Elizabeth J. Tucker January i, 1863, 
and died August 22, 1887. 

The children born to Samuel and Celia 
Sando were eleven in number. Harvey, 
the eldest, was born January i, 1855, and 
died in 1856. William is the second. Syl- 
vanus, born February 2, i860, married Jen- 
nie W'ineland .and resides in Bloomer. John 
H., born October 7. 1861, wedded Ella Ste- 
vens and also lives in Bloomer. Ulysses, 
born July 20, 1863, died October 2y, 1864. 
Judson K., born June 21, 1865, married 
Ellen Peterseim and died in Piqua Octo- 
ber 22, 1895. Mary, born September 24, 
1868, became the wife of William \V. Woods 
and died in Bloomer March 2, 1887. War- 
ren H., born May 17, 1872, married Edith 
sFinfrock and is living in Pleasant Hill. 
Rosella, born February 24, 1874, died Au- 
gust 24, 1894. Russell, born June 23, 1878, 
married Artie Stewart .and li\'es in Bloomer. 
William W. Sando, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Monroe township, Darke 
county, April 6, 1857, acquired the greater 
part of his education in the schools of 
Georgetown, and at the age of seventeen 
began work in his father's sawmill. He was 
married, December 30, 1877, to Miss Lu- 
cinda Hebb, a native of German township, 
Darke county, and a daughter of Jacob and 



804 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Rebecca (Hollinger) Hebb. Tiieir union 
has been blessed with tliree cliildren : Or- 
ville. wiio was born March lo. 1879. and 
died June 28, 1880; Iva, wlio was born 
April 10. 1881. and is the wife of F. R. 
Greer, of Wayne township, Darke county, 
whom she wedded May 7. 1899; and ^laud. 
who was born August 19. 1884. and was 
married. June 18. 1899, to Walter Heffner. 

After his marriage I\Ir. Sando resided 
in Butler township, Darke county, until 
1880. and in July of that year he became 
a resident of Bloomer. In 1877 he had 
been admitted as a partner to his father's 
business, and in December, 1894, he became 
sole proprietor of the sawmill. It was in 
1877 tiiat he resolved to learn jjlacksmithing. 
but his father promised him a third in- 
terest in the profits of the mill if he would 
remain with him and later gave him a third 
interest in the business, and thus for twenty- 
three years he has been engaged in the man- 
ufacture of lumber in Miami county. He 
has also been identified with the educational 
interests of the county to some extent. After 
he had been married nine years he entered 
Alia College, w here he continued as a student 
for twenty weeks. He began teaching school 
in 1887 and f(jr five years followetl that pro- 
fession, spending three years in schools of 
Miami county and one year each in Shelby j 
and Darke counties. In addition to his saw- 
mill he owns sixty-five acres of land, di- 
\-ided into t\\<i tracts of thirty-fi\-e and thirtv 
acres, and has other real estate in Bloomer. 

Mr. Sando is a member of the Christian 
church, whicli he aided in organizing, and 
has been a liberal CDUtributur to the Union 
church, which erected its house tif worship 
in 1889. In polit'cs he is a stanch Republic- 
an and for one term served as assessor. He 
has also filled the position of school director 



and road super\-isor and has discharged 
every official duty with marked promptness 
and fidelity. He is an enterprising business 
man, reliable in all his dealings, and is a 
public-spirited citizen who manifests a deep 
and commendable interest in exerything per- 
taining to the public welfare. 



JOHN \V. DEFREES. 

?kliami coimty has not been prolific in 
journalists, and those who ha\'e made their 
mark were not trained printers who grad- 
uated from the position of ink-boy to th.e 
presiding genius of the editorial sanctum. 
One of the most prominent editors of Aliarn 
ciiunty who has joined the "silent majority" 
was John W. Defrees. who died while ed- 
itor and proprietor of the Miami L'nion. 
He was born November 4. 1809. in Rock- 
bridge county. \'irginia. antl was the son 
of John and ]\Iary Defrees. When a lad 
of five years he came with his parents to 
Piqua, Ohio, in December, 18 14. His fa- 
ther settled two and one-half miles south of 
Picpia on a farm, which was at that time 
covered with a heavy forest. John W. re- 
mained with his father until twenty-five 
years of age, engaging in all the hard work 
incident to clearing and cultivating a farm 
at that early day. In October, 1836, he 
moved to Goshen, Indiana, where he was a 
clerk in a store managed by John L. Mere- 
dith, and owned by William Barbee, of Troy. 
He returned to Piqua in 1837. and soon af- 
terward was emjiloyed as a clerk in the store 
of William Scott, a prominent merchant of 
that day. He left the store in April. 1S41, 
antl in the fall of the same year commenced 
the publication of the Piqua Register, which 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



865 



he published until January, 1857, when he 
sold his paper. He was nominated and 
elected county auditor, and at the expira- 
tion of his first term, si.i well hail he served 
the people, that he was re-elected and served 
a second term. He then again engaged in 
journalism, and on the ist of January, 1865, 
commenced the publication of the Miami 
Union, remaining its editor and proprietor 
until his death. After he had established 
the Aliami Union with a good subscription 
list and a well-furnished office and a good 
library, he lost all by a disastrous fire. He 
was an old man then. Many a man of his 
age would have folded his arms in despair, 
and yielded to adverse circumstances, but 
John ^^^ Defrees, ruined and almost penni- 
less, with the weight of more than three 
score years upon him, bravely began anew 
the battle of life, cheered and assisted by his 
devoted wife and children. Out of the 
ashes of that fire, which had consumed the 
savings of a life time, he built up the Union, 
and before God called him home the bright 
sunlight of prosperity enabled him to lift 
the last incumbrance off his paper. 

The Miami Union in his hands was the 
leading newspaper of ^liami county, and 
wielded a wide influence. Its editor was 
an uncompromising Republican, and, the 
writer may add, a bitter partisan, but his 
character for honesty was so well established 
that his editorials were read with confidence 
by his party and sometimes with bitter con- 
demnation by the Democrats, and had a 
marked influence upon the politics of Miami 
county. He was not a brilliant writer, but 
he was honest in his statements. He was 
careful in selecting the matter for his pa- 
per, and no dirty scandal or sensational oc- 
currence found a ])lace in the columns of the 
Miami Union under his management. He 



gave the news in a clear, concise manner, 
but woe to the political or personal enemy 
that attacked either the Republican part^■ or 
the editor of the Union in personal alnise. 
His editorials would then bristle and burn 
with the adjectives of denunciation and the 
language of vituperation until his adversary 
would be glad to let the old man alone. An- 
other characteristic of John \\'. Defrees was 
his intense hatred of a dishonest office- 
holder. No consideration of party success 
or personal interest could restrain his indig- 
nant denunciation of the rascal without re- 
gard to family, standing or party relations. 

E. s. w. 



GEORGE W. RIDDLE. 

Among those who for man)- years were 
actively identified with the business affairs 
of Miami county and have now been called 
from life's labors to the rest beyond the 
grave is George W. Riddle. Many of his 
friends are still living in Miami county, 
and will therefore gladly receive the record 
of his life. He was born on section 10, 
Staunton township, on the 14th of Novem- 
ber, 1848.' His father, Jacob Riddle, re- 
moved to Miami county from Hamilton 
county, Ohio, in company with his father, 
John Riddle, and entered a tract of land 
from the government in 1812, thus becom- 
ing owner of six hundred and forty acres 
in Staunton township. It was a few years 
after this that Jacob Riddle took up his 
abode upon the claim and transformed the 
wild tract into richlv cultivated fields, con- 
stituting one of the best farms of the neigh- 
borhood. He was three times married. Be- 
fore coming to Miami countv he wedded 



360 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Miss Tucker, and after her deatli he was 
joined in wedlock witli Hope Stillwell. His 
third wife bore the maiden name of Pa- 
tience Toh. Tliere were five chikh'en by 
the first miion: ^ilanning. Xancy. John. 
Mary; and Asenath, wife of L. BuH. The 
chiklren of the second marriage were five 
in number, namely: William. Joseph, 
George. Albert and Mattie. all now deceased. 
There were no children by the third union. 
Tlie father, who was born October 1 1, 1801, 
passed away August 16. 1871. in his seven- 
tieth \-ear. He was a very prominent and 
influential member of the Baptist church, in 
V hich he • served as deacon. He toiik an 
active part in the work of the church and in 
his life exemplified its teachings of charity 
and kindness. In his business affairs he 
won prosperity, so conducting his efforts 
that success in a liigh degree crowned his 
labors. 

George W. Riddle, whose name intro- 
duces this reiew, was indebted to the o mi- 
mon school system for the educational jiriv- 
ileges which he enjoyed. In the early spring 
months he put aside his text-liooks to assist 
his father in the work of the home farm and 
aided in the labors of field and meadow un- 
til after harvests were garnered in the au- 
tumn. Upon the home farm he remained 
until his marriage, which occurred Septem- 
ber 22. 1870. the lady of his choice being- 
Mary Duncan, a native of Staunton town- 
ship and a daughter of Robert and Jane (Mc. 
Clintock) Duncan, both of whom were na- 
tives of Ireland, in which country they were 
married. On leaving the Emerald Isle 
tiiey came to America, crossing the Atlantic 
in a sailing vessel, which, after a viiyage of 
si.K weeks, reached a Canadian port, in 1831. 
They first located in New Brunswick and 
there remained until 1S38. when they came 



by lake and canal to Ohio, making the jour- 
ney from Columbus across the country to 
Miai;ni county by team. For a year they 
resided in Lost Creek township, and then 
purchased the farm upon which Jacob 
Bowne now resides. There the father died 
February 12. 1866, at the age of fifty-eight 
years. They had a family of nine children : 
Margaret, who was born in Ireland, in No- 
vember, 1830. became the wife of M. V. 
Houser, November 6, 1856, and died March 
2, 1886; Isabella J., born January 16, 1833, 
resides with Mrs. Riddle; James R. died in 
Xew Brunswick ; James, the second of the 
name, was born November 10, 1S36, and is 
li\-ing in Spring Creek township; George, 
who was born Januar\' 10, 1839, is a ranch- 
man, living in Reno county, Kansas: Ellen, 
born October 20, 1841, died at Bethel 
Church. August 16. 1857: John W'., born 
November 17, 1843, ^-l'*-"'! J"'}' !-• 1845; 
Catlierine. born August 26, 1S45, is the wife 
of Jacob Bowne : and Mary R., born April 
6; 1849. 's the widow of G. W. Riddle. 

Soon after tiieir marriage Mr. and Mrs. 
Riddle removed to the farm upon which she 
still makes her liome. and in 1874 the pres- 
ent residence was erected. Their union 
was blessed with' three children, but they 
lost their first child. Willie, who was born 
in 1872 and died in infancy: William A., 
horn Octolier 3. 1875. is still on the honie 
farm with liis mother ; and Lulu, born Feb- 
ruaiy 5. 1878, is now a student in the Wes- 
leyan University at Delaware, Ohio. 

Mr. Riddle became th.e owner of an ex- 
tensive and valuable tract of land of three 
hundred and twenty acres and carried on 
general farming" and stock raising. He di- 
vided his place into fields of convenient size 
by weTl-kept fences, and placed much of his 
land under a high state of cultivation. He 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



867 



also dealt in a high grade of stock, and that 
branch of his business proved a profitable 
one. Indolence and idleness were utterly 
foreign to his nature, and his earnest and 
consecutn-e endeaxors, directed along well 
defined lines of labor, brought to him a mer- 
ited success, so that he was able to leave 
his family in very comfortable circumstan- 
ces. In politics he was a Republican-Pro- 
hibitionist, and his study of the issues of the 
daj' led him to give an intelligent support 
to the principles in which he believed, with- 
out blindly following party leadership. He 
was a member of the Bethel Methodist Epis- 
copal church, in which he ser\ed as trustee 
and steward. He took an active part in 
its work and was interested in everything 
that pertained to the welfare and advance- 
ment of his fellow men. He died February 
14. 1879, lea\'ing to his family the priceless 
heritage of a good name. His wife still 
survives him, and, like her husband, is a 
Methodist in religious faith, her belief being 
exemplified in her life, her many excellent 
qualities being an indication of her Christian 
character. 



EDGAR M. HEATQN. 

Edgar M. Heaton holds the responsible 
position of general yardmaster of the Pitts- 
burgh, Cincinnati, Chicago & St. Louis Rail- 
road, at Bradford, and is well qualified to 
discharge the important duties which de- 
volve upon him. He was born July 7, 1864, 
in Louisville, Kentucky, and is a son of Ed- 
gar Rush and Ester Ann (Melvin) Heaton. 
The mother was a resident of London, Ohio, 
and a daughter of Rov. John Meh'in. a 
Methodist minister, who remo\'ed to the 



Buckeye state from New Jersey. The par- 
ents of our subject had a family of four chil- 
drea, all of whom reached 3'ears of matu- 
rity. One of the number, H. Allen, died in 
Baltimore, Maryland, at the age of twenty- 
five years. The living are: J. AL. who is 
now a railroad man in California ; Edgar 
Melvin, of this review: and Lydia R., wife 
of Edward Schurmann, of Indianapolis. 
The widowed mother also resides in that 
city. 

The subject of this review spent the days 
of his boyhood and youth in Indiana and 
Illinois, living in L'rbana and Champaign, 
of the latter state, until thirteen years of age, 
when he started out in life for himself, going 
to Greeley, Colorado. There he began work 
on a ranch owned by a Mr. McLoIlan, riding 
on horseback in charge of large herds of cat- 
tle. Later he spent several years in Texas, 
Xew Mexico and Arizona as a cowboy, being 
tluis employed until 1882, when he returned 
to Indianapolis. He then entered the em- 
ploy of the Pittsburg, Cincinnati & St. 
Louis Railroad Company as a vardman, but 
on the second night he lost his left hand. 
When he had sufficiently recovered he re- 
turned to a ranch in Te.xas, and was again 
employed in the Lone Star state for two ■ 
years, but fences having been built, thus 
keeping cattle within certain inclosures, there 
was not so much demand for cowboys and 
he returned once more to Indianapolis. In 
his A'Ciuth ho had been of a restless and ro- 
mantic nature, and this led him to seek the 
free and untrammeled life of the plains: but 
on again coming to the north he settled down ' 
to business as a caller for the Pittsburg Rail- 
road Company, but ultimately was promoted 
to the position of first assistant yardmaster 
in the night yard at Indianapolis. On the 
20th of May, 1894, he was appointed to his 



368 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



present position as general yardmaster at 
Bradford, and now has fifty-six men under 
his charge. The position is an important 
and responsible one, and he performs his 
duties in a most able manner, thus winning 
the unqualified confidence and respect of his 
superior officers. 

Mr. Heaton was married, in Indianapo- 
lis. May 30, 1886, to Miss Otto Emma Mc- 
Call. a nati\e of Lexington, Kentucky. 
Theirs was a happy married life of ten vears, 
at the end of which time the wife was called 
to the home be^'ond in 1896. ]\Ir. Heaton 
was again married, August 31. 1899, his 
second union being with Miss Xellie K. 
Hoake, a native of U'estville, Ohio. Her 
father died during her early girlhood, but 
her mother yet survives. Mrs. Heaton is a 
graduate of the W'estville schools, and a 
lady of culture- and refinement who presides 
with gracious hospitality over their pleasant 
home. Mr. Heaton is a member of the In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, of the 
Red Men, the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks and the Knights of Pythias 
fraternity, and has filled many offices in those 
dift'erent urganizatinns. Although he had 
limited scluml jirixileges in youth he is a man 
of scholarly attainments, having for a num- 
ber of years given much time and attention 
to study. He is the possessor of a fine, large 
library, to which lie is constantly adding, 
and many of his most pleasant hours are 
spent amid his books. The position to which 
he has attained both along intellectual and 
business lines is due entirely to his own ef- 
forts, and for this he certainly deserves great 
credit. He is a trusted and competent em- 
ploye of the road, and is a frank, genial an<l 
courteous gentleman whose estimable cpial- 
ities have endeared him to a large circle of 
friends. 



HORACE J. ROLLIX. 

Four generations of the Rollin family 
have occupied the picturesque homestead, 
midway between Piqua and Troy, where 
Horace J. Rollin resides. Josiah Rollin, 
with his aged mother, settled there in 181 5, 
after some service in the war of 1812. His 
canteen still adorns the ancestral hall. \\'ith 
him came his son, Isaac, then a lad old 
enough to reap wheat and ])ull fiax, and 
who, in time, became a representative 
farmer. He was among the first to use the 
reaping machine and to manufacture mo- 
lasses from cane, but the great civil war 
stopped southern production. One of those 
supporters of Fremont who was called an 
"Aboliticjnist." he long perceix'.vl the rising 
tide which was to overwhelm the institution 
of slaver)-. ^Ir. Rollin was public-spirted 
and he wrought for the welfare of the peo- 
ple. He belonged to that class of citizens 
\\hich made Miami county what it is. He 
was connected with the Presbyterian society 
of Troy, and died in 1890, aged eighty six 
years. 

Five of the six sons, including Horace, 
then scarcely grown, served in the Union 
army. The eldest, Charles, who was among 
the first to enlist, in April, 1861, with the 
Eleventh Regiment, and among the last 
mustered out. in Januar}'. 1866, with the 
Se\enty-first Regiment, commanded a com- 
pany in the latter part of the war. At his 
burial recently, the Hon. E. S. Williams, a 
fellow officer, in his eulogy, said : "What 
i- rare, he respected the private soldier as 
much as the officer, ami his men loved to 
serve under him. I knew this man in the 
camp, on the march, and on the battlefield; 
Charlie Rollin was every inch a soldier." 

The mother, Eleanor H. Rollin, who died 
in 1895, aged eighty-seven, came to Troy, 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



8G9 



ill 1812, with her father, a member of the 
patriotic Hart famjly of New Jersey to 
which belonged the signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence. This stock has given 
good soldiers, including notable officers, to 
the Federal army and to civil service. 

The name Rollin was early identified 
with the Northwest Territory. Junathan. 
elder brother of Josiah, after campaigning 
with \\"ayne and St. Clair, was one of the 
first to settle here, in 1797. He located just 
north of the present infirmary farm. And : 
so of the name, it is among the oldest ap 
pearing in the annals of America. James 
Rawlins came from England with the Ips- 
wich settlers, in 1632. It has been a fixed 
surname there for six iiundred years; some 
representatives were knighted, and these are 
the arms of the Cornwall family, granted 
liy Edward I\'., to which belonged old 
James of Dover: "Shield sable, three 
swords paleways, points in chief, argent; 
hilts and pommels gold. Crest, an armored 
arm, elbow on wreath, holding in gauntlet 
a falchion." Similar arms were granted the 
ancient Hertfordshire and other l)ranches, 
denoting consanguinity. In America the 
spelling of the name was changed before the 
Revolution to Rollins, and some now drop 
the "s." In England it has been Rawlin 
and Rawlyn, and still more anciently prob- 
ably Rawle. 

In 1656 James Rollin was persecuted for 
neglect of coming into "ye publicke meet- 
ing and sentenced to pay courte fees, two 
shillings and six pence." He apparently 
fountl the church narrow, for he was before 
the general court at Boston, among the 
"persons it entertayned ye Quakers ;" but 
he, being more ingenious than the rest in his 
replies, "was ordered to be only atlmonished 
Iiv ve honnored o-ouverner, wch was d(jnne." 



Joseph, the great-grandfather of Hor- 
ace, was a soldier of the Re\(jlution, and 
was at Saratoga. A cousin. Lieutenant Rol- 
lins, was at Warren's side when he fell at 
Bunker Hill : and it is said that twenty of 
the name served in that war. Recently, in 
the Union army, there were enough of the 
descendants of old James to have made a 
large battalion, comprising some distin- 
guished officers, probably including Grant's 
chief-of-staff, and later secretary of war. 
General Rawlins, as the name had not been 
changed in his district. The present gov- 
ernor of New Hampshire, Frank Rollins, 
belongs to this famil}', as did the late United 
States senator and other notable persons. 

Mrs. Horace J. Rollins was Nancy E. 
Bridge, formerly a teacher in the Cincin- 
nati schools. She is a descendant of the 
John Bridge who came from England in 
1 63 1 and settled at Cambridge, Alassachu- 
setts, on land that includes the site of Wash- 
ington's headquarters and the home of Long- 
fellow. He induced Thomas Shepherd, the 
founder of Harvard College, to j(jin the 
colonists. Cambridge has a fine bronze 
statue of John Bridge, which faces the col- 
lege grounds. He was the ancestor of many 
noted in war and peace, President Garfield 
being one of his descendants. The long 
line includes many distinguisho.l soldiers, 
educators and ministers — Unitarians chiefly. 
The annals of the Revolution show noble 
patriots. 

" John Danforth was hit just in Lexington street, 
John Bridge at that lane where yon cross Beaver 

Falls." 
I took Bridge on my knee, but he said, • Uon't mind 

me; 
Fill your horn from mine— let me lie where I be— 
Our fathers,' says he, ' that their sons might be free, 
Left their king on his throne and came over the sea; 
And that man is a knave or a fool who to save 
His life for a minute would live like a slave.' " 



370 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Tnis man was a major and was at Bnn- 
ker Hill. Colonel Eb. Bridge commanded a 
regiment and served through the war. Rev. 
Mathew Bridge was among the first chap- 
lains and died in tlie Revolution. 

Mrs. Rollin is eligible also on the moth- 
er's side to membership in certain colonial 
and Revolutionar}' societies : her great- 
grandfather Gates was a soldier. Her 
grandmother Bridge was a Morse, to which 
family belonged Professor Morse, inventor 
of the telegraph. 

Mr. Rollin is a painter, and his works are 
found in some of the best mansions of Amer- 
ica, including that of Hon. W'hitelaw Reid, 
editor of the New York Tribune. His pic- 
tures have been lionored in great exhibi- 
tions, and his "Old Lane" was favorably 
noticed by the metropolitan g^r^ss. He is 
the author of "Studio. Field antl Gallery," 
published by the Appletons. a book that re- 
ceived such fine reviews from the great jour- 
nals that Mr. Appleton sent to Mr. Rollin a 
letter of congratulation. 

Recently from his pen has appeared 
"Yetta Segal," a story with a deep, peculiar 
motive, as the publisher's announcement in- 
dicates : "This work embodies a new and 
comprehensive theory concerning race- 
blending. Mr. Rollin is doubtless the first 
to formulate a philosophy showing the mo\e- 
ment to be evolutionary, universal and des- 
tined to culminate in the cosmopolite of the 
future. But while he shows it to be based 
on purely biological laws, he warns pioneer 
movers of the dangers of them." 

It is remarkable that the great cyclopa?- 
dias and the text-books of biology omit the 
subject, although there are doubtless several 
hundred million racial composites, includ- 
ing the beautiful and intellectual: moreover, 
th.e movement is increasing the world o\er. 



and in an age of increased intelligence. 
Therefore, science and reason must decitle 
whether the movement is abnormal, morbid 
and temporary, or normal and inevitable. 
Mr. Rollin declares the latter, and the key- 
note of his philosophy is the compensative; 
in racial interchange needed values are given 
antl received, even the more undeveloped 
type has some element of strength peculiar 
to itself to impart, either mental, physical or 
psychical; the more advanced type has de- 
terioated, or may be naturally lacking, in 
certain qualities necessary to the futm-e sym- 
metrical man. It is simply a phase of evo- 
lution. 

In re\-iewing this work the Popular 
Science Monthly quoted certain paragraphs, 
and Dr. Youmans has written to the author, 
calling his utterances "thoughtful and on an 
interesting subject." Remarkably encour- 
aging reviews have appeared in the great 
journals of America, some of them agreeing 
with Mr. Rollin; for instance, the Xew 
\ ork Mail and Express, in a long re\iew, in 
which the author is said to show "rare origi- 
nality," concludes with the declaration : "De- 
spite the prejudice, amalgamation is inevit- 
able." 



JOHN G. BATTELLE. 

To say of him whose name heads this 
sketch that he has risen unaided from com- 
parati\"e business obscurity to rank among 
the most successful and prominent repre- 
sentatives of the industrial interests of west- 
ern Ohio, is a statement that seems trite to 
those familiar with his life, yet it is but just 
to say in a history that will descend to 
future generations that his business record 
has been one that many men would be proud 





a>CCe.A^ 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



373 



to possess. From the commencement of liis 
business career he has advanced steadily 
step by step until he is now occupying a 
position of prominence and trust that many 
might envy. Through his entire Inisiness 
career he has been looked upon as a model 
of integrity and honor, never making an 
engagement that he has not fulfilled, and he 
stands to-day as an example of what de- 
termination and force, combined ' with the 
highest tlegree of business integrity, can ac- 
complisli for a man of natural ability and 
strength of character. A list of the im- 
portant enterprises with which he is con- 
nected indicates that his has been a potent 
influence in the successful management of 
manv of the leading industries, which have 
contributed largely to the material pros- 
perity and development of Miami county. 

Colonel Battelle was l)orn in Clarksburg, 
Virginia, in 1845. and is a son of Gordon 
Battelle, long prominent in the ministry of 
the Methodist Episcopal church. Re ex- 
erted a strong influence, not only in religious 
circles, but in political afl:'airs as well and 
was a recognized leader of thought and 
action in the community in which he resided. 
His grandfather had been one of the heroes 
of the Rex'olutionary war and as colonel of 
a Massachusetts regiment had loyally aided 
the colonies in their struggle for indepen- 
dence. The same patriotic spirit dominated 
the Rev. Gordon Battelle and during the 
Ci\'il war he went to the front as chaplain 
of the first loyal Virginia Infantry. He 
was a member of the ^'irginia convention, 
held, in WHieeling, which resulted in the es- 
tablishment of West Virginia in 1863, but 
before the war ended his death occurred in 
Washington, so that he diil not live to see 
the firm estalilisliment of Union supremacy. 

John Gordon Battelle, whose name forms 



the caption of this article, spent his boy- 
hood days in various towns in \\'est Vir- 
ginia, for his father belonged to the West 
\^irginia conference and by his conference 
was assigned to various pastorates in that 
state. He enjoyed the refining influences of 
a good home and his common-school train- 
ing was supplemented by the lessons of 
industry, integrity and honor which he 
learned under the direction of his parents. 
In 1866 he became interested in the manu- 
facture of iron in Wheeling, West Vir- 
ginia, being at that time about twenty-one 
years of age. Later he continued in the 
same business in Memphis, Tennessee, and 
throughout this period acquired a compre- 
liensive and accurate knowledge of iron man- 
ufacture in all its various departments and 
he was thus well equipped for the manage- 
ment of extensive iron enterprises, and in 
that capacity he came to Piqua to assume 
control of the works now conducted under 
the name of the Pi(|ua Rolling Mill Com- 
pr nv and the Cincinnati Corrugating Com- 
panv. Of the former he is president and 
of the latter vice-president and manager. 
The plants ami main ofiices of these com- 
panies are at Piqua and for the past ten 
years Mr. Battelle has lived in this city, 
ha\'ing the management of these two ex- 
tensive industries, which employ more than 
three hundred men. Although the business 
is conducted under two names it is in pos- 
session of the same stockholders and a half- 
million of dollars is invested in the enter- 
prise, which is one of the most extensive in 
this line in the state. Their plant was 
among the first to manufacture tin plate 
in the United States, and William McKin- 
lev, now the honored president of the nation, 
operated the mechanism wherewith was 
manufactured the first plates. The product 



374 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ol tlie factory includes steel and inni plates 
tor ruohng. siding and ceilings, and their 
output is sent to all portions of the coun- 
try, for tire excellence of the product and 
the relialjility of the companies are widely 
known. The Corrugating Company was in- 
corporated in 1884 and the Piqua Rolling 
Mill Company in 1889. Its leading stock- 
holders are J. G. Battelle. James Hicks, W. 
]'. Orr, Louis Leonard and Joseph H. 
Frantz, all of Piqua. 

While ^[v. Battelle is very active in the 
management of these extensi\e enterprises, 
his efforts ha\e by no means been confined to 
one line. He. is a man of resourceful busi- 
ness aliility and his counsel and labors have 
prii\-ed important factors in the successful 
control of many other industrial concerns. 
He is president of the Piqua Wagon Com- 
pany and is treasurer of the ^iidland Steel 
Company, at Muncie. Indiana, and both are 
carrying on extensive business, his soimd 
judgment having done much to secure tle- 
sirable results. 

In j88i Mr. Battelle was married to Miss 
Annie Norton, and they have one son, Gor- 
don. Their home is in Piqua and their 
residence has Ijecome the center of a cult- 
ured society circle. His inherent interest 
in military affairs, his patriotic spirit and 
his love of historical research is indicated 
by his connection with the Loyal Legion, the 
Sons of N'eterans and the Sons of the Amer- 
ican Revolution. He is also a memlier of 
the Sacred Co\enant of Massachusetts and 
is now serving on the staff of Governor 
Nash with the rank of colonel. His well 
known interest in educational matters is 
shown by his position on the school board 
of Pi(|ua. It is a widely known fact that he 
is one of the leading supporters of the Re- 
publican party of the count)', his connection 



therewith beginning in 1868, when he cast 
his first presidential vote for General Grant. 
While in West \'irginia he was a member 
of the state convention, which met in Park- 
ersburg and nominated General Xathan 
Goff for governor, and was once a candi- 
date for commissioner of Ohio county. West 
X'irginia ; but ixilitical offices have had little 
attraction for him, as he has always pre- 
ferred to give his time and attention tu his 
business affairs. \\'ith a just appreciation 
of his duties as a citizen, however, he has 
gi\en close and earnest thought to political 
(juestions and is always able to support his 
position by intelligent explanation. He has 
aided in the work of the state organization. 
his executive ability lieing brought into good 
plav in the management of campaign forces. 
He made an adilress to the ways and means 
committee of congress on the tariff question 
— ra most masterful argument showing the 
effect that certain measures would have on 
the trade of the country as seen from the 
liractical standpoint of a reliable business 
man. He has been a delegate to most of 
the state conventions since his arri\al in 
Ohioi His life history forms an integral 
part of the annals of Miami county and finds 
an appropriate place in the record of those 
men of business and enterprise whose force 
of character, sterling integrity and good 
sense in the management of intricate af- 
fairs and marked success in establishing 
large industries and bringing to comple- 
tion great schemes of trade and profit have 
contributed in an eminent degree to the 
tlevelopment of the vast resources of this 
noble commonwealth. In the prosperity of 
the city of his home he has been an invalu- 
able factor and his public spirit and his pro- 
gressive ideas have been of inestimable 
worth to the community, while to public en- 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



375 



terprises and everytliino" Inoking toward the 
advancement of his fellow citizens he con- 
trihutes with an open hand and is a prime 
mijver in most of them. He is a man to 
whom the most envious can scarcely grudge 
success. So well has he earned it, so admir- 
ahly does he use it and so entirely does he 
lack pride of purse. He is kind, unaffected 
and approachable and every c<jmer has a 
claim upon his attention. Entlowed by 
nature with a sound judgment and an 
acutely discriminating mind, he has not 
feared the laborious attention to business 
so necessary to achieve success, and this es- 
sential quality has ever Ijeen guided by a 
sense of moral right, which would tolerate 
only the em])loyment of such means as would 
bear the closest examination. 



MRS. SALLY KERR. 

In the history of the pioneers of every 
county some name stands out more prom- 
inent than others, either for the influence the 
individual has exerted for the benefit of the 
community in which he lived, or because of 
some hardship more than ordinary in the 
settlement of a new country. In Aliami 
county among the few who remain that were 
reared amid the privations of pioneer life 
no one is more frequently mentioned in tra- 
dition or story than "Aunt Sally Kerr." 
Her posterity is numerous and many of 
them are at the present date wealthy and in- 
fluential in this count}-. 

]\Irs. Sally Kerr was born (.m the banks 
of the Susquehanna river, in Pennsylvania, 
on the 3rd day of May, 1800. She was the 
daughter of Jonathan and Olive Thompson. 
'Mv. Thcjmpson had a good home but a 



large family of ten children and he desired 
to acquire more land. He and his eldest 
son. therefore, went to Canada and pur- 
chased one thousand acres of la'nd. and in 
1 8 10 he removed his family to their new 
home, wh.ere for two years they were pros- 
perous. They were becoming accustomed 
to the country and satisfied with their new 
home, when unfortunately the war of 18 12 
came on and Great Britain demanded of her 
Canadian subjects the oath of alleg:ance. 
Mr. Thompson refused to take the oath of 
allegiance to the British government, and was 
in consequence proscribed as a traitor and 
compelled to flee for liberty and life, leaving 
his wife and children behind. He reached 
Cleveland, Ohio, and from there sent a letter 
to his wife directing her to lea^•e Canada and 
come to Cleveland, bringing with her as 
much of their goods as could be hauled with 
the teams she had. The Indians were by 
that time killing and capturing every one 
that they found unprotected. Vet the brave 
wife and mother decided to make the jour- 
ney, although it was midwinter. She loaded 
as much of their goods as could be hauled 
on two sleds, one drawn by horses and the 
other by oxen. The road lay through an 
almost trackless wilderness, and Sally was 
then but elexen years of age, but she, being 
the eldest of the children at home, went be- 
fore, driving the team of horses, and her 
mother followed driving the oxen. It was 
a fearful undertaking for the mother with 
her family of small children. Mrs. Kerr. 
in relating the incidents of that fearful jour- 
ney, said : "Our road was a very rough 
t>ne and being poorly cleared there were 
many stumps, brush and great snow drifts, 
but our teams were gentle and we were mak- 
ing good headway under the circumstances. 
\\lien the night overtook us before we found 



376 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



shelter and the oxen in some way caught 
their sled on a stump and Ijroke the tongue 
out. Unwilling to leave the oxen and goods 
behind we decided to stay where we were 
until morning. We had no way to make 
a fire or light, and would not ha\'e dared 
to huild a fire if we had for fear Indians. 
So securing our teams and covering the chil- 
dren with blankets, mother and I began 
walking around the little encampment to 
drive back the wolves, which had been howl- 
ing since nightfall and now were getting 
close. \\'hy they did not rush in and kill 
us I never coulcl understand, imless God pre- 
served us.- Oh, but the night was long! but 
at length the blessed sun arose. We soon 
ascertainetl that he could not fix the sled ; so 
we left it and the oxen and started on with 
our horse team. After going four or five 
miles we came to a cabin and hired a man to 
go back, repair the sled and bring the oxen 
to his house. That was the most miserable 
night I ever spent. IMy mother's feet were 
so badlv frozen that she could scarcely walk 
for three weeks." 

The next day they continued on their 
journey and arrived at the home of her 
father's brnther. Here ^Irs. Thompson was 
compelled to remain for se\"eral weeks on ac- 
count of her frozen feet. Three gentle- 
men, who were acquainted with Mr. Thomp- 
son, stopped at the house and tokl Sally's 
mother that if she and her family would 
trust to their protection they would take 
them to Cle\eland. Sally's uncle jirex-ailed 
upon her mother to leave Sally with him 
as he intended leaving the country. Sally 
bade her mother and the children a loving 
farewell, expecting soon to rejoin them in 
Cleveland, but she ne\er again saw her 
mother, father, brothers or sisters, and never 
received any word or tidings from them. 



Before Sally's uncle had time to arrange his 
afifairs for leaving Canada he was drafted 
into the British army, and she was left with 
her aunt. Shortly afterwards she was placed 
in the care of some people who promised to 
take her to Cleveland. Init unfortunately the 
parties to whom she was entrusted were dis- 
honest, and after traveling around the coun- 
try came to Fort Meigs, and left her among 
a lot of French and Indians, she being the 
only American in the place. This rough 
set of people were not kind to the little waif 
and when an old lady she often said that at 
times she often prayed that death might 
come as a relief to her hardships and suffer- 
ings. However a Colonel Cromer, with a 
band of Indians, friendly to the American 
cause, stopped at the ft>rt. The Colonel o]> 
served Sally, and asked why she was there. 
After hearing her pitiful story he told her 
if she could ride a horse he would take her 
to Piqua. She gladly consented, hoping that 
in some way she could find her parents. 
The journey was two hundred miles, and 
the road was a bridle path through an un- 
broken forest. They rode in single file, her 
place being next to the Colonel. She was 
riding a man's saddle, but Colonel Cromer 
was kind to her and had a tent for her ac- 
commodation, and trusty guards to see that 
she was not molested. Upon arriving at 
Wapokoneta the Indians were given a ration 
of rum. Sally was placed in the care of a 
squaw who could talk some English. She, 
fearing trouble because the Indians were 
drunk and could not be controlled, took 
Sally as soon as it was dark upon her pony 
to Fort Loramie, twenty miles distant. Up- 
on Colonel Cromer's arrival at Loramie he 
again took charge of Sally, and upon reach- 
ing Piqua delivered her to Colonel John 
Johnson, the Indian agent. She lived in Col- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



377 



onel Johnson's family for one year, and after- 
wards lived with a Airs. Ewing and finally 
made her home with the family of Jesse Mil- 
ler, with whom she lived until her marriage 
to James Kerr, in 1818. She came to Piqua 
in August, 181 2, and was married in her 
eighteenth year. During their married life 
she was the mother of ele\-en children. Her 
husband was a'prosperous farmer and owned 
agoodfarmlin Monroe township, this county. 
He died in 1863 and his wife lived on the old 
homestead with her son Perry. While she 
had no opportunity for an education, she 
learned to read and was fond of good books. 
She was a thrifty housekeeper, was a devout 
member of the Baptist church and was lo\'ed 
and respected by the whole community, and 
as she was a good conversationalist, her 
neighbors and friends often gathered around 
her to hear her relate the thrilling events of 
her early life. She lived until eighty-three 
years of age, and died August 28, 1883. 

E. ^S. W. 



ISAAC N. PRICE. 

Xot all men order their lives to their 
liking; nor yet are all men true to them- 
selves in living as nearly to their ideals as 
possible and attaining to such heights as 
their talents and opportunities render access- 
ible. We now turn to one who has done 
much and has done it well, wherein all honor 
lies. Not a pretentious or exalted life has 
been his, luit one that has been true to itself 
and its possibilities, and one to which the bi-' 
ographist may revert with a feeling of re- 
spect and satisfaction. He was born in 
Wayne township, ^Montgomery county, Ohio, 
August 5, 1829, and is a representative of 



one of the old Pennsylvania families. His 
grandfather, Solomon Price, came by team 
from the Keystone state to Ohio and pur- 
chased a farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres, on which he lived until his death. He 
passed away at the advanced age of eighty- 
four years. His wife was in her maiden- 
hood Miss Moyer. and they were the parents 
of thirteen children, all of whom reached 
years of maturity. 

David Price, the father of our subject, 
was l)orn in Lancaster county, Pe.insyhania, 
in iSoi; and accompanied his father on his 
remo\-al from the Keystone state. Here he 
married Miss Sarah Long, a .native of 
Preble county, and she was more than ninety 
years of age when called to her final rest. In 
early life, David Price had learned the 
wea\or"s trade, but during the greater part 
of his business career he carried on agricul- 
tural pursuits. He was a member of the 
L'nited Brethren church and died in that 
faith, in Montgomery county, in 1855. In 
his family were three children, namely : 
Isaac N., of this review; Emanuel L., a re- 
tired merchant living in Marysville, Ohio; 
and Catherine A., widow of D. J. Randall, 
a resident of Picjua, Ohio. 

Mr. Price, of this review, spent the days 
of his youth in Wayne township, Montgom- 
ery county, and is indebted to the common 
school system for the educational privileges 
which were accorded him. At the age of 
fifteen years, he started out to make his own 
way in the world, being employed as a farm 
hand by the month. His attention was given 
to such work for about four years. Later 
he served a two years' apprenticeship at the 
cooper's trade, receiving forty-fi\-e dollars 
in compensation for his services during that 
period. For three years he worked for the 
man to whom he was apprenticed, mastering 



378 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the luisiness botli in principal and detail. 
He then returned t(.) the farm, and after two 
year spent in agricultural pursuits he en- 
tered a store at Sniithville, as a clerk. Two 
years were passed in this' clerical position, 
after which lie went to Dayton and for one 
year acted as janitor of a clothing store. On 
the expiration of that period, he accepted a 
clerkship in the clothing store of Salvador 
Schaffer, with whom he remained for one 
year, when he secured a stock of goods to 
be sold on commission. Removing to Tip- 
pecanoe City, he opened a store with a stock 
valued at eight hundred dollars, and for nine* 
years he there engaged in business, meeting 
with excellent success, his trade steadily and 
constantly increasing until it had assumed 
extensive proportions. On his retirement 
from mercantile- life, he purchased a farm of 
one hundred acres, near Covington, and for 
one year devoted his energies to agricultural 
pursuits, but at the end of that period came 
to Troy, where he accepted the general 
agency of the Aetna Fire Insurance Com- 
pany of Hartford'. He took up his abode in 
Troy, in 1868, and carried on the insurance 
business for ten years, when he was injured 
in a runaway. Having recovered, he joined 
J. B. Bennet, of Cincinnati, in the organiza- 
tion of the Andes Fire Insurance Company, 
beciiming one of its stockholders antl ser\'- 
ing as adjuster for the company until 1873, 
■when he embarked in the grocery business 
vvih F. P. Brichbell. That connection was 
maintained for eight years, during which 
time they carried on a large and profitable 
luisiness. Mr. Price tlien sold his interest 
in the partnership and invested his capital 
in land in Miami county. He owns seventy- 
five acres in Staunton township and one hun- 
dred and sixty acres in Union township, and 
fmm his farms he derives a good income. 



He also served as secretar}- of the Troy 
Water \\'orks from 1886 until 1896. 

On the 1 2th of November, 1861, Mr. 
Price was married to Miss Mary Young, of 
New York cit_\'. a daughter of Peter and 
Rhoda Young. Mrs. Price came to Tippe- 
canoe City, Ohio, about 1859. Our subject 
and his wife hold membership in the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, with which they have 
been connected for more than thirty years. 
He is a member of the Masonic and Odd 
Fellows lodges, of Troy, and in his political 
views is a Republican, but has never sought 
nor desired the honors and emoluments of 
public office, preferring that his time and 
attention should be given entirely to his 
business affairs. Everywhere in our land 
are found men who ha\'e worked tiieir own 
way from humble and lowly beginnings to 
positions of prominence in connection with 
the business interests of the locality in which 
they reside. Such a one is Mr. Price, and 
through the legitimate channels of trade 
he has acquired a handsome property, be- 
coming one of the substantial citizens of his 
adopted county. He has a wide acquaint- 
ance and his genial manner and courteous 
disjxjsition have gained him the respect of 
all who know him. 



\\tllia:\i shrader. 

William Shrader was born in Monroe 
township December 25, 1845, 3"^ is a son 
of Charles and Rosanna (Gates) Shrader. 
whose family numbered four children, two 
sons and two daughters. He was reared to 
manhood upon his father's farm, early be- 
coming familiar with all the labors that fall 
to the lot of the agriculturist. From the 



J 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



379 



time of spring planting until crops were 
harvested in the autumn he assisted in the 
work of the fields, and then entered the dis- 
trict school of the neighborhood. At the 
call for one hundred-day men he responded 
to his country's need and joined the service, 
although not yet twenty-one years of age. 
He became a private in Company G, One 
Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio Cavalry, 
being mustered in at Camp Dennison. The 
regiment went to Washington to defend 
the capital city and was there stationed until 
the expiration of his term. 

After his military service Mr. Shrader 
returned to the home farm. up<in which his 
father had located in March, 1857, and, on 
attaining his majority, he assumed the man- 
agement of the place, which was a wild anil 
uniinpro\-ed tract covered witli a heavy 
growth of timber, consisting of oak, hickory, 
ash, elm and walnut trees. There was also 
a log house and log stable upon the place. 
With characteristic energy he began its de- 
velopment and made excellent and substan- 
tial improvements thereon. He there owns 
fifty acres of land on sections 18 and 19, 
the entire place being under cultivation. He 
carries on general farming, but also makes 
a specialty of raising tobacco and finds it 
a profitable source of income. 

In 1881 Mr. Shrader was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Elizabeth Knife, daughter 
of Da\'id and Jane (Pearson) Knife. They 
were both born in Miami county, and 
were the parents of four children, living : 
Mrs. Shrader: Ella, wife of Allen Vore; 
Charles, on the home farm ; Cora, wife of 
Warren Cress. All are living in Miami 
county. To Mr. and Mrs. Shrader have 
been born seven children, three now living : 
John \\'., born December 22. 1873; Sus- 
anna, July .21, 1882, and Bessie M., No- 



vember 26, 1887. They have also lost four 
children, Minnie P., Frankie, Charles and 
an infant. In his political views Mr. 
Shrader is a Repuljlican, but has never 
sought or desired political preferment. So- 
cially he is connected with D. M. Rouzer 
Post, G. A. R., of Tippecanoe City, and 
enjoys the esteem and friendship of his com- 
rades of the blue. 



WILLIAM BRIXKMAXX. 

In ^^'estphalen, Prussia, Germany, on the 
2y\ of March, 1841. William Brinkniann 
was born, and the days of his childhood 
and youth were passed upon 'the farm. In 
accordance with the laws of his native land 
he acquired his education and in Germany 
he remained until 1865, but the broader op- 
portunities of the new world attracted him 
and he bade adieu to home and friends, pre- 
paratory to coming to America. Taking 
passage on a west-bound steamer he started 
for New York city, and thence made his 
way to Covington, Ohio, where he secured 
employment in a stone quarry, with which 
he was connected for five years. On the ex- 
piration of that period he rented the land 
upon which he now^ resides and turned his 
attention to farming. As the years passed 
he added to his capital, and when he had ac- 
quired a sufficient amount he purchased a 
farm comprising ninety acres on section 4. 
Of this eighty-five acres is under cultiva- 
tion. Six acres is annually planted to to- 
bacco, which is a profitable crop. Other 
fields are planted to corn, wheat and oats, 
and in his pastures are found good grades 
of cattle. He is also engaged in the dairy 
business and the products of his dairy find 
ready sale upon the market. 



380 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



In 1867 yiv. Brinkmann was niarrietl to 
Miss Mary Boehringer, and unto them have 
been burn ten children : Henry, Maggie, 
Jane, Charley, Casper, Lewis, Agnes, Ida, 
Edward and Frank. Tlie family circle yet 
remains unbroken and the children have 
been trained to habits of industry, economy 
and honesty, so that they have been a credit 
to the family name. Mr. Brinkmann is a 
member of the German Lutheran church. 
He came to this country in limited circum- 
stances, but possessed a sturdy and deter- 
mined spirit, which has stOcMl hini in stead of 
fortune. Scorning no honest labor, he 
worked early and late to secure a start, and 
since becoming the owner of his farm he has 
yearly received a good income from its crops. 
He is methodical in his business methods, 
is never dilatory in performing his work, and 
by the careful prosecution of his business 
interests he has met with creditable success. 



CORNELIUS BOWNE, 

Among the native sons of Miami county, 
now actively identified \\ith its farming 
interests, is Cornelius Bowne, who was born 
in Staunton township, September 17, 1839. 
His father, Thomas R. Bowne, is a native 
of Trenton, New Jersey, and came from 
that state to Ohio, in 1830,- taking up his 
abode in Staunton township upon a farm, 
where his son, Cornelius, was born. It was 
a tract of wild and unimproved land, on 
section 16, and thereon he erected a log 
cabin in the midst of the forest. The trees 
stood in their primeval strength, but soon 
fell before the sturdy strokes of the ax and 
in due time the wild land was transformed 
into fields of waving grain. Throughout 



the remainder nf his life Mr. Bowne carried 
on agricultural pursuits on that farm, his 
death occurring in 1872, in his seventy- 
second year. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Eleanora Nevius, was also a native 
of New Jersey, and by her marriage became 
the mother of five children: Hannah, wife 
of Samuel ]\Iorton, of Lost Creek township; 
Rachel, wife of Dr. S. S. Gray, of Piqua; 
Cornelius; ]\Iartha, widow of Albert At- 
kinson, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Jacob, 
a farmer of Staunton tow'uship. 

Cornelius Bowne spent the days of his 
youth on the old homestead, the duties and 
pleasures of boyhood occupying his atten- 
tion. He assisted in the farm work through 
the summer months and in the winter sea- 
son pursued his education in tjie common 
schools. On the i6th of May, 1864, he 
joined the boys in blue of Company K, One 
Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry, 
was mustered into the ser\ice at Camp Den- 
nison and participated in the defense of 
Washington, D. C, until mustered out on 
the expiration of his one-luuKlred-day term 
of service. He was discharged .August 29, 
1864. and at once came to Miami county. 

On the 27th of July, 1865, Mr, Bowne 
was united in marriage to Miss Frances A. 
Cromer, a native of Lost Creek township, 
antl a daughter of Jacob and Rebekah 
(Estey) Cromer. The father was born in 
Miami county April 4, 1823, and was a 
son of Abraham and Hannah (Harlass) 
Cromer, both natives of Virginia. They 
came to Ohio about 1814. Mr. and Mrs. 
Cromer were married ]\Iarch 5, 1S45. 
Rebekah Estey was the daughter of James 
and Abigail (Knoop) Estey, and was born 
in New Brunswick, March 27, 1826. Her 
parents were also natives of New Bruns- 
wick. Mrs. Hannah (Harlass) Cromer 




■*flas.-Aji. r:.i_"ir-- 




t 



C^ A^->^ c <C</. 



^r-vu-O^ 



<^- (^(yio^LX{yLA^ Jjn^^^^^^^ 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



883 



baked the breael for the army during the 
Indian war. The cliildren of Mr. and Mrs. 
Cromer were : Mary EHzabeth, born May 
lo, 1846; Frances Abigail, Ijorn February 
21, 1848; Amas Francise, born Felsruary 9, 
1850; Thomas H., born October 31, 1853; 
David Scott, born July 21, 1861, and Anna 
Maria, born September 13, 1863. Jacob 
Cromer died February 17, 1894, and Thomas 
Cromer died January 13, i860. ]\Ir. and 
Mrs. Bowne have one child, Etta, who was 
born September 21, 1868, and is now the 
wife of Erastus Robbins, who is engaged in 
the furniture and undertaking business in 
Troy. They were married March i, 1888. 
Soon after their marriage Mr. and ^Irs. 
Bowne remo\-ed to Shelby county, Ohio, but 
after nine months returned to Miami coun- 
ty and for five years resided in Brown town- 
ship. Mr. Bowne devoted his energies to 
farming. He then came to Staunton town- 
ship, where he rented a farm for five years. 
On the expiration of that period he pur- 
chased sixty-four acres on section 13, there 
making his home until April, 1892, when he 
came to the county infirmary, having been 
appointed its superintendent on the ist of 
December, 1891. The appointment was 
made by the board of directors, composed 
of Thomas Bond, Samuel Bowman and 
David Arnold, and in April, 1892, Mr. 
Bowne entered upon the duties of the po- 
sition, as successor to Price Duncan. There 
are sixty-seven inmates in the infirmary at 
the present time and the farm on which it 
is located comprises one hundred and fifty- 
four acres. Under the capable manage- 
ment of Mr. Bowne its business afTairs have 
been successfully conducted, everything 
about the place has been kept in good condi- 
tion and the inmates are well cared for. In 

politics, Mr. Bowne is a stalwart Republi- 
a2 



can ; socially, is connected with Coleman 
Post, G. A. R., of Troy, and the Knights 
of the Golden Eagle. Religiously, he is a 
l^resbyterian, his membership being with 
the church of that denomination of Troy. 
Over the record of his life there falls no 
shadow of wrong or suspicion of evil, and his 
career has been characterized by fidelity to 
all manly principles, by honesty in business 
life and by honor in all that concerns man's 
relations with his fellow men. 



JAMES M. MOORE. 

James M. Moore was born in Miami 
county, in 1840, and was a son of William 
B. and Sidney Moore, now deceased. They 
emigrated from the state of New Jersey and 
were among the early settlers of Miami 
county, where the father followed farming. 
J. M. Moore was reared on the farm, re- 
ceived a fair education and followed school 
teaching for a number of years. In 1872 
he was united in marriage to Frances D. 
Sayres, and- removed to Illinois, residing 
there ten years. At the expiration of that 
period they return to Miami county, Ohio, 
and for the last ten years have resided in 
the city of Piqua. To this union was born 
one son, who died in infancy. 



DAVID C. MEEKS. 

David C. ]\Ieeks. trustee of Lost Creek 
township and a prominent farmer, was born 
on the 13th of January, 1851, in the locality 
which is still his home, his parents being 
David and Eliza (Knight) Meeks. The 



384 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



father was a native of Pennsylvania and (hir- 
ing his boyhood came to Ohio, where he pur- 
cliased the old homestead for a dollar and 
a (juarter per acre. In Lost Creek township 
he married Eliza, daugliter of David Knight, 
and for sixty-one years they tra\'eled life's 
journe}- together, making their home in 
Lost Creek township throngh the entfre 
period, with the exception of two years spent 
in Trov and ten vears in Urbana. in order 
that their children might ha\e better ednca- 
tional privileges. The father erected the resi- 
dence upon the nld homestead about 1S40. 
making the liriok on the farm. In his earlv 
life he cut cord-wood for twehe and a half 
cents per cord, thus making fifty cents a day. 
all of which had to go in rent for his land, 
but as the result of his industry he was en- 
abled to secure a clear title to the farm and 
to add to his possessions from time to t'me 
imtil he became one of the substantial fann- 
ers of the ccimmunity. He had two brothers, 
Jesse and Eli. who settled in the same lo- 
cality, and his father. Bazil Meeks. also 
made a home on the same section, while Dr. 
J. S. Meeks located in Troy. When forty 
years of age the father Ijecame blind and 
ne\'er recovered his sight, althnugh be lived 
to be eighty-three years of age. David 
Meeks also became blind seven years pre- 
vious to his death, Imt his mental faculties 
remained unimpaired to the last. He died 
January 5. 1896, at the age of ninety years, 
his birth having occurred in 1806. and his 
wife passed away March 28. 1897. in her 
eighty-sixth year. They had a family of 
nine children, four of whom died in child- 
hood, while fi\'e reached years of maturity, 
ami three are now living. ;iamely: Mrs. 
R. D. Evans, assistant matron of the Ohio 
penitentiary, at Columlius: ^^^ R., a mer- 
chant of L'rbana : and David C. One sister, 



Diana, became the wife of M. S. Ruthenberg, 
of Cincinnati, and died at the age of forty- 
eight years. One brother. Johnson K.. was 
drowned in the Miami river at Troy, when 
alxnit forty-five years of age. Eli Meeks 
removed to Indiana and David C. Meeks, 
the subject of this re\iew, now t)wns a part 
of his old farm. 

The father of our subject was a Whig in 
early life, but joined the Republican ])arty 
on its organization. He prospered in his 
business affairs and became the owner of 
four hundred and twenty-seven acres of land 
in Miami county and one humiretl anil 
eighty-four acres in Champaign county. He 
also in\'ested in a ijuarter-section of coal 
land and laid out an addition to the village 
of McCuneville. Perry county. In his busi- 
ness dealings he was extremely prosperous 
in early life, but afterward lost nnich of his 
money, losing fifteen hundred dullars in the 
pike and also all that he had invested in the 
hydraulic canal. In his religious faith he 
was a Baptist, although he did not become a 
member of the church until within three 
years of his death. He was always a close 
Bible student and was well informed on all 
scriptural matters. 

David Corbly Meeks, whose name intro- 
duces this review, spent his boyhood days 
on the old home farm, sa\-e for two years 
passed in Troy. At the age of fi\e be en- 
tered the Troy schools, where he pursued 
his studies for two years. Later he was a 
student in the high school at that place and 
in Nelson's Commercial College, at Cincin- 
nati, from 1 87 1 until 1873. He then re- 
turned to the old farm, rented the property 
and has since carried on agricultural piu-- 
suits. Al)out 1885 he purchased his present 
farm, comprising eighty-two and a half 
acres, of which he has cleared sixty acres, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



885 



transforming the tract into riclil_\- cnlti\ated 
fields, from which he derives a good income. 
On the loth of October, 1875, Mr. Meeks 
Avas married to Miss Lida McGalliard, a 
daughter of Isaac McGalliard, of Lost Creek 
township. Their children are Cory F., who 
died at the age of three years; Earl, \ enna, 
Riley, Forest and Rub}-. The family is one 
of prominence in the c^>mmunit^" and the 
]\Ieeks household is noted for its hospital- 
ity. In his political x'iews Mr. Meeks is a 
Republican and frequent]}- attends the con- 
ventions of his party. For seven years he 
served as one of tlie township trustees, 
discharging his duty with promptness and 
fidelity, and in the spring of 1900 was re- 
elected for a three-year term. In religious 
faith he is a Baptist and in the church in 
Casstown, in which he Imlds membership, 
he is serving as deacon. His entire life has 
been passed in Miami county and all who 
know him esteem him for his sterling worth. 



CHARLES A. McCOOLE. 

One of the native sons of Miami county, 
Charles A. McCoole was born at Fredericks- 
burg, Miami county, on the 8th of Novem- 
ber, 1858, his parents being William and 
Mary E. (Hoover) McCoole. The father 
was also a native of Fredericksburg and a 
son of Y. G. and Margaret (Cloyd) Mc- 
Coole. The grandfather was a shoemaker 
by trade and operated a shop at Fredericks- 
burg, where he died at the age of se\-enty- 
five years. His wife passed away many 
years previous. William McCoole and 
Mary Hoover were married in Fredericks- 
burg, althinigh the latter was reared iiear 



West Milton. The former learned the shoe- 
maker's trade and remained in his native 
town until after the inauguration of the 
civil war. when he joined the army as a 
memljer of Company B, Ninety-fourth Ohio 
X'olunteer Infantry, serving as a teamster 
with the regiment. He remained at the 
front until the close of the war, and is now 
connected with the Grand Army Post at 
Troy, taking a very acti\-e interest in its 
work. During his service his wife had 
remo\-ed to the property three miles west 
of Troy, in Concord township, Miami coun- 
ty, where his remaining days were passed, 
his death occurring when he had reached 
the age of fifty-eight years. His widow 
still resides at the old homestead. In poli- 
tics he was a stalwart Republican, unswerv- 
ing in his support of the principles of the 
party. He belie\-ed it his duty to advocate 
that organization and would not e\-en \-ote 
for a friend on an opposition ticket. He 
worked untiringly and effectively in behalf 
of Republican interests and was likewise 
prominent in local Grand Army circles. 
Unto Mr. and Mrs. McCoole were born five 
children. Captain J. B., who is living in 
Troy; jMary Elizabeth, who became the wife 
of James Robbins, of Concord township, 
and died at the age of thirty-five years; 
Charles, of this review; James, who died 
in childhood ; and Shern-ian, who lives with 
his mother. 

Charles A. McCoole spent his boyhood 
days in the usual manner of farmer lads. 
The opening of spring caused him to make 
his way to the fields, where he assisted in 
the plowing and planting, and his time was 
largely occupied there until the crops were 
harvested in the autumn. After attaining his 
majority he rei-ited a farm, remaining at 
heme until his marriage. On the 21st of 



886 



GEXEALOCICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



October, 1880. he led to tlie marriage altar 
Miss Callie Myers, a daughter of Charles 
and Minnie Myers, both natives of Germany. 
Their marriage, however, was celebrated in 
Troy, Ohio, and the mother is still living 
at Grayson Station. The father died at his 
home in Concord township in February, 
1879, when in the prime of life. They had 
a family of two sons and four daughters : 
Augusta became the wife of Fred Raymer, 
of Staunton township, and died at the age 
of fortv-two vears ; Elizabeth became the 
wife of Frank Wilhelm, of Staunton town- 
ship; Mrs. McCoole is the next; ^linnie is 
the wife of Ferdinand Prakel, of Elizabeth 
township ; Charles resides in Staunton town- 
ship: and William died at the age of nine- 
teen years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. McCoole 
have been born three children : James Wal- 
ter, who died at the age of seven years ; 
Emma, who is attending school : and Helen, 
the baby, who is with her parents. 

After his marriage Mr. McCoole rented 
a farm in Staunt<:)n township, where he car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits until 1S91, 
w'hen he purchased his present farm of forty 
acres, situated in Elizabeth township on the 
Troy and Charleston pike, about four and 
a half miles from Troy, and this is known 
as the Jerry Dye farm and is one of the 
oldest developed places in the countv. Mr. 
McCoole is progressive and practical in liis 
farming methods, and his marketl industrv 
has resulted in securing to him a comfortable 
competenece. He is a member of the Bethel 
Christian church in Corcord. and his wife 
holds membership in the English Lutheran 
church of Troy. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican, unswerving in his support of the prin- 
ciples of the party. In all his relations with 
his fellow men he has manifested those 
sterling traits of character which everywhere 



command respect, and the county may be 
proud to number him among her native 
sons. 



JOSHUA FURXAS. 

Back to England Mr. Furnas traces his 
ancestry. The first of the name of whom 
he has authentic record are John and Mary 
Furnas, who were born in Cumberland- 
shire, in the town of Standing Stone, which 
town deri\e<l its name from a large rock, 
fifty feet in height, which is just outside the 
corporation limits. According to the Eng- 
lish custom the eldest son of the family falls 
heir to the estate. The father of John Fur- 
nas was the owner of extensive real estate 
holdings and because of his wealth he was 
known as a lord or jjeer. Among his chil- 
dren was John Furnas, but as he was not the 
eldest son he did not come into possession 
of his father's property. In the same vil- 
lage lived Mary Wilkinson, who was born 
September 19, 1742. She attracted the at- 
tention of John Furnas, who gave her his 
love, and on the 24th of March, 1762, they 
were united in the holy bonds of wedlock, 
in the Friends meeting-house in Standing 
Stone. In the following October they em- 
barked for Charleston, South Carolina, and 
on the 1 8th of February. 1763, they reached 
their destination. John Furnas died at Bush 
Ri\-er. South Carolina, on the 5th of Au- 
gust. 1777. and his wife, surviving him 
al:)out five years, passed away at the same 
place on the 6th of October, 1782. He was 
a man of fine physique, strong and well built, 
antl was famed for his athletic powers when 
a young man. The story is told of how he 
managed to escape piratical slavery by a 
mar\elous feat of swimming. When the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



387 



waters that waslied the EngHsh shores were 
sailed by many a pri\-ate ship, John Furnas 
and a companion were captured by a pirate 
crew. The former made a vow that he would 
not be a slave to such men nor remain on 
board their vessel very long. Accordingly 
one dark night he and his companion tied 
their clothing on their backs, jumped over- 
board and were soon swimming toward 
what they supposed to be an island. They 
were shot at, but miraculously escaped being 
hit. They swam for a long time and at last 
John's mate said he could go no farther and 
sank to a watery gra\-e. while John swam 
on for a short distance and landed in safety 
on an island. Later he was picked up by a 
friendly ship and returned to his home. 

In England the family name was spelled 
I'urness. Init has been changed to its present 
orthography in this country. 

William Furnas, the grandfather of our 
subject, was born May 29, 1775. in South 
Carolina, was married in 1797 to Rachel 
Wesley, and died December 21, 1833. Soon 
after his marriage he came with his young 
wife to Miami county and entered land in 
Newton township, securing one hundred 
and sixty acres, all of which was still in its 
primitive condition. He was a blacksmith 
by trade, and as there were no rolling mills 
at the time, iron was in the rough and was 
hammered out into shoes, nails and other 
such articles as were used in a blacksmith 
^hop. A gristmill was erected not far from 
^^'illiam Furnas' shop and he made all of the 
iron used in its construction. He was a 
poor man and had a hard task in providing 
for his family through the pioneer days, 
when many hardships were borne by all who 
lived upon the frontier. The family lived in 
a log cabin covered with a roof made from 
boards split from black walnut, and lasting 



many years. The house had but two rooms 
and was iieated by a large old-fashioned 
fireplace. William Furnas died upon the 
farm w hich he there developed. He was a 
member of the Society of Friends, and in his 
political affiliations was a Whig. 

He had ten children, of whom the fol- 
lowing brief record is given : John, who 
was born January 11, 1798, in South Caro- 
lina, was married August 30, 1827, to Hep- 
sebeth Alills. Removing to Iowa, he made 
his home on the north bank of the Iowa 
ri\-er, in Iowa county, and there died March 
16, 1855. Wilkinson, born in South Caro- 
lina, February 6, 1799. died August 16, 
1808. Martin, born in South Carolina, Feb- 
ruary II, 1801, was married, September 3, 
1823, to Morsena Patty, and took up his 
abode soutiieast of Pleasant Hill, Oliio, 
dying of cholera on his farm in 1S49. Cary, 
born in South Carolina, June 19, 1803, was 
married, November 14, 1825, to Matilda 
Lovell, and located on Painter creek, Miami 
county, where he died October 6, 1872. 
Sarah was born in Ohio May 24, 1806, and 
died in Miami county May 24, 1826. Jacob, 
the next of the family, became the father of 
our subject. Joseph, born in Miami county, 
August 8, 1809, was married, September 15, 
1834, to Margaret Spencer, and located on 
the old home farm, where he died May 24, 
1884. Mary, born in this county October 6, 
1811, became the wife of Robert Greenlee 
on the 19th of May. 183 1, and located three 
miles west of Covington, where she died 
March 31, 1849. Robert, born May 22, 
1813, was married. January 8, 1837, to Mary 
Jane Fowler, and removed to Iowa county, 
Iowa, his home being now in Belle Plains. 
Rebecca, born September 29, 1815, became 
the wife of Isaac Tisor February 14, 1843, 
and died in Miami countv on the 20th of 



388 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



June, 1849. Esther, born Sei)tember 21, 
181 7, married William Greenlee, and re- 
moved to Iowa county. Iowa, her death oc- 
curring in Belle Plains, that state, in 1899. 

Jacob Furnas, the father of our subject. 
■was born in Miami county March 28, 1807. 
and on the 22d of June, 1834. married Ab- 
igail Large. After her death he was again 
married, his second marriage being cele- 
brated March 16, 1868, when ^Margaret Mc- 
Donald became his wife. He died June 14, 
1881. His children were se\'en in number. 
Henry, the eldest, was born March 6,^, 1835. 
and died September 18. 1854. Joshua is the 
second in order of birth. Rachel, born Feb- 
ruary 24, 1842. is the wife of Samuel Brum- 
baugh, and lives near Madison, Greenwood 
county. Kansas. Mary, born October 21, 
1844. died May 8, 1854. Martin, born 
March 3, 1847. '^'ied June 17. 1834. Sarah 
Ann, born July 2^, 1849. <li^<l ^^^y !/• 1854. 
Joseph, born April 16. 1851, died on the 
21st of the same month. 

Joshua Furnas, whose name introduces 
this review, was born August 18. 1839. on 
the farm which is still his home. When he 
had arrixed at the usual school age he be- 
gan his education in the district schools of 
the neighborhood, which he attended for 
about three months in the year until fifteen 
years of age. In the winter of 1859 he was 
a student in a Quaker school in Xewton 
township, and after his return from the army 
he further continued his education. At the 
age of twenty he began teaching and fol- 
lowed that profession for several terms. On 
the nth of December, 1863. at Pleasant 
Hill, he responded to his countrv's call fur 
troops, enlisting in Company G, One Hun- 
dred and Tenth Ohio \'olunteer Infantry, 
under Captain J. C. Ullery and Colonel J. 
Warren Keifer. At the time of the inaugu- 



ration of the civil war he had gone to Iowa 
and enlisted in the Twenty-eighth Iowa In- 
fantry, with which he went to camp, but was 
discharged on account of disability. He then 
returneil home and remained in this dnrnty 
until his second enlistment. He was then 
ordered to Columbus and placed on detached 
duty in the provost marshal's office. In May, 
1864. he joined his regiment at Culpeper, 
\^irginia. and on the 5th of ]\Iay he partici- 
pated in the battle of the ^Vilderness. where 
he received a musket ball wound through 
the left wrist. He went to the field hospital 
and was finally sent to Chestnut Hill hos- 
pital, in Pennsylvania. When he had suf- 
ficientl}' reco\'ered he was sent home on a 
twenty-day furlough, and on the expiration 
of that time reported in the office of the 
provost marshal. He was again on detached 
service until September, when he rejoined his 
regiment in the vicinity of Winchester. Vir- 
ginia, on the night of the i8th of Septem- 
ber. The following day he participated in 
the second battle of \Vinchester, and on the 
22d was in the battle of Fisher's Hill. He 
then lay in camp at Cedar Creek until Oc- 
tober 19th, when an engagement occurred 
there, after wliich the Union forces fell back 
tc Middletown, Virginia, and built winter 
i|uarters. After two weeks there passed 
Mr. Furnas went with his regiment to the 
city of Washington and thence to Peters- 
burg, where he remained in camp through 
the winter of 1864-65. It is claimed by 
many that the One Hundred and Tenth 
Regiment was the first to pass o\-er the breast 
works at that point. For some time ^Ir. 
Furnas did clerical work for his company 
and on different occasions for his colonel. 
During the winter of 1864-65 he re-wrote the 
history of the regiment for the adjutant, 
William H. Harrv. .\fter the evacuation of 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



389 



Riclimoiiil ami Petersljurg tlie Union forces 
followed the retreating Confederates, fought 
the hattle of Sailors Run, April 7, 1865, 
and followed Lee to Appomattox, the One 
Hundred and Tenth Ohio being present at 
the surrender. They then spent two weeks in 
camp across the ri\er from Richmond and 
afterward marched all the way to Washing- 
t(!n. where Air. Furnas received an honorable 
discharge on the 12th of June. 1865. At 
the liattle of the Wilderness Major Mcll- 
\aine, of the One Hundred and Tenth, was 
on the firing line and his horse was shot 
from under him. He was thrown to the 
ground, but arose and walked toward Mr. 
Furnas, asking him if he was wounded. 
The latter replied that he was. and just at 
that moment ]\Iajor Mdlvaine was shot in 
the breast and killed almost instantly. Our 
subject's term did not expire with that of 
liis regiment, but he applied for his discharge 
at that time anil it was granted him on ac- 
count of physical disabilities. 

\\'hen the war was over and Air. Furnas 
was at liberty to retiu'u. he made his way 
to the old home farm, and the following- 
winter he attended school at Pleasant Hill. 
Later he engaged in teaching. For a time 
after the war he made his home with his 
uricle. Joe Furnas, at Pleasant Hill. His 
mother was dead antl he roamed about to a 
considerable extent, spending some time in 
southern Illinois. He was married, in New- 
berry township, at the home of the bride, 
October 6, 1869, the lady of his choice being- 
Miss Eliza Dowler, who was born on the 
Joseph Dowler farm, in Newberry township, 
March 5, 1845, ^ daughter of William and 
Hannah Maria (Smith) Dowler. She at- 
tended school in Clayton until twenty-one 
years of age and subsequently engaged in 
teaching for about two terms. 



William Dowler. the father of Mrs. 
Furnas, was born February 9, 1792, and was 
married, on the 26th of August, 1818, to 
Eleanor Reynolds, who died in Newberry 
township July 19, 1840. On the 28th of 
April, 1842, he was joined in wedlock to 
Hannah Maria Smith. His death occurred 
April 6, 1849. Thechildren by his first wife 
were as follows : Joseph was born October 

1, 18 19, and died in 1892; Huldah Jane, 
who was born October 7, 1822, died in New- 
berry township; Margaret, who was born 
January 15, 1823, was four times married, 
her husbands being Samuel Alitchell. Mark 
McDonald, Jacob Furnas and George Snow, 
and she is now a widow living in Webster, 
Darke county; Rel>ecca, who was born 
March i, 1825, becan-ie the wife of Henry 
Rike, of Newberry township, and died July 

2, 1895; Sarah Ann, born September 2, 
1827, is deceased; James Harvey, born July 
8, 183c, has also passed away; and Mary 
Ellen, who w'as born August 28, 1832, has 
departed this life. 

After his marriage Mr. Furnas rented 
the old home farm of his father, and after 
the latter's death he purchased the property, 
now- comprising fifty-two acres. It was for- 
merly one hundred and forty-four acres in 
extent, but he has sold a portion of this, 
reducing it to its present size. He carries 
on general fanning and has engaged in bee 
culture for twenty-five years, having a very 
extensive apiary, from which he has taken 
as high as two thousand pounds of honey 
ill a single season. He also cultivates small 
fruit, including various varieties of berries, 
and in 1899 he sold one hundred bushels of 
strawberries. He is an enterprising, indus- 
trious and practical agriculturist and horti- 
culturist, and excellent success is attending 
his efforts. 



390 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Unto Mr. and Mrs. Furnas was l^orn a 
daugliter. Emma Belle, whose birth occurred 
June 17, 1 87 1. She was married, October 
II. 1888, to Warren A. Hill, who was bom 
at Laura. ]\Iiami county, on the 14th of 
April, 1867. He was reared to manhood 
in his native town and in Mooresville, Indi- 
ana. When he was about sixteen years of 
age, his parents removed to Versailles, Darke 
coiuity. Ohio, and thence to Bloomer. Miami 
county. He learned the blacksmith's trade 
with his fatlier. but since his marriage has 
engaged in farming. In politics he is a 
stanch Republican, and religiously has Ijeen 
connected with the Cumberland Presbyterian 
church of Covington since his marriage, pre- 
vious to which time he was a memlier of the 
Christian church. He is a grandson of 
James Hill and a son of John M. Hill, who 
was born near Laura December 11. 1839, 
and was reared in this county. He enlisted 
October 7. 1861. being mustered into the 
L'nited States service at Paducah. Ken- 
tucky, as a private of Company B. Seventy - 
first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was pro- 
moted to the rank of first lieutenant Novem- 
ber 21. 1 86 1, and first saw service in snuth- 
ern Kentucky and Tennessee. In the sum- 
mer of 18G2 part of his regiment was sur- 
rendered by Colonel Mason to Kentucky 
militia. He was discharged July 14. 1862, 
owing to ill health, and was brought home 
sick with consumption. After somewhat re- 
covering his health he began work at his 
trade and later he married Elizabeth J. 
Tucker, the wedding taking place at Milton. 
She was born in Mercer county. Ohio. June 
J 3, 1840. Mr. Hill died at Bloomer in Au- 
gust, 1887. He was a member of the Chris- 
tian church and a Republican in his politi- 
cal affiliations. His wife still survives him 
and resides at Laura. 



About 1870 Mr. Furnas united with the 
Cumberland Presbyterian church of Cov- 
ington, and socially he is connected with 
Langston Post. G. .\. R.. of Covington. In 
liis political views he is an ardent Republican 
and also believes in prohibition principles. 
His memory covers the pioneer epoch in the 
history of this section of Ohio. His father 
settled here with the family when every- 
thing was in a primitive condition, when 
there were no roads through the woods, 
the forest standing in its primeval strength. 
All kinds of wild game were to be had in 
abundance, and when Joshua Furnas wished 
to replenish the larder he would go about one 
hundred yards awav from his home and 
shoot turkeys. Cooking was done over tlie 
old fashioned fireplace, Mr. Furnas being 
quite a boy when he first saw a cook stove. 
He has also seen great changes in methods 
of farming, the old sickle having long since 
been replaced liy the most comi)lete uKidern 
machinery. He has cut wheat many a tlay 
with a reap hook, and has heard old men 
scoff at the idea of reapers and binders. 
There was no postoffice near his pioneer 
home, and en\-elopes and postage stamps 
were not in use. the letter being simply 
folded and sealed with wax. It was then 
taken to the postmaster, to whom the sender 
would pay fi\e cents to ha\e it forwarded. 
The school house of the neighborhood was 
built of logs and was alxnit two miles 
distant from the Furnas home, the path 
thereto leading through an almost impass- 
able woods. School was held about three 
months each year. All the clothing worn 
by the family was made by the mother and 
daughters. The father kei)t sheep and the 
mother would spin the wool into yarn, which 
was woven into the cloth for their garments. 
The tuembers of the family would also pull 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



391 



the flax, tie it up in bunches, set it up in 
small shocks, and when dry it was taken in, 
the seed threshed out and the straw was 
then spread on the clean, green lawn until 
the straw rotted and the fibre was left. This 
fibre was then cleaned on a frame and 
"scutched," which was the third process in 
cleansing it. It was then spun into yarn 
and woven in a hand loom, after which it 
was manufactured into clothing, table cloths 
and other useful articles. Such were some 
of the labors performed by the early set- 
tlers in pioneer days. Mr. Furnas remem- 
bers many interesting incidents of those 
times, but takes just pride in the progress 
the county has made and has accorded a 
willing support to many measures which he 
believed to be of public benefit. He has 
led a busy, useful and honorable life, thus 
gaining the respect and confidence of all 
who know him, and in the history of Miami 
county he well deserves representation. 



SPAFFORD W. MAXWELL. 

Spafford W. Maxwell is a representative 
of a well known family of Ohio pioneers. 
He was born in Mianiisburg, Montgomery 
county, on the 20th of October, 1836. His 
father, Thomas Maxwell, was a native of 
Monmouth county. New Jersey, born May 
29, 1800, and a son of Thomas Maxwell, 
Sr., whose people removed from Connecti- 
cut to New Jersey. Leaving the latter state 
in 1806, the grandfather made his way by 
team to Ohio, reaching Cincinnati at a time 
when it contained only one brick house. He 
settled at Franklin, Ohio, where he entered 
government land and there spent his remain- 
ing days, his death occurring when he had at- 
tained the age of sixtv-seven vears. His son. 



Thomas, was reared to manhood in Warren 
county, where he remained until eighteen 
3-ears of age, when he went to Cincinnati 
and there followed the painter's trade for 
several years. On the expiration of that 
period he took up his abode in Miamisburg, 
Montgomery county, where he engaged in 
painting until his marriage to Miss Susan 
Jones, a native of Dayton, Ohio. Their 
union was blessed with four children : 
Stephen J., who became a farmer and died 
in Staunton township, Miami county; 
Martha A., deceased wife of William Dun- 
can ; Rachel A., who became the wife of 
Jonathan Rollins, and after his death wedded 
J. C. \\'inans; and Spaff^ord W., the young- 
est and only survivor of the family. Soon 
after his marriage the father located on a 
farm in Montgomery county, where he re- 
mained until 1839. when he came to the farm 
upon which our subject now resides. He 
purchased one hundred and two acres of 
land on section 20 from Caleb Hathaway, 
who had entered it from the government. 
There was a double log house upon the farm, 
which was erected in 181 3, and is still in use, 
one of the few landmarks of pioneer days 
yet remaining. Upon the farm which he 
there developed and improved Thomas Max- 
well spent the remainder of his life, being 
called to the home beyond on the nth of 
'October. 1884. He was an active and in- 
fluential member of the Presbyterian church 
of Troy and a man of the highest respecta- 
bility. His wife died April 16, 1848, and 
the father afterward again married, his sec- 
ond union being with Annie Martin. 

Spaft'ord W. Maxwell was only two 
years old when his parents came to the home- 
stead farm in Miami county, upon which he 
was reared to manhood. He remained 
with his father and to him gave the benefit 



392 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of his services until thirty years of age, 
when he was married. January 8, 1868, to 
Rachel A. Devol. She was born in Staun- 
ton township April 23. 1842, a daughter of 
Harrison and Jane L. (Orr) Devol, the for- 
mer a native of Chillicothe, Ohio. On com- 
ing to Miami county he located where Clarke 
Hikes now lives, and there Mrs. Maxwell 
was born. She is the third of a family of 
four children, the others being: Hiram W., 
a resident of Indiana; John, who makes his 
home in Troy; and Sarah, wife of Will- 
oughby Murphy, of Knoxville, Tennessee. 
The father died May 29, 1875, in the faith 
of the ^Methodist churcli, of which he was a 
member. 

After their marriage Mr. and ]\lrs. Max- 
well located upon a rented farm in Staunton 
township and lived upon land owned by 
others until 1876, when they returned to 
the old Maxwell homestead, which our sub- 
ject purchased of his father. He has made 
most of the improvements upon the place and 
now has st farm whose neat and attractive 
appearance indicates his careful supervision 
and progressive methods. The home has 
been blessed by the presence of seven chd- 
dren, namely; Minnie J., wife of Edwin 
Foster, of Staunton townshij); ^\'alter F., 
of Troy; Sarah E. ; Annie M. ; Bertha and 
Myrtie, twins; and \\'ilbur D. All are liv- 
ing with the exce]jtion of Myrtie, who died* 
at the age of eighteen years. 

During the civil war Mr. Maxwell re- 
sponded to the call for men to serve one 
hundred days and joined the army on the 
29th of May, 1864, as a private of Com- 
pank K, One Hundred and Forty-seventh 
Oliio Infantry, and was made corporal. He 
went to the defense of Washington, being on 
guard duty near the capital city throughout 
the term of his service. Pie is a Republican 



in his political views, and was one of the or- 
ganizers and charter members of Coleman 
Post, G. A. R. He and his family are mem- 
bers of the First Presbyterian church of 
Troy, in which he has been an elder for 
twenty-one years. They take a deep interest 
in its work, doing much to promote its 
growth and welfare. Mr. Maxwell has 
never sought political preferment, yet in re- 
sponse to the wishes of his fellow towns- 
men he has served as justice of the peace, 
his incumbency in that office covering a 
period of twelve years. He has also been 
a member of the school board for twenty- 
five years, and the cause of education has 
found in him a warm friend, whose labors 
have been effective in promoting the work 
of the schools in this locality. As an official 
he is ever true and faithful to his duty, mani- 
festing the same patriotic spirit which 
prompted his enlistment under the old Hag. 
For sixty years he has been a resident of 
Miami county and has therefore witnessed 
the major part of its growth and develop- 
ment. He has seen the forests fall before 
the sturdy strokes of the woodsman and has 
watched the wild land transformed into rich 
farms, which have become the homes of a 
contented and prosperous people. Measures 
and movements calculated to promote the 
general good in securing his aid ha\e re- 
ceived irom him hearty encouragement and 
substantial assistance, and he is known as one 
of the reliable citizens of the community. He 
and his wife both enjoy the warm regard of 
many friends in his sectionof Miami county. 



CHRISTOPH LANDMANN. 

Christoph Landmann is the well known 
proprietor of the Alcony Flour Mills, at 
.\lconv, ]\Iiami countv. The German ele- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



£93 



meat in our national American civilization 
is one of the- most important, for the repre- 
sentatives of the Teutonic race possess ster- 
ling qualities, being enterprising, resolute 
and reliable. Mr. Landmann is a native of 
the fatherland, his birth having occurred 
in Hesse, Germany, on the 15th of Decem- 
ber, 1854. His boyhood days were there 
passed and he learned the miller's trade, 
after which he worked with his bri)ther, and 
for three years had charge of a mill. In 
1888 he determined to try his fortune in 
America, for the opportunities and advan- 
tages afforded young men had liy that time 
become a familiar story to the sons of the 
fatherland. Crossing the Atlantic he se- 
cured a position as miller at Piqua, Ohio, 
the property being under the supervision of 
his brother. In 1893 'i^ purchased the 
Alcony mill, vvhich he has since completely 
overhauled, supplying it with new ma- 
chinery, including a complete roller sys- 
tem. The mill now has a capacity of fifty 
barrels daily, and its output is sold to the 
local trade, including the residents as well as 
the merchants of the community. Alto- 
gether improvements were made to the value 
of fi\-e thousand dollars, and a twenty-five 
horse-power natural-gas engine has been 
placed in the plant. The chief brand of 
flour manufactured is called the Victor, and 
its excellent quality insures to it a large 
sale on the market. Throughout his busi- 
ness career Mr. Landmann has followed 
milling, and is thoroughly informed concern- 
ing the business in e\-ery department. The 
mill at Alcony is tlie most important indus- 
.try in Elizabeth township. It has been in 
existence for more than half a century and 
at an early day was operated as an old style 
water mill, a race about a half-mile in length 
supplying the power. 



]\Ir. Landmann was married, in Ger- 
many, to Lena Shurholtz, and they now 
have a daughter, Lena, at home. She has 
been a student in the Piqua high school and 
is a cultured young lady. Air. Landmann 
is a member of the Lutheran church at 
Troy, but with his familv attends the Re- 
formed church at Alcony. .\s a business 
man he is energetic, practical and progres- 
sive, and his well directed efforts have se- 
cured to him a comfortable competence. His 
hope of bettering his financial condition in 
America has been realized, and he has not 
only wnn a good business but has also 
gained many warm friends in the commun- 
itv in which he makes his home. 



THOMAS B. STE\\-ART. 

Thomas B. Stewart was born near Har- 
risburg, in Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, 
September 2 7^, 1840. His boyhood and 
youth were spent on the home farm, where 
his da_\-s were quietly passed, unmarked by 
any event of special importance until after 
the inauguration of the civil war, when, 
prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he re- 
sponded to the country's call for aid, enlist- 
ing on the 23d of September, 1861, as a 
member of Company I, Se\-enth Pennsyl- 
vania Cavalry, for three years. He was 
mustered in at Harrisburg and with his com- 
mand joined the Army of the Cumberland, 
after which he participated in the battle of 
Stone River and the wirious engagements 
of that campaign leading up to Chicka- 
niauga. Later he was under fire at the bat- 
tle of Buzzard's Roost, the battle of Atlanta 
with Stanley's cavalry, and then joined Kil- 
patrick's ca\-alry corps, with which com- 
mand he participated in many lesser engage- 



894 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ments. When his term had expired he re- 
ceived an honorable discharge at Columbia, 
Tennessee, on the 29th of September, 1864, 
at which time he held the rank of sergeant. 
He was the first volunteer to enlist from 
West Hanover township. — his home neigh- 
borhood, — joining the armv as a private. 
Meritorious service, however, won him the 
rank of sergeant at Murfreesboro, on the 
1st of January, 1863. He was always found 
at his post of duty, faithfully defending the 
old flag and the cause it represented. 

After receiving his discharge Mr. Stew- 
art returned to Pennsylvania and there re- 
mained until 1872, when he came to Ohio, 
establishing a home in Stauntnn township. 
Miami county. The same year he purchased 
his present farm and has since made it his 
place of residence. He here has one hundred 
and twenty acres of land on section 15, of 
which one hundred and ten acres are under 
cultivation. The place is located on the 
Peterson pike, four miles from Troy, and 
there he successfully carries on general 
farming, his well tilled fields bringing to 
him a golden return for the care and labor 
he bestows upon them. 

On the 3d of December. 1872, Mr. Stew- 
art was united in marriage to Miss Matilda 
IMcAlhaney, by whom he has eight children : 
Robert E. ; Sarah E.. wife of Samuel Mc- 
Curdy; John J., a farmer; Thonias R. ; 
Lenora ; Arthur, deceased ; Charles C. ; and 
Pearl E. The Stewart household is noted 
for its hospitality, and the members of the 
family enjoy the warm regard of many 
friends. In his political views ^Ir. Stewart 
is a Republican, having always given his 
support to the party. Through his member- 
ship with the Grand Army of the Republic 
he maintains pleasant relationships with his 
old armv comrades, thus calling: to mind in- 



teresting stories of life around the camp 
fires and on the tented fields. His work 
has been diligently carried forward, and it 
is his unremitting toil that has brought to 
him his well deser\-ed success. 



CYRUS T. BROWX. 

Cyrus T. Brown was born June i. 1844. 
on the farm where he now lives in Staunton 
township. Miami county. Ohio. His father. 
Daniel Brown, a well known and respected 
citizen of Miami county, was born ]\Iay 9, 
1809, at Chepachet, Rhode Island. He was 
the son of Arnold Brown, who was a native 
of Rhode Island, and in 1832 came with his 
family to Ohio and settled near Reading, 
in Hamilton county, and from there, in 1836, 
he remo\-ed to Miami county and purchased 
one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
Staunton township, it being the farm on 
which Cyrus T. Brown, the subject of this 
review, now lives. He married Elizabeth 
Owens, and to them were born seven chil- 
dren, namely : Daniel ; John ; Elizabeth, 
who married Louis Morse : Mary, who mar- 
ried C. W. Singer : Joseph ; Sarah and Al- 
mira. He was a blacksmith by trade, but 
after he removed to Ohio his principal occu- 
pation was farming, and he was a successful, 
money-making agriculturist, adding to his 
farm acre after acre. He died in 1869, at 
the ripe old age of eighty-four. Daniel 
Brown, his eldest son and the father of 
Cyrus T. Brown, married Eliza Telford, 
June 13, 1843. She was born in Concord 
township, on the old Telford farm, near the 
present site of the county fair grounds. She 
was the daughter of Andrew and Jane ( Mc- 
Kaig) Telford. This marriage was blessed 
with six children : Cvrus T. ; Cornelia, who 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



395 



resides on the old liomestead : ]\lary B., a 
woman of more than orchnary intellect, who 
is now and has been a practicing physician 
since 1880 in Xew York city; Arnold O., 
who resides in Troy ; Harry W. ; and Re- 
becca, who died when two years of age. 
Daniel Brown remained on the old farm 
from the time it was purchased liy his fa- ) 
ther, in 1836, until he died, in 1877. He was 
not a member of any church, but attended 
and gave his money and influence to the sup- 
port of the Troy Presbyterian church. His 
wife died November 27, 1899. Daniel 
Brown was a man of indomitable energy 
and of fine business sense. He accumulated 
a good estate and was a public spirited man. 
Cyrus T. Brown, of this review, was ed- 
ucated in tlie common schools of Staunton 
township and in the public schools of Troy. 
When twenty-four years of age his father 
placed him in charge of the farm, which 
then and now has within its boundary five 
hundred acres, four hundred and fifty of 
which is under cultivation, and since his 
father's death he has the management of 
the estate. He has always been a busy man. 
He controls valuable blocks and real estate 
in Troy. He was one of the organizers of 
the Troy Wagon \\^orks Conipany, one of 
the most important manufacturing com- 
panies in that city, and is its secretary and 
treasurer. He is one of the directors of the 
First National Bank of Troy, and has been 
clerk of Staunton township for eighteen con- 
secutive years. He was also one of the 
organizers of the Miami Farmers' Fire In- 
surance Company and has been its treasurer 
for twenty years. His past record has been 
that of a very busy man, with the prospect 
of many years of usefulness yet to come, 
for he is in the vigor and strength of mature 
manhood, with a character of integrity witli- 



out a stain, possessing the confidence of his 
fellow citizens. He has been urged to ac- 
cept political honors, but he has always been 
too busy to engage in politics, except to vote 
the straight Republican ticket. He believes 
every man ought to attend strictly to his own 
luisiness, and that the surest road to pros- 
perity, private or public, is for every citizen 
to attend strictly to his own affairs, giving 
enough time to public enterprises to push 
along the car of progress. Such is the life 
and character of Cvrus T. Brown. 



JAMES H. LOWE. M. D. 

It has assuredly been not uninteresting 
to o!)ser\e in the series of biographical 
sketches appearing in this volume the vary- 
ing nationality, origin and early environ- 
ment of men who have made their way to 
positions of prominence and success. In no 
better way can we gain a conception of the 
diverse elements which have entered into 
our social, professional and commercial lite, 
and whicii will impart to the future Ameri- 
can types features which can not be con- 
jectured at the present time. We have had 
an American type in tlie past, we shall have 
a distinctly national character in the future, 
but for the present, amalgamation of the 
varied elements is proceeding, and the final 
result is yet remote. 

The Lowe family is of English origin 
and was founded in Maryland at a very early 
date in the history of the country, its repre- 
sentati\'es having been noted for their 
longevity. The Doctor's father, John 
Thomas Lowe, was born in Baltimore coun- 
ty, Maryland, near Parkton, and was there 
reared upon a farm, but after attaining his 



S96 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



majority he 'left the old liomestead and 
conducted a !)us line for several seasons. 
Later he went to Baltimore, where he was 
married, and in 1856 he removed with his 
family to Butler county. Ohio, making- the 
journey hy rail and on a tiathoat down the 
Ohio river to Cincinnati, tlience overland to 
his destination. In Butler county he pur- 
chased a farm, upon which he lived for sev- 
eral years, after which he sold that property 
and removed to Bethany. Ohio, where he 
lived retired until his death, which occurred 
when he was seventy-five -years of age. In 
his political affiliations he was a Democrat. 
His wife. Mary Elizabeth Lowe, is a native 
of southern Maryland and now lives near 
Hamilton. Ohio, at the age of sixty-eight 
'years. By her marriage she became the 
mother of one son and four daughters, name- 
ly : James Harris : Alice Eugenia, wife of 
John F. Gillespie, who is living near Riley. 
Ohio ; Genevieve, who died at the age of 
twenty-eight years ; Mary Elizabeth, wife of 
Bion Ayers. who lives near Hamilton, Ohio; 
and one wlm died in infancy. 

Dr. Lowe was only about a year old 
wh.en he was brought by his parents to Ohio. 
He remained on the old home farm until 
seventeen years of age. when he became a 
student in the schools of Bethany. Later he 
contiiuietl his studies in the National Xorma! 
University at Lebanon, Ohio, w here he was 
graduated in 1879, after which he taught 
for several terms. He was for four terms 
■district principal at Springdale and at Hang- 
ing Rock, Ohio. He occupied a similar posi- 
tion in Hartwell. Ohio, and has been superin- 
tendent of the schools in Dayton. Kentucky, 
and principal of one of the ward schools of 
Covington, that state. His experience as an 
educator covers a period of about fourteen 
3-ears, during which time he won marked 



prestige as a very able representati\e of his 
profession. 

In the meantime the Doctor had been 
• reading luedicine. pursuing his studies untler 
the direction of Dr. C. A. L. Reed, of Cin- 
cinnati. In 1886 he entered Belle\'ue Hos- 
pital ]\Iedical College of Xew York, where 
he was graduated in I\Iarch, 1888. He 
then took a post-graduate course of three 
months in the Xew York Polyclinic School, 
after which he located in Cincinnati, but in 
the spring of 1889 he came to Piqua. where 
he has since been engaged in general prac- 
tice. He belongs to the Miami Medical So- 
ciety, the Ohio State Medical Society and 
was secretary of the Piqua Medical Society 
for about eight years. He is a close and 
earnest student of his profession, doing all 
in his power to attain perfection in the line 
of his chosen calling. His knowledge is 
being continually augmented by e.x'tensive 
reading and investigation, and his efforts 
have made him one of the best informed 
practitioners in ■Miami county. He enjoys 
a \ery larg-e and lucrative practice and his 
patronage is steadily increasing. 

The Doctor was united in marriage, in 
Pi(|ua, to Miss Gussie Jacobs, of this city, 
and they have one son. Stewart H., who is 
now four years of age. The Doctor is a 
Democrat in his political affiliations and has 
servetl as a member of the board of health 
of Pif|ua for one term of three years. He 
has also been a member of the board of edu- 
cation for three years, and his labors have 
been effective in promoting the welfare of 
the schools. He is recognized as a most ac- 
tive member of the Schmidlapp Free School 
library committee and drew the plans for 
the large, new building \vhich is now the 
home of the library. He has done more 
than any other man for that institution, 



I 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



397 



whicli is certainly a credit to the city and is 
proving- of great benefit also. The Doctor 
is a man of broad humanitarian principles 
and has been particularly earnest in ad\-o- 
cating mental culture, thus fitting one for 
the important responsibilities which life 
brings. 



ELIZABETH SHEETS. 

The Sheets famil_\- is one of the oldest 
antl best known in Miami count)- and the stu- 
dent of history cannot carry his investiga- 
tions far into the annals of this locality with- 
out learning- that representati\es of the name 
have figured prominently in promoting the 
substantial growth and improvement of this 
section of the state. Andrew Sheets, the 
first of the name to locate in Miami count\-, 
was born December 25, 1768. He married 
Katherine Sills, who was born in 1770 and 
died May 29, 1840. The family is of Ger- 
man lineage, the original American ances- 
tors having located in Maryland. Andrew 
Sheets, however, made his h(ime in Bedford 
county, Pennsylvania, until 1807, when he 
removed to Tennessee. In the fall of 181 2 
he came to Ohio, having in the meantime re- 
sided near Nashville, Tennessee, and later 
near Fayetteville. On reaching Miami 
county he settled on the farm now owned by 
Joseph M. Studebaker, and the house which 
he erected in 181 5 is still standing. About 
1834 he left that farm and remo\-ed to the 
place n(jw owned by George Mumford, 
there living until 1840, when he took up his 
abode in Champaign county, Ohio, his death 
occurring March 29, 1844. He was buried 
in the McKendree cemetery, near Miami 
City, in Clark county. In his family were 
six daughters and five sons, naniely : Eve, 



Mary, Elizabeth, Nancy, Sarah, Katherine, 
Michael and Andrew, twins, Isaac S., Henry 
S. and John R. 

Isaac S. Sheets was born January 10, 
1799, and married Ann Ki-ioop, whose birth 
occurred March 27, 1801. For some years 
they lived with his father, who was blind. 
Their daughter, Elizabeth, was born Feb- 
ruary 7, 1826, and she is the only member of 
the family that was born on the original 
homestead. In that year her father located 
on the farni where the Sheets mill .is now- 
located, and in the midst of the forest he 
began clearing away the trees and developing 
the wild tract into rich and fertile fields. 
In 1833 he built the mill which is still stand- 
ir.g. Prior to this time he had erected a 
saw-mill on the same site, and this he 
continued t(j operate, cutting lumber both 
tor the mill and for the home Udw oc- 
cupied liy his son George and daughter 
Mary. There }*Ir. Sheets continued to re- 
side until his death, which occurred in Phila- 
deli)hia, Septemlier 24, 1876. He had g-(.ine 
to that city with his daughter Mary to visit 
the Centennial Exposition. His remains 
were brought back to Ohio and laid to rest in 
the Knoop cemetery, near his home. His 
wife had passed away May 3. 1862. From 
the beginning he had been president of the 
Troy and Springfield pike, which passed 
his property and part of which was con- 
structed by liim. 

In his family were the folh.iwing chil- 
dren : Elizabeth ; Andrew, who died July 
13, 1845. at the age of eighteen years; John 
Knoop ; Mary ; Barbara Jane, wife of John 
Little, of Xenia, Ohio; and George Mes- 
senger. 

Elizabeth Sheets remained at home until 
a year after her father's death, and came to 
her present farni in 1877. It had been in 



398 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



his possesion exactly fifty-five years on the 
date of liis death. She has erected here a 
pleasant residence and gives her attention 
to the supervision of the farm, which is op- 
erated hy a tenant. She is a member of 
the Universahst church, and is a lady whom 
all esteem for her many excellencies of char- 
acter. 



FRANCIS GRAY. 

This name at once suggests a power in 
the world of trade and an influence that has 
long been a dominant element in the busi- 
ness life of Piqua and Miami county. To 
say of him that he has risen unaided from 
comparative obscurity to rank among the 
leading manufacturers of western Ohio, is 
a statement that seems trite to those familiar 
with his life, yet it is but just to say, in a 
history that will descend to future genera- 
tions, that his business record lias been one 
that many a man would be proud to possess. 
Beginning at the very bottom round of the 
ladder, he has advanced steadily step by 
step until he now occupies a position of 
prominence in trade reached by very few 
men. Through his entire business career 
lie has been looked upon as a model of in- 
tegrity and honor, never making an en- 
gagement that he has not fulfilled and stand- 
ing to-day as an example of what determina- 
tion and force, combined with the highest 
degree of Ijusiness integrity, can accomplish 
for a man of natural ability and strength 
of character. He i.s respected by the com- 
munity at large and honored by his business 
associates. 

Air. Gray was born in Pennsylvania, in 
1 82 1, and received the usual common-school 
privileges of the day. He is a son of Will- 
iam and Ellen Gray. The Gray family is 



. of Scotch-Irish ancestry and William Gray 
was a nati\e of the Keystone state and a 
soldier of the war of 181 2. On attaining 
his majority, the subject of this review 
embarked in the lumber business, rafting 
lumlier down the river to Pittsburg and Cin- 
cinnati and at the same time he conducted a 
store in Pittsfield, in which he was quite 
successful, but in the spring of 1850 a sud- 
den and violent flood carried ofif l^is logs and 
lumber, thus causing him a heavy loss, and 
it became necessary for him to make an as- 
signment and. regarding this as the most 
honorable thing to do under the circum- 
stances, he made one of his creditors his 
assignee. The man, however, instead of 
honorably dividing the proceeds of Mr. 
Gray's property, took everything he could 
get and left, leaving the other debts unpaid. 
It was then that Mr. Gray left his old 
home and started out to seek employment 
elsewhere. Placing his family upon a raft, 
he made his way to Covington, Kentucky, 
\\liere he arri\ed in September, 185 1, hav- 
ing with him about one hundred and fifty 
dollars. Through his acquaintance with the 
lumber trade and lumber dealers, however, 
he. soon succeeded in obtaining temporary 
employment at measuring lumber on the 
wharves, and gradually he built up a busi- 
ness of selling shingles, for which he re- 
ceived a commission of fifty cents per thou- 
sand. One morning he conducted a large 
transaction and returned home with two 
hundred dollars in his possession. This 
seemed to him a large sum, for in the mean- 
time he had passed through very troubled 
financial waters. Judiciously investing his 
money, he was concerned in various trading 
transactions until he had accumulated about 
one thousand dollars. He then once more 
embarked in business for himself. In the 




FRANCIS GRAY. 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



401 



meantime he had more thoroughly prepared 
for such a work by taking:" a regular com- 
mercial course in a mercantile college in 
Cincinnati. Again he became connected 
with the lumber trade, having a yard in 
Covington in partnership with a man who 
had equal capital with Air. Gray. An ex- 
tensive lumber dealer, who was accjuainted 
with Mr. Gray and knew his circumstances, 
assured the firm that they could get all the 
lumber they wanted from him on credit, — 
a fact which shows his business standing 
and the confidence reposed in his ability and 
mtegrity. He had not in the interval paid 
off his Pennsylvania debts, but never for a 
moment had the determination or desire to 
do so left him ; and when it became possible 
for him to once more engage in business, 
it seemed that the day might come when he 
could met his obligatins, and accordingly 
he returned to the East, where he arranged 
with his creditors to make payment, giving 
notes with approved security. 

In 1859 jMr. Gray extended his field of 
operations by accepting an offer from J. D. 
Patch, of Cynthiana, Kentucky, to become 
a half owner in a flouring mill. Believing 
this would prove an advantageous move, 
Mr. Gray sold his lumber interests and went 
to Cynthiana. Having paid off some of 
his indebtedness, he had a capital of only 
two thousand dollars to take to the new en- 
terprise and he still owed about two thou- 
sand dollars on old debts. He paid to Mr. 
Patch one thousand dollars, giving his in- 
dividual notes for the balance of five thou- 
sand, which was the price of a half interest 
in the business. For six years a resident 
of Cynthiana, Mr. Gray won prosperity 
during that period, his financial returns en- 
abling him to pay ofT his old debts and pay 

for a half interest in the mill and to establish 
23 



a woolen mill. He severed his business con- 
nection in Cynthiana, however, in the 
spring of 1865, and in February of that 
year, returned to Covington, free from debt 
and with a bank account of twenty-eight 
thousand dollars. He immediately leased 
a large building and fitted it up with the 
latest improved machinery for the manu- 
facture of all kinds of woolen goods. This 
he operated until 1869, when, on account of 
the difficulty of obtaining water in sufficient 
quantities, he sought another location, which 
he found in the beautiful Miami valley at 
Piqua. Becoming identified with the in- 
dustrial interests of this city, he has since 
been an active factor in the promotion of 
the manufacturing interests which have 
contributed in such large measure to the 
welfare and prosperity of the city. He en- 
tered into partnership with Dr. O'Farrell 
and Thomas L. Daniels and conducted a 
prosperous business until the financial panic 
of 1873, when it became impossible to man- 
ufacture woolens without loss. But Mr. 
Gray, with marked foresight and sagacity, 
planned another enterprise, which has now 
grown to be one of the most extensive manu- 
facturing interests of Piqua. He had pre- 
viously become interested in the working of 
felt paper mills and, realizing the demand 
for a really good mill of that kind in this 
section of the country, he succeeded in ob- 
taining the rudiments for manufactures of 
various kinds from an old Englishman, who 
worked at the business in England. His 
partner. Dr. O'Farrell, however, did not 
sanction this new enterprise, believing that 
useless expense would be incurred without 
compensative financial returns. With a 
firm belief, however, in the value of such an 
enterprise. Mr. Gray secured aid from some 
friends in the East, completed his arrange- 



402 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



meats and bouglit out his partner's interest 
in the former mill. 

Through the first year or two of the ex- 
istence of the felt-paper manufactory in 
Piqua, there were many discouraging cir- 
cumstances connected with the business and 
also considerable loss, but with determined 
energy and perseverance Air. Gray continued 
his labors and ultimately succeeded in mak- 
ing felts which are now successfully com- 
peting with those of vast manufactories that 
formerly occupied the field to the exclusion 
of all others. 

The F. Gray Company was incorporated 
in 1 88 1, the leading stockholders and own- 
ers of the company being Francis Gray, H. 
C. Nellis and William C. Gray. A number 
of substantial brick buildings constitute the 
manufacturing plant, which is equipped with 
all the latest machinery anil appliances 
known to the trade. The old plant was 
destroyed by fire in 1882 and the new one 
erected, so that even the buildings are com- 
paratively modern. Paper-makers' felts and 
jackets, blankets, flannels and yarns are manu- 
factured, and their orders, especially for 
felts, come from all parts of the United 
States and Canada and even from across 
the Atlantic. Their cylinder felt jackets are 
pronounced by competent paper-mill men to 
be the best in the world and the industry, of 
which Mr. Gray is the head, has become one 
of the most important in Piqua. Employ- 
ment is furnished to one hundred and fifty 
workmen in the manufacture of paper- 
inakers' felts and jackets, laundry machine 
clothing, mangled cloths and scarlet flannels 
for underwear. The utmost care is taken in 
the selection of the best grades of wools 
and in the \arious processes of manufacture, 
and their goods compare favorably with the 
choicest importations. The paper-makers' 



felts and laundry machine clothing are made 
specially to order to suit the requirements 
of dift'erent manufacturers and the company 
supply many of the largest paper mills in 
America with these felts. The company 
sells its products directly to the trade 
throughout the United States and wherever 
handled they are highly recommended by 
dealers and consumers. The factory un- 
doubtedly ranks among the most important 
in Piqua. and its conduct has contributed 
much to the growth and prosperity of the 
city, for its hundreds of employees^ receiv- 
ing good wages, ha\'e been able to secure 
homes here and have greatly impro\-ed their 
flr.ancial cinidition. 

I\Ir. Gray was married, in 1844, to Miss 
Rebekah Arthur, who died in 1855, leaving 
a son. W. C. Gray, who is now associated 
with his father in business. In 1857 Mr. 
Gray married Mrs. Jane E. Penney, of Cov- 
ington, Kentucky. She died in 1875 and 
also left a son, Walter E. Penney, of her 
former marriage, who was born in 1852. 
Mr. Gray was made a Mason in Covington, 
Kentucky, in 1852, joining Colonel Clay 
Lodge, No. 159, F. & A. M. In early life 
he was an old line Whig, but on the disso- 
lution of that party, joined the ranks of the 
Republican party, becoming one of its stanch 
advocates. He believes most firmly in its 
principles, although he has never been an 
aspirant for political honors and offices. 
Mr. Gray has indeed had a successful career, 
and furthermore his property is the de- 
served reward of his own efforts. There is 
no detail of his vast business too small to 
be overlooked b}' him. He gives everything 
his personal attention. He is liberal and, 
above all, is just. His maxims are, honesty, 
fair dealing, appreciation and truthfulness. 
He always appreciates faithfulness on the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



403 



part of his employees, is quicic to reward 
good service, and to-day stands a promi- 
nent figure in the industrial world, an honest, 
leliable self-made man. 



SAMUEL G. Mcknight. 

Samuel G. McKnight, one of the leading 
and intiuential farmers of Spring Creek 
township, was born near Sidney, in Shelby 
county, Ohio, September 29. 1848. and is 
a representative of one of the pioneer fam- 
ilies of the state. His father, Joseph Mc- 
Knight, was born near Newville, Pennsyl- 
^■ania. and with his mother and her family 
came to Miami county, a location being 
made near Piqua upon rented land. Subse- 
quently he removed to Shelby county and en- 
tered one hundred and sixty acres of land 
from the government, there dex-eloping the 
farm upon which occurred the Ijirth of our 
subject. In October, 1867, the family re- 
moved to the farm upon which Samuel Mc- 
Knight now resides, and there the father 
spent his remaining days, his death occurring 
on the 9th of February, 1875, when he had 
attained the age of seventy-three years. His 
wife bore the maiden name of Mary \Viley, 
and of their union seven children were born, 
Ixit the eldest died in' infancy. The others 
are Sarah J., Mary A., William J., Mar- 
garet B., Maria L. and Samuel G. 

Under the parental roof Samuel G. Mc- 
Knight was reared. He remained with his 
father until the latter's death and then took 
charge of the home farm, CDUtinuing to care 
for his mother until she, too, passed away, 
in October, 1887, at the age of eighty-four 
years. He now owns eighty acres of land 
on section 10, Spring Creek township, on 
the Piqua and Plattsville pike, four and a 



half miles from the city of Piqua. He also 
has another farm of one hundred and sixty 
acres on section 9, and devotes his time to 
the cultivation of grain and the raising of 
live stock. His methods are practical and 
progressive, and his thorough understand- 
ing of the scientific principles which under- 
lie farming has made him prosperous in his 
undertakings. He became one of the or- 
ganizers of the Miami Grange, and since its 
establishment has served as its secretaiy. 
He believes in investigating all ideas that are 
advanced concerning farming and adopting 
those which are calculated to prove of prac- 
tical benefit. He exercises his right of fran- 
chise in support of the Prohibition party, 
and is ever earnest in his advocacy of that 
political organization. He belongs to the 
United Presbyterian church and is a mem- 
ber of the session. Such is the record of 
one who has long been a resident of Miami 
county and has at all times enjoyed the mer- 
ited confidence and regard of his fellow men. 



A. C. AxND W. P. MARTIN.. 

A biographical sketch of Abijah C. Mar- 
tin and ^^'illiam P. Martin, of Elizabeth 
township, Miami county, Ohio, is the rec- 
ord of two brothers, separated in early child- 
hood and united in early manhood. They 
have since lived in the same house and, since 
they were of age, have been in partnership 
in all their business affairs. 

Their parents, Joseph and Mary (Clyne) 
Martin, were born in Miami county, Ohio, 
and were married in February or March, 
1827, and lived their brief married life in 
Lost Creek township. There were three, 
children born to them : Abijah C, born on 
the 23rd of December. 1827; William P. 



40i 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Martin, born on tlie 15th of February, 1830, 
and Hannab Alartin, wbo was born Marcb 
20, 1833, and is now tbe widow of Dr. 
Kellogg and resides in Nevada, Iowa. Jo- 
seph Martin and his wife died in October, 
1833, of cholera, both being attacked by that 
dreadful disease the same day. They died 
within an hour of each other, on the night 
of the day tliey were stricken with the dis- 
ease, leaving three small children to the care 
of friends and relatives. Their uncle, 
Corbly Martin, was appointed guardian of 
the children. A. C. Martin lived with a 
relative of Corbly Martin, at Lebanon, Ohio, 
where he spent the years of his early youth. 
He removed with that family to St. Louis, 
Missouri. When he arrived at the age of 
twenty-one he returned to jMiami county, 
and was married, ^Nlarch 2. 1859, to Eliza- 
beth Knoop, daughter of Daniel and Lucy 
Knoop. This miion was blessed with four 
children: Mary B., who is the wife of Dr. 
W. \V. Ely, and resides in Walla Walla, 
Washington; Charles D., who married ^liss 
Amanda See, and is living on the farm; 
John K., who is living at home, as is also 
the youngest child, Lucy D. Martin. They 
gave their children good educations and 
they are a source of pride and comfort to 
their parents. 

W. P. ^Lirtin was bound out to David 
Hathaway, of ^liami county, who removed 
to Troy when William was ten years of age. 
He then left Mr. Hathaway to live with his 
aunt, Minerva, the wife of Levi Hart. He 
lived with them until he was of age, work- 
ing on the f?rm and, under the instructions 
of his uncle, Levi Hart, he also learned the 
cooper's trade. When his brother, A. C, 
came back from St. Louis and married, he 
formed a partnership with him and has lived 
with him to the present. The brothers had 



a little property left from their father's es- 
tate, and, in partnership, they purchased a 
farm near Alcony, in Elizabeth township, 
and afterwards a farm in Lost Creek town- 
ship. In 1872 they purchased the farm on 
which they now reside, which was known in 
the early history of the county as the Gor- 
dan Cecil farm. It contains two hundred 
and seven acres. The two brothers fol- 
lowed farming as their principal occupation, 
and have the reputation of being up-to-date 
farmers in every respect. Their farm is 
under a high state of cultivation ; their home 
is a magnificent mansion and the barn and 
outbuildings are first-class. On the farm 
they have a new tenant house, now occupied 
by the eldest son of A. C. Martin. W. P. 
Martin is a bachelor. His home with his 
brother was satisfactory to him and he never 
cared to change his life of single blessed- 
ness. 

Both brothers are Democrats, but with 
liberal views on public questions. \\'. P. 
]\Iartin has been honored Ijy his party in 
being nominated for county commissioner, 
and received a flattering vote. The county 
is so strongly Republican that it i^ very sel- 
dom a Democrat is elected. He is town- 
ship treasurer, and has served in the office 
for nine years. He has served many years 
as township trustee, and in 1899 he was 
elected without opposition as land appraiser. 
He is a director in the Troy National Bank. 
He was never an office seeker, yet his record 
in life has been such that all parties trust 
in him and have confidence in his judgment 
and integrity. 

In 1881 A. C. Martin had the misfor- 
tune to injure his arm in a clover huller, and 
that member was amputated above the elbow. 
He is known as a quiet, unassuming man, a 
thrifty farmer, blessed with a noble wife. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



405 



and as he lias reason to be, is very proud of 
his cliildren. 

This sketch would not be complete with- 
out referring to the grandparents of A. C. 
and W. P. Martin. Levi Martin and his 
wife, Delilah (Corbly) Martin, were among 
the early settlers of Staunton, on the banks 
of the Miami. They came there from Penn- 
sylvania, but not until his wife had a sad 
experience of Indian cruelty. In 17S8 the 
family of John Corbly lived at Girard Sta-< 
tion, on the Monongahela river, not far 
from Red Stone Fort. While on their way 
to church they were attacked by the Indians, 
and Mrs. John Corbly and three children 
were killed ; two other children, who were 
the youngest, and girls, were left for dead 
and were scalped, as was the mother and 
the older children. The two youngest girls 
recovered, and the youngest, Delilah Corbly, 
married Levi Martin and raised a family 
of ten children. Levi Martin was a soldier 
under General Wayne, and while scouting 
he saw the beautiful country along the 
Miami, now within the borders of Staunton 
township, and resolved, when he could, to 
emigrate there, which he did, settling on a 
farm in Staunton township. Such is the 
ancestry of the subjects of this-sketch. The 
pioneers of Miami county have left their 
impress upon the early history of Ohio, and 
their posterity have inherited their cotu^age 
and love of justice. 



ISAAC S. SHEETS. 

Isaac S. Sheets, a representative of the 
farming and dairying interests of Miami 
county, is a gentleman of sterling worth, 
who brings to the conduct of business af- 
fairs a knowledge of the underlying scien- 



tific principles which form the basis of all 
work. Cause and effect arc found in every 
department of labor and are specially no- 
ticeable in the work of the farm. Added 
to his knowledge of the needs of cereals and 
of stock, is an tmflagging diligence and res- 
olute purpose which makes Mr. Sheets one 
of the most prosperous and progressive ag- 
riculturists of his community. He was born 
September 7, 1872, on the farm adjoining 
that on which he now resides. His paternal 
grandparents were Isaac and Nancy 
(Knoop) Sheets, the former a nati\-e of 
Pennsylvania and the latter of Staunton 
township, Miami county. During his child- 
hood Isaac Sheets accompanied his parents 
on their removal to Tennessee and thence 
to Miami county, in 1812, the family locat- 
ing on the farm now owned by Isaac Stude- 
baker. In 1832 the grandfather removed to 
Clark county, Ohio, where his last days were 
spent. After his marriage Isaac Sheets re- 
mained with his father two years and then 
located on the old Sheets homestead, two 
miles east of Troy, which is within the bor- 
der of Elizabeth township. There he lived 
and died. He erected a sawmill at an early 
day and in 1832 built a gristmill, which he 
began to operate in 1834. The old struct- 
ure is still standing, but has not been in op- 
eration for some years. Mrs. Sheets died 
May 3, 1862, and Mr. Sheets' death oc- 
curred on the 24th of September, 1876, result- 
ing from heart disease while he was in at- 
tendance at the Centennial Exposition, at 
Philadelphia. He was then nearly seventy- 
eight years of age. He was a very popular 
and highly respected citizen, having for 
two years served as county commissioner, 
and at all times led an active and useful life, 
advocating all works of public improvement 
that tended toward the substantial upbuild- 



406 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



iiig of the county. In liis family were seven 
children, five of whom survive him, namely: 
Elizal)eth, who is still living in Elizabeth 
township ; Alary, who resides on the old 
homestead with lier youngest brother; John 
K., father of our subject; Barbara Jane; and 
George M. 

John K. Sheets, father of him whose 
name introduces this re\iew, was born on 
the old family homestcail in Elizabeth town- 
ship, September 2y, 1833. His boyhood 
days were passed on the farm and his educa- 
tion was obtained in the public schools and 
in R. M. Bartlett's Commercial College, at 
Cincinnati, where he was graduated on the 
CDmpletion of the course. He operated the 
old Sheets mill on the farm for many years, 
carrying on that business at intervals until 
1880. He also engaged in farming and 
about 1887 he took up his abode on the land 
which now constitutes the farm of his son, 
Isaac S. It is known as the old Gearheart 
place and upon it, on a beautiful knoll, is 
located the old private family cemetery. 
It has been used as a city of the dead for 
o\-er fifty years. John K. Sheets gave his 
entire attention to agricultural pursuits upon 
the farm now occupied by his son, and on 
the old Tom Miller farm, comprising about 
four hundred acres of land. When he took 
possession of the Gearheart fanu it had been 
allowed to run down greatly, and with his 
characteristic energy he began making sub- 
stantial improvements. He tiled it with un- 
derground drainage and thus reclaimed 
thirty acres of land which is now the richest 
tract of the entire property. In 1892 he 
erected the present home, which stands on a 
beautiful eminence, commanding an excel- 
lent view of the surrounding country. He 
also made other extensive improvements 
and the farm thus became one of the most 



valuable and attractive in this section of the 
state. Few men have done more to advance 
agricultural interests in Aliami county than 
did Air. Sheets, who was one of the first to 
begin the breeding of imported Jersey cat- 
tle. Since that time he has kept a choice 
herd upon his farm and has made an excel- 
lent success of this industry, receiving good 
prices for his stock. Establishing a dairy 
business, he conducted it with excellent re- 
sults and in all his undertakings met with 
gratifying success. After a long, useful and 
honorable life he passed away, September 
19, 1895, having for more than a year been 
confined to his bed. He was deeply inter- 
ested in politics and Avas a stanch advocate 
of Democratic principles, yet never sought 
or desired ofiice. Reared in the Univer- 
salist faith, he became a Unitarian in his 
religious belief, although he never aftiliated 
with any society. His opinions were formed 
as a result of careful study of the Bible and 
he remained quite liberal in his views. He 
was not of an argumentative nature, always 
avoiding controversy in religious as well 
as other matters. 

On the 4th of June, 1861, Air. Sheets 
was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth 
Xull, daughter of Jacob and Sybil (Alapes) 
XuH, of West Charleston, Bethel township. 
The lady was born in that locality, where 
her father had located on coming to this state 
from Pennsylvania. He was a public land- 
lord and storekeeper. Airs. Sheets is still 
living and makes her home in Troy. Unto 
Air. and Airs. Sheets were born the follow- 
ing children : Alary Jane, who was a stu- 
dent in the Troy high school at the time of 
her death, which occurred when she was six- 
teen years of age; Isaac; and Arthur K., 
a student in the Kenyon Alilitary College, 
at Gambier, Ohio. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



407 



Isaac S. Sheets, whose name introduces 
this record, spent his childhood days under 
the parental roof and was provided with ex- 
cellent educational privileges. He was grad- 
uated in the high school of Troy, with the 
class of 1 89 1, and then entered upon the 
classical work of the Michigan State Uni- 
\-ersity, at Ann Arbor. He would have 
graduated in June, 1895, btit in the midst 
of the last session of the senior year he was 
called home on account of the illness and 
subsequent death of his lather. He was a 
member of Phi Gamma Delta, a Greek let- 
ter society, and took an active part in its 
work. Upon his father's death he assumed 
the control of the farm, and, being appointed 
administrator, took up the work of settling 
the estate. He has since engaged in the 
business of farming and dairying, and is 
particularly successful in the latter branch, 
keeping twenty-five head of cows for this 
purpose. He keeps Jerseycattleand sells milk 
in bottles to the Troy trade. He also has 
on hand some registered stock for breeding 
purposes. He operates two farms which 
were owned by his father, and is accounted 
one of the most practical and progressive 
young representatives of agricultural inter- 
ests in Miami county. 

On the loth of June, 1895, -^^i'- Sheets 
was united in marriage to Miss Carrie Marie 
Sweinfurth, who is a graduate of the high 
school, at Ann Arbor, Michigan. She pos- 
sesses excellent powers as a vocalist and was 
a member of the Choral Union, of Ann Ar- 
bor, the second largest student chorus in 
existence. She belongs to the Methodist 
church, and like her husband enjoys the 
warm regard of a very extensive circle of 
friends. Mr. Sheets finds his chief source 
of recreation with rod and gun, and each 
year, for a short period, puts aside the ardu- 



ous cares of business life and enjoys those 
sports. He is a worthy representative of 
an honored pioneer family, and the fact that 
his warmest friends are among those who 
have known him from boyhood is an indi- 
cation that his career has ever been honor- 
able and upright. 



GEORGE M. SANDERS. 

On the anniversary of the day on which 
the independence of the nation was declared, 
George M. Sanders became a citizen of the 
republic. His birth occurred July 4, 1855, 
on the farm where he now lives, his father 
being John Sanders, who was there born 
March 7, 1825. The grandfather was 
Benajah Sanders, who entered the land from 
the government, becoming the owner of a 
quarter-section, and thus established what 
has long been known as the old Sanders 
h.omestead. He married a Miss Taylor, and 
there reared his family, including John San- 
ders, the father of our subject. Benajah 
Sanders was one of the party who found 
Henry Dilbone, who was killed by the In- 
dians in the atrocious massacre which is 
elsewhere described in this volume. Hav- 
ing arrived at man's estate, John Sanders 
chose as a companion and helpmeet on life's 
journey Miss Elizabeth Hunt, and their mar- 
riage was blessed with two children, but 
the daughter, Hannah P., who became the 
wife of Benjamin F. Hetzler, is now de- 
ceased. The father spent his entire life on 
the old home farm, cleared and improved 
the land and made it a valuable property. In 
politics he was a Democrat and for twelve 
consecutive years served as township trustee, 
a fact which well indicates his promptness 



40^ 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and fidelity in tlie discharge of his duties 
and the confidence reposed in liim. He 
v.as a member of the Christian cliurch and 
a man of strong decision of character and 
high moral principle. He died August 15, 
1896. and was laid to rest in Fletcher ceme- 
tery. His business career had been crowned 
with a high degree of success, and he was 
known as one of the substantial agricult- 
urists of his community. His schooling was 
limted. and he often went barefooted in win- 
ter months, although it was some distance 
to his school. He was a great reader and 
thereby increased his education so as to en- 
al)le him to conduct his business in an in- 
telligent manner. 

During his youth George M. Sanders 
attended the common schools of the neigh- 
borhood, and there secured a good educa- 
tion which has l)een a source of great pleas- 
ure to him. He early became familiar with 
all the work of the farm, and his practical 
training well fitted him for the work which 
he now performs. When he married he 
rented the old home place, and at his fa- 
ther's death he inherited the property. It 
was on the 24th of October, 1876, that he 
was joined in wedlock to Sarah A. White, 
and their home has been blessed with two 
children, Eveline, who died at the age of 
four years, and John G., who was born 
March 20. 1884. 

Mr. Sanders carries on general farming, 
and his place is located five miles to the 
east and one mile to the north of Piqua. It 
comprises eighty acres on section 2, Spring 
Creek township, and, with the e.Kception of 
sixteen acres of timber land, all is under cul- 
tivation. It is rich soil and good harvests 
are yearly garnered. Mr. Sanders is a 
member of the Christian church, and in poli- 
tics is a Democrat. 



FREDERICK B. McXEAL. 

It is a well attested maxim that the great- 
ness of a state lies not in its machinery of 
government nor even in its institutions, but 
in the sterling qualities of its individual citi- 
zens and in their capacity for high and un- 
selfish efifort, and their devotion to the pub- 
lic good. The goal to which Dr. McXeal has- 
tened during his many years of toil and pa- 
tient endeavor is that which is attained 
only by such as have by patriotism and wise 
counsels impro\ed and extended the privi- 
leges and welfare of the common people. 
Such have gained the right and title to have 
bright pages of history. As state dairy 
and food commissioner, Frederick B. I\Ic- 
Xeal has won a reputation that was not 
bounded by the confines of Ohio. He stands 
to-day as one of the leading representatives 
of the agricultural interests of his state, 
being successfully engaged in farming and 
stock raising in Elizabeth township, Miami 
county. 

He was born in this township, October 
31, 1840, .and is a son of Daniel and Bar- 
bara (Brechbill) McNeal, who came from 
Cumberland county, Pennsylvania, to Ohio, 
in 1839. The parents were both natives of 
Cumljerland county, and the father was a 
son of Daniel McXeal, and he was a son of 
Daniel McXeal. who came from the north of 
Ireland to America and was of Scotch-Irish 
parentage. Five brothers of the name 
crossed the Atlantic to the new world, one 
locating in Virginia, another in Xew Hamp- 
shire, while three took up their abode in 
the Keystone state. The great-grandfather 
of our subject served as a teamster during 
a part of the Revolutionarj' war. His son 
Daniel was a farmer, and died at the age of 
thirty-fi\e years. His wife b(ire the maiden 



1 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



409 



name of Sarah Brougher, and, coming to 
Ohio, slie made her home with her son 
Daniel until her death, which occurred in 
1868, at the age of seventy-two years. Dan- 
iel McXeal, the father of the Doctor, died 
February 23, 1892, at the age of seventy- 
five years. He married Barbara Brechbill, 
daughter of Frederick Brechbill, who was 
of German lineage, his ancestors having 
been among the early German settlers of 
Lebanon county, Pennsylvania. Mrs. Bar- 
bara RIcXeal died October i, 1863, at the 
age of forty-two years. By her marriage 
she had eleven children, of whom two died 
at the age of seventeen years, and one when 
three years of age. The others all grew to 
maturity and four are now living. After 
the death of the mother, Daniel JMcXeal 
married Mrs. Ann Kessler, whose maiden 
name was \'ore. and who was a native of 
Union township. Miami county. She still 
survives her husliand. Daniel McXeal. the 
Doctor's father, spent his entire life, after 
moving to Ohio, on section 8, Elizabeth 
township, INIiami county, and there his 
widow still makes her home. They had 
two children : Henry, who is yet living, and 
one who died in childhood. Mr. McXeal 
was a man of considerable prominence, a 
recognized leader of pulilic thought and ac- 
tion. He held several township offices, for 
many years filling the position of justice 
of the peace. He was a Jacksonian Demo- 
crat, unflinching and inflexible in support 
of the principles of the party. He usually 
attended the county, district and state con- 
ventions, often driving to Columbus in his 
carriage in order to be present at the last 
named. In his business affairs he pros- 
pered, and to his children he gave each a 
nice property. Of the Cove Springs Chris- 
tian church he was an acti\-e and consistent 



member, doing much to promote its welfare. 
Socially he was connected with the Masonic 
fraternity at Xew Carlisle, but took no ac- 
tive part in its work. The cause of edu- 
cation found in him a warm friend, and his 
labors largely resulted to the benefit of the 
schools of the community. For twenty 
years he served as land appraiser, he and 
Isaac Cl3'ne appraising the land in Elizabeth 
township for forty years. During the civil 
war he was known as a most earnest sup- 
porter of the Union, doing all in his power 
to secure troops for the field. A man of 
strong convictions, he was so honest and 
loyal in what he believed to be right that he 
won the respect of even those who differed 
from him, and for many years he ranked 
among the leading and influential citizens 
of his adopted county. 

Frederick B. McX''eal obtained- a com- 
mon school education. In 1858 he entered 
the academy at X''ew Carlisle, being grad- 
uated on the completion of the four-years 
course, with the class of 1862, the degree 
of B. C. L. being then conferred upon him. 
Previous to this time he had engaged in 
teaching school for two terms. On the 22d 
of July, after his graduation, he joined the 
Union army and by Governor Tod was com- 
missioned a lieutenant in Company B, Xine- 
ty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, his su- 
perior officers being Captain John C. Drurv 
and D. G. McLaughlin. He was instru- 
mental in raising Company B, Xinety- 
fourth Ohio Infantry, nine of its members 
being residents of Elizabeth township, while 
all were sons of Miami county. The Xinety- 
fourth saw service in Kentucky, Tennessee 
and Georgia, and Dr. McXeal remained at 
the front until 1863, when on account of dis- 
ability he was discharged. Soon after going 
to the front he was made quartermaster of 



410 



GE.XEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



his regiment, serving on the regimental staff. 
He did double dutjr part of the time, acting 
as commander of the company, for Captain 
J. C. Drury was killed on the 8th day of 
October, 1862, at Perryville. Kentucky. 
The regiment had seen severe service, and 
Dr. IMcXeal. who was first lieutenant of 
Company B, also served at the same time as 
quartermaster of the regiment. He par- 
ticipated in a number of important engage- 
ments. 

After his return from the war the Doctor 
engaged in teaching school for some time 
and then read medicine, completing his 
course in Bellevue Hospital Medical Col- 
lege, of Xew York city, in which he was 
graduated in 1867. There was a class of 
one hundred and forty members, and b}' 
reason of his superior scholarship he had 
the honor of being valedictorian. He be- 
gan practice in Troy in 1867, and after- 
wards went to the west, spending three 
years. In 1871 he returned, and on the 
1 2th of January, of that year, he was mar- 
ried to Miss Martha J. Stafford, of Clark 
county, Ohio, who was reared in his neigh- 
borhood. He continued to practice in Xew 
Carlisle until 1876, when he secured a farm 
in Elizabeth township, and has since given 
his attention to agricultural i)ursuits. He 
located on his present farm in 1885, and has 
here a valuable tract of land of one hundred 
and thirty-two acres. In addition to the 
cultivation of the various cereals best adapt- 
ed to this climate he is also extensi\ely en- 
gaged in breeding and raising Shropshire 
sheep, and has a registered flock of about 
seventy-five head. He has exhibited many 
of his sheep at the fairs in this section of 
the state, where he has won first prizes. He 
finds a ready sale for the animals which he 
raises on account of their superiority, and 



he is regarded as authority on all matters 
connected wth sheep raising. His farm is 
very carefully and systematically conducted, 
and he is a practical and prosperous agri- 
culturist. 

In early manhood, at the outbreak of 
the civil war. Dr. McX'eal renounced the 
political faith in which he had been reared, 
anil joined the ranks of the Republican 
party. Until a few years ago he was the 
only member of his family connected with 
that organization. He has long been one 
of its most active and earnest supporters, 
doing all in his power to advance its in- 
terests, and to various county, district and 
state conventions he has served as delegate. 
In 1 89 1 he was elected state dairy and food 
commissioner, and served during the ad- 
ministration of William ^McKinley as gov- 
ernor of Ohio. In 1893 he was re-elected 
and filled the office for a second term, but 
a factional fight in his party prevented his 
nomination for a third term. In 1891 he 
began the work of securing new legislation 
to enable him to prosecute his work as a 
commissioner. He was the first man ever 
elected to such an ofiice in the United States. 
In Ohio for six years prior to this time 
the position had been an appointive one. 
There had been very little done; no records 
had been kept and there was no account of 
any official acts except the drawing of the 
salary. The commissioner had but desk 
room in the state house, and his labors were 
largely nominal, antl the office a sinecure. 
Dr. McXeal, however, set to work to in- 
augurate a reform. He secured an office 
and originated a system of bookkeeping, re- 
cording all work done. He was instru- 
mental in having the legislature collect fines 
which were paid into the state treasury, 
and his records show every case that was 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



411 



investigated by the department. Over 
sixty-five hundred samples were analyzed 
by the department chemists, and seventeen 
hundred and thirty-five cases were prose- 
cuted, from which fifty thousand and eighty 
dollars in fines were collected and turned 
over to the state treasury. Bitter contests 
were waged against the department, backed 
by mercantile companies with millions back 
of them. The work of the commission 
greatly affected the companies manufactur- 
ing goods for the grocery trade. The depart- 
ment employed as many as thirty-two men 
to prosecute tne work of food and dairy 
commissioner. The Doctor's enforcement 
of the law resulted in damage suits agamst 
him amounting, in aggregate, to two hun- 
dred and eighty thousand dollars, one being 
for fifty thousand dollars and another for 
two hundred thousand dollars, one suit being 
continued in the courts for twelve months 
after his retirement from office. One pat- 
ent medicine company expended over sixty 
thousand dollars to secure evidence against 
him, but in none of the damage cases w.ts 
a judgment rendered against him. In tlie 
proceedings against men who were guilty 
of adulterating their goods, no precedents 
of law had been established. Nine cases 
prosecuted were carried to the supreme 
court, and in every case the construction of 
the law made by Dr. McXeal was sustained 
by the court. The Wholesale Grocers' As- 
sociation lexied a tribute on houses from 
New York to St. Louis to pay for opposing 
the legislation requested by the department. 
At first the general assembly was slow to 
act in these matters, but later the legisla- 
ture and the people worked together until 
the end for which Dr. ■SlcNeal was striving 
was accomplished. When it was seen that 
the law would be enforced, the tendency was 



to more nearly conform to its recjuirements 
and during his official term adulterations 
we're found to decrease to twenty-two per 
cent. The charge was made that the em- 
ployes in the commissioner's office had 
been bribed, and the legislature appointed 
an investigating committee, the work of 
which was continued for five weeks under 
the leadership of the \-ice-president of the 
\\'holesale Grocers' Association, who after- 
wards stated that six thousand dollars were 
paid to the attorneys during the investiga- 
tion in the hope that they might secure evi- 
dence against Dr. McNeal, but though every 
eft'ort was put forth to convict him, the com- 
mittee not only exonerated him from all 
blame, but complimented the people of the 
state upon his strict enforcement of law. 
His salary was twice increased by voluntary 
act of the legislature, and his term was also 
continued so that he filled the ol^ce for nine 
months longer than had first been agreed 
upon. He retired February 15, 1897, with 
the confidence and respect of all, save those 
who wished to evade the law. 

Since his retirement from office, Dr. Mc- 
Neal has devoted his attention mainly to 
his farm, but keeps in touch with the. work 
of his party. He has been solicited to de- 
liver addresses all over the state before 
farmers' institutes and other public meet- 
ings, and he is an instructive and popular 
speaker. Since 1880 he has been a member 
of the Grange, has been very active in its 
work and has been especially prominent in 
the state grange meetings. For some time 
he was connected with the County Agricult- 
ural Society and the State Agricultural As- 
sociation, and his labors have been very 
eft'ective in promoting the farming interests 
of Ohio. 

The Doctor and his wife are members of 



412 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the McKendree Methodist Episcopal church, 
in wliich he is now servin_^ as trustee: He 
is also prominent in the work of the Sunchiy 
school, and has served as its superintend- 
ent. A very prominent Mason, he belongs 
to Xew Carlisle lodge and chapter, to the 
Scottish Rite body of Columbus, and to the 
consistory of the valley of Cincinnati. He 
maintains pleasant relations with his old 
army comrades through his connection with 
A. H. Coleman Post, G. A. R., of Troy. An 
enumeration of those men of the present 
generation who have won honor and public 
recognition for themselves, and at the 
same time ha\e honored the state in which 
they belong, would be incomplete were 
there failure to make prominent reference 
to Dr. McX'eal. A strong mentality, an 
in\incible courage and a most determined 
individuality have so entered into his nature 
as to render him a natural leader of men in 
every matter of reform to which he devotes 
his time and attention. e. s. w. 



WILLIAM R. IMUMFORD. 

Among the families long identified with 
the agricultural interests of Aliami county is 
the one to which our subject belongs. He 
was born June 7. 1841, on the farm which 
he now occupies in Elizabeth township, his 
parents being John and Mary (Crawmer) 
Mumford. The father was a native of 
Frederick county, Marjdand, born Septem- 
ber 16, 1805, and was there married. His 
wife, Mary Mumford, was also a native of 
Frederick county, Maryland, born Septem- 
ber 4, 1S09. Subsequently he came with 
his wife to Ohio, and for about eight years 
lived upon rented farms. His industry and 
economy during that period brought to him 



some capital which he then invested in land, 
constituting the farm upon which his son 
\\'illiam now resides. There he spent his 
remaining days, his death occurring Sep- 
tember 16, 1868. His wife, surviving him 
for some years, passed away July 3, 1894. 
He was the owner of a valuable tract of 
land of one hundred and sixty acres in the 
old homestead, and had property elsewhere, 
carrying on agricultural pursuits on an ex- 
tensive scale. He became one of the original 
members of the L'niversalist church at Miami 
city, and was a recognized leader in the 
congregation. His political support was 
given the Democracy, but he never sought 
or desired preferment along that line. His 
wife was also active in chiu'ch work, and 
was connected with the Lutheran denomina- 
tion. In their family were eight children : 
Matilda, who died at the age of nineteen 
years; James, who resided in Elizabeth town- 
ship, and died at the age of thirty years ; 
John Peter, a resident farmer of Elizabeth 
township: William R., of this review; Jo- 
seph, V. ho was a merchant of Miami city and 
died at the age of fifty-four years, leaving 
a widow and daughter, Mary Grace, who 
now resides at Alcony; and Mary Jane and 
Amanda, who are living with their brother 
William. The former is a member of the 
Christian church at Honey Creek. The lat- 
ter is an invalid, being able to go about only 
in a wheeled chair. She is a woman of 
bright intellect antl has many friends in the 
community. 

^^'illiam R. jMumford remained upon the 
home farm throughout the days of his boy- 
hood and youth, and on attaining his ma- 
jority he took charge of the property. Since 
his mother's death he has purchased the old 
homestead and has recently erected a new 
residence and barn upon another part of the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



413 



farm. He here owns one hundred and sixty 
acres, and has a tract of twenty-one acres 
elsewhere. His time is given to general 
farming and to sheep raising, making a 
specialty of the Shropshire sheep. Idleness 
and indolence are utterly foreign to his na- 
ture, and his unfailing industry has enabled 
him to work his way upward to a position of 
affluence, overcoming all difficulties and ob- 
stacles in his path. 

On the 7th of November, 1867, occurred 
the marriage of Mr. Mumford and Miss 
Olivia Schindler, a daughter of John Schin- 
dler, a native of Maryland. Mrs. Mumford 
was also born in Maryland, and during her 
girlhood came to Ohio, where she died Sep- 
tember 7, 1876, leaving four children, two 
sons and two daughters. One daughter died 
in early life, and Viola at the age of fifteen 
years. The living children are Irving and 
Eben. Irving married Susie Drake and re- 
sides on the old homestead, which he is op- 
erating in connection with his father. Eben, 
who engaged in teaching for two years and 
was a student in the Ada Normal School, 
was graduated in the Buchtel College at 
Akron, Ohio, and is now a student in the 
Chicago University, where he is pursuing 
a post-graduate course with the class of 
1900, and also studying theology. He is 
an ordained preacher in the Universalist 
church, and has occupied the pulpit of that 
denomination in Alcony. 

Mr. Mumford gives his political support 
to the Democracy, and is able to uphold his 
position by intelligent argument, yet has 
never sought or desired office. He is a 
member and trustee of the Universalist 
church, and- the cause of education finds in 
him a warm friend. For twenty-seven con- 
secutive years he has served on the township 
school board, and has labored earnestly and 



effectively to promote the interests of the 
schools in this locality. His is a record of 
a well spent life, and although it is not filled 
with events of exciting interest, it has been 
characterized by fidelity to his duty to him- 
self, to his neighbors and to his country. 



JOHN M. CAVEN. 

On the farm where he now lives on sec- 
tion I, Spring Creek township, John M. 
Caven first opened his eyes to the light of 
day December 9, 1848. His father, John 
Caven, Sr., was born on a farm and was a 
son of George Caven, who came to Ohio 
from Virginia, and entered the old home-- 
stead from the government, securine a tract 
of one hundred and sixty acres, upon which 
not a furrow had been turned or an im- 
provement made. With characteristic en- 
ergy he began the dex'elopment of his land 
and continued its cultivation until his death. 
There, amid the wild scenes of frontier life, 
John Caven, Sr., was reared, and when he 
had attained man's estate he married Ase- 
nath Ross, by whom he had six children, 
namely: Mary A., widow of \ViIliam D. 
Suber; Ross, Sally, Maggie, John M. and 
Asenath A. The father spent his entire life 
upon the home farm, devoting his attention 
to its cultivation and caring nothing for the 
honors and emoluments of public office. He 
held membership in the United Presbyterian 
church, and died at the age of sixty-one 
years. 

The old Caven homestead is dear to our 
subject through the associations of his boy- 
hood as well as those of his later years, for 
it was his play-ground in youth and has 
been the scene of his manhood's endeavors. 
The common schools afiforded him his edu- 



414 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



cational privileges, and under his father's 
direction he was trained to the practical 
work of the farm. Upon his father's death, 
in 1872. he took charge of the place and is 
to-day the owner of one hundred and twenty 
acres on section i, Spring Creek township. 
Miami county. Of this ninety acres arc 
under cultivation and the well tilled fields 
give promise of golden harvests. He is en- 
ergetic and j)rogressive in his work and 
therehy has won a comfortable competence. 
The place is pleasantly situated four and a 
half miles east of Piqua and is one of the 
oldest farms in this locality. Mr. Caven 
exercises his right of franchise in support 
of the men and measures of the Republican 
party, but has never been an aspirant for 
office. His worth as a man and citizen are 
well known to his fellow townsmen and he 
is therefore held in high regard. 



COLONEL JOHN JOHXSOX. 

One of the most influential men in Miami 
county in the early settlement of western 
Ohio was Colonel John Johnson, of X'pper 
Piqua. For many years he held the then 
very responsible and important office of In- 
dian agent. In 1S18, at the treaty of St. 
Mary's, he was senior agent in the service 
and had under his command, to manage, 
care for and supply, ten thousand Indians. 
These were the Miamis. Delawares. Shaw- 
anese, W'yandottes, Pottawatamies, Chippa- 
was, Ottawas. Senecas, some Kickapoos, 
Saukees and Kaskaskias. His administration 
was noted by reason of the integrity of the 
man, the honesty of his dealings with the 
Indians, his humane and judicious policy 
with them and his fidelity to the government. 

Colonel Johnson was born in 1775. in the 
north of Ireland, and at this point the writer 



will insert a portion of a narrative written 
by him. October 10. 1857. "My father. 
Stephen Johnson, with his brothers. John 
and Francis, each having large families, 
emigrated from the north of Ireland at the 
close of the American Revolution, and set- 
tled in Sherman's valley in the then county 
of Cumberland, now Perry county, Penn- 
sylvania. My paternal ancestors went from 
Scotland into Ireland with the Protestant 
King William, and. being officers, were re- 
warded with estates near Enniskillen. in the 
county of Fermanagh. ■My maternal an- 
cestors, named Bernard, were of the Hugue- 
nots who fled from France, for conscience' 
sake, and took refuge in Ireland. I can 
therefore, with some truth, boast of having 
descended from good stock. 

"Several of my blood relations, both by 
father and mother, fought, bled and died 
under Washington, in the glorious contest 
for independence : and I humbly trust as their 
blood flows in my \-eins. the spirit which 
guided them has still an abiding place in 
my affections, for my rule throughout a long 
life of more than four score years, in peace 
or war, has invariably been to go for our 
country, no matter who may govern it ; and 
this lesson has been evermore instilled into 
the minds of my children ; and so it was with 
their excellent mother, who trained them up 
for God and their country. 

"My two gifted and gallant sons who per- 
ished in the ^Mexican war. went forth, forti- 
fied by such household words, to battle for 
their country. My parting adieu to them 
was 'You are to know nothing of party men : 
be faithful to your flag, and always remem- 
ber that the first and last duty of a soldier 
is to keep a shut month and obey orders.' 

"My early years were spent at Carlisle, 
Pennsvlvania. in the mercantile establish- 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



415 



ment of Judge John Creigli. That place 
was the rendezvous for the troops enlisted 
for the war with the western Indians. Gen- 
eral St. Clair had been defeated, and another 
arm\- had to be recruited and equipped for 
the field, under the gallant and chivalrous 
A\'ayne, in order to chastise the sax'ages and 
regain the ground that was lost in the cam- 
paigns of Harmar and St. Clair. At times 
there were large bodies of troops in the bar- 
racks of Carlisle. These were marched off 
to the west as soon as they were properly 
drilled Un- the service. Colonel Thomas 
Butler, who was wounded in St. Clair"s de- 
feat, with other officers who survived that 
sanguinary contest, were there stationed, and 
it was hearing their descriptions of the 
boundless prairies, forests and rivers of the 
great west, that first inspired my mind with 
an ardent desire to visit the country. .\n 
opportunity soon occurred. Samuel Creigh 
was prepared to go west with a stock of 
goods for sale to the troops. I agreed at 
once to acc<jnipany him. tra\-eling the whole 
distance to Pittsburg on foot, in companv 
with wagons loaded with army supplies and 
private property." 

Colonel Johnson's life was intimately 
connected with the settlement of the Indian 
question in Ohio and Indiana, and was so 
rich in incidents and so interwoven with the 
early history of Ohio that his biography 
would have added so much to the meager 
record of the pioneer history of western 
Ohio, that it is a source of much regret that 
it was never written, but from the records of 
the government and an occasional paper pre- 
pared for the Pioneer Association of Ohio, 
the writer gathers that he was a modest man, 
a trusted official and had the confidence, as an 
Indian agent, of \\'ashington, John Adams. 
Jefferson, Monroe and John Ouinc}- Adams. 



He heard President Washington deliver his 
farewell address to congress in 1796, and was 
the trusted friend of General W.H.Harrison. 
He personally knew the first settlers of Mi- 
ami county and was with General Wayne 
at Greenville, in 1795. He was a personal 
friend of Daniel Boone and received an in- 
vitation from the Governor of Kentucky, 
which he accepted, to act as one of the pall 
bearers at the re-interment of Daniel Boone 
and his wife, when, after l\'ing in the soil 
of Missouri for thirty years, they were re- 
interred in the public cemetery at Frankfort, 
Kentucky, the funeral being conducted under 
the direction of the state officials of Ken- 
tucky and attended by twenty-five thousand 
people. Colonel Johnson says that Daniel 
Boone was always poor and did not own an 
acre of ground at the time of his death, and 
also justly said that if one-half the money 
spent in re-interring Boone thirty years after 
he was dead had been gi\en to him when 
living it would ha\-e done Boone some good. 
As an Indian agent he l)ecame intimately 
acquainted with leading Indian chiefs and 
has stated that the chiefs distinguished for 
their oratorical powers were Little Turtle, 
of the Miamis, Black Hoof, of the Shawa- 
nese, and Togwane, or John, of the Senecas; 
but that his opinion was that Little Turtle 
was by far the most eloquent and the ablest 
Indian diplomatist and statesman. He was 
an intimate friend of Little Turtle and often 
visited him at his home on Eel river, a branch 
of the \\'abash ri\'er. He says that Little 
Turtle received a pension of one hundred 
guineas a year from the English government, 
and that high living destroyed the health of 
this chieftain, who died at Fort Wayne, In- 
diana, before he was sixty years of age and 
was buried with military honors. After his 
death, the Miamis possessed no one of ecpal 



416 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



abilities, and the tribe degenerated into dis- 
sipation and lost its rank and intluence in the 
confederacy of the northwest tribes. 

The influence of Colonel Johnson with 
the Indians pnjved to be a wall of pro- 
tection to the settlers of ^vliami county and 
the counties adjoining. In 1812-13 he had 
under his control about six thousand In- 
dians, whom he induced to remain friendly 
to the United States and the settlers of west- 
ern Ohio, notwithstanding the efforts of 
Tecumseh and his brother, the prophet. So 
bitter became the hostile Indians and British' 
that various plots for his assassination were 
made, but fortunately these were frustrated 
by the vigilance and fidelity of his Indian 
friends. When peace was declared, and 
after his retirement from office, he settled 
on the farm at Upper Piqua, on which his 
Iiidian agency was situated, and where, in 
• 1763, was fought a battle between the J3ritish 
and French forces and their Indian allies. 
It was there, twenty years later, the brave 
Kentuckians, under the command of Gen- 
eral George Rogers Clark, captured the In- 
dian towns on the Miami river and opened 
up the valley for the brave frontiersmen, who 
with rifle and ax came from the east in 
search of homes in the rich Miami valley. 
Colonel Johnson lived to a ripe old age. 
His body rests on the farm close to the old 
liomestead and near the site of the old In- 
dian agency, where he rendered so much 
service to his country. ;•;. s. w. 



IRA T. SWARTZ. 

Xo business has a more important bear- 
ing on the substantial and healthful growth 
and development of a community than the 
real estate business, and of this Mr. Swartz 



is a most prominent representative. He 
belongs to that class of citizens whose suc- 
cess is attributable entirely to their own ef- 
forts. Absolute capability often exists in 
specific instances, but is never brought into 
the clear light of the utilitarian and prac- 
tical life. Hope is of the valley, while effort 
stands upon the mountain top; so that per- 
sonal adxancement comes not to the one who 
hopes alone, but to the one whose hope and 
faith are those of action. Thus is deter- 
mined the full measure of success to one 
who has struggled under disadvantageous 
circumstances, and the prostrate mediocrity 
to another whose ability has been as great 
and opportunities wider. Then we may well 
hold in high regard the results of individual 
effort and personal accomplishment, for 
cause and effect here maintain their func- 
tions in full force. 

!Mr. Swartz is very widely and favorably 
known as a real estate, insurance and loan 
broker. Real estate and insurance business 
is a most important factor in the material 
prosperity of a community. A casual ob- 
server can form no conception of the im- 
portant position held by the active, enter- 
prising agent, devoted to the work of buying 
and selling real estate, establishing values 
and otherwise stimulating property holders 
to the great improvements it lies within their 
power to make. Ira T. Swartz is one of this 
class. The judicious principles which he 
upholds in his transactions, the competency 
with which he investigates points connected 
therewith, are securing for him a large and 
deserved patronage. 

The life record of such a man cannot 
fail to prove of interest to the readers of 
this volume. He was born at St. Paris, 
Champaign county, Ohio, February 18, 
1873, and is a son of Dr. C. L. Swartz, now 



I 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



419 



a i)roniinent and successful physician of St. 
Louis, Missouri. The father also was a 
native of Champaign county, wiiere he ht- 
gan the study of medicine, completing the 
course in St. Joseph, Missouri. He prac- 
ticed in Versailles, Ohio, for eleven years, 
and there secured a large, lucrative patron- 
age. He was known as one of the active 
and prominent citizens of that locality, but 
desiring a broader tield of labor he removed 
to St. Louis, Missouri, where he is now in 
charge of a large and important practice, 
having gained a place among the leading 
representatives of the medical fraternity in 
that city. His wife bore the maiden name of 
Miss Elizabeth Oram, and was a daughter 
of Samuel Oram, of Champaign county, 
Ohio. His people were among the pioneers 
of that county, having emigrated from 
Maryland. Mrs. Swartz"s grandfather, Da- 
vid Oram, was numbered among the heroes 
of the Revolutionary war, and his son David 
was a leading citizen of Montgomery coun- 
ty, where for several years he served as a 
county commissioner. On the paternal side 
also ]\lr. Swartz is descended from good 
old Revolutionary stock, the great-grand- 
father having aided the colonies in their 
struggle for independence. The grand- 
father, Isaac Swartz, was a native of Cham- 
paign county, where his parents had estab- 
lished a home during an early epoch in its 
pioneer history. They made their way west- 
ward from Charleston, Virginia, where their 
people had been prominent for many genera- 
tions. 

]Mr. Swartz, of this review, acquired his 
education in Urbana, Ohio, and there en- 
tered upun his business career as a life in- 
surance agent. He afterward conducted 
business along that line in Dayton and in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and in 1890 he 

24 



came to Picjua, where he has since gained a 
place among the most eminent and success- 
ful business men of the city. He is a real 
estate and insurance agent and loan broker, 
and in the conduct of his business affairs he 
has met with signal success. A local paper 
said of him: "He is an enterprising young 
business man who not only puts life and 
energy into his affairs but makes it a point 
to deal honestly with patrons and use care- 
ful judgment in his real estate transactions, 
keeping himself posted on values." Al- 
though his residence in Piqua cotters a pe- 
riod of only ten years, he has in this time 
built up a business whose proportions seem 
almost phenomenal. He handles both city 
and country j^roperty, including residences, 
business houses and farms, and it is a well- 
known fact that he never represents prop- 
erty or gives advice that will benefit him- 
self to the detriment of his patron. His 
loan business, too, has steadily increased. He 
loans money on any terms desired, on chat- 
tel mortgages or real estate security. He 
represents the American Fire Insurance 
Company, of Xew York, wdiich was estab- 
lished in JS57; the Manchester Company, 
of England, established in 1824; the United 
Fire Insurance Companies, of Baltimore, 
established in 1849; the German Insurance 
Company, of Pittsburg, established in 1862; 
and the Union Central Life, of Cincinnati, 
as their loan agent in this county. He loans 
money for some of the large insurance com- 
panies, and has ample private funds under 
his control. Fie also represents the Inter- 
State Savings Investment Company, of Cin- 
cinnati, and the Indemnity Savings & 
Loan Company, of Cleveland, Ohio. 

Mr. Swartz was united in marriage to 
]\Iiss Susie M. Williams, of Lena, Ohio, a 
daughter of Bricker Williams. They now 



4-20 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



have an interesting little daughter, Ethel 
Marie, who is three years old. Their pleas- 
ant and attractive home is the center of a 
large circle of acquaintances and its hos- 
pitality is enjoyed by many friends. Both 
Mr. and Mrs. Swartz are members of the 
Baptist church, and he is a Democrat in his 
political views. As a public-spirited citizen 
he takes a deep interest in everything per- 
taining to the welfare of Piqua and to its 
progress along social, moral and material 
hues. With the advantage of talents 
amounting to genius, and with an inherent 
brilliancy and versatility of mind that rests 
only with the reward of high achievement, 
Mr. S\\ artz"s continued success is established, 
while no more glowing tribute can be paid 
than that his eminence has been reached by 
the exercise of his own abilities. 



HENRY RETTIG. ■ 

Henry Rettig, a contractor and mill- 
wright of Troy, was born in Concord town- 
ship, November 29, i860, his parents being 
Jcilin and Kate (Schaufner) Rettig. the lat- 
ter a native of Germany. The father was 
born in Pennslvania and came to Concord 
township, Miami county, with his father, 
John Rettig, Sr., who settled on a farm near 
i'roy. He attended the public schools of 
Troy and learned the millwright's trade 
under the direction of his father. He also 
mastered carpentering and as the years have 
passed has become a leading contractor of 
the city in which he makes his home. He 
has erected many of its Ijest residences and 
public buildings, including the First National 
Bank. McKnight's block. Pearson's block 
and the German Lutheran church, all of 
which stanil as monuments to his thrift and 



enterprise. He has also remodeled and built 
stills and mills and was one of the leading 
contractors of Troy, but is now living. re- 
tired in this city at the age of si.xty-nine 
years. Since 1888 Mr. Rettig. of this re- 
\iew has carried on business in connection 
with his brother. George Rettig. of Troy. 
In the family there were also two sisters. 
Mrs. George Bowers, of Clark county, Ohio, 
arid Mrs. Riley Crommer. of Lost Creek 
township. Miami county. 

Henry Rettig was married to Miss Mary 
Ellricker. of Troy, who was born near Har- 
risburg. Pennsylvania. The lady is a 
member of the Baptist church and is highly 
esteemed for her many excellencies of char- 
acter. Mr. Rettig is a member of the Ma- 
sonic fraternity and the Odtl Fellows lodge. 
In politics ho is independent, voting for the 
man whom he believes best fitted for the 
office, regardless of party affiliations. For 
th.e past five years he and his wife have oc- 
cupied their pleasant and comfortable resi- 
dence on East Franklin street and their 
household is noted for their hospitality, 
which is greatly enjoyed by their many 
friends, for Air. and Mrs. Rettig are both 
widely and favorably known in this com- 
munity. His success in life is not the out- 
come of propitious circumstances, but is the 
output of his labor, good management and 
ambition, witlmut which no man can gain 
success. 



. PETER BOHLENDER. 

We marvel at the success of the native 
American, who knows the manners, the lan- 
guage, the customs and the business methods 
of the country and who works his way up- 
ward from limited circumstances to afflu- 
ence, but when a man of foreign birth seeks 



J 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



421 



ii liome in the new world and rises by his 
own efforts to a commanding position still 
greater credit is due him, for he has greater 
difficulties to overcome, being unfamiliar 
with the waj's of his adopted home. Mr. 
iSohlender is one of the valued citizens that 
the fatherland has furnished to the new 
world. He was born in Bavaria, on the ist 
of February, 183S, and in 1847 came to 
America with his parents, George and 2^Iary 
Bohlender, who having crossed the briny 
deep made their way to Cincinnati and on to 
Dayton, Ohio, in which locality they re- 
mained for a year. The father operated a 
small farm north of the city and his son 
John, then sixteen years of age, went to Cin- 
cinnati to learn the trade. 

His brother, Peter, then a lad of only ele\'en 
years, accompanied him and was employed 
at stripping tobacco. In this way he earned 
his first money, obtaining thereby twentv- 
li\e or thirty dollars. Subseciuently he was 
employed by George Heikes, who resided 
three miles north of Dayton, where he was 
engaged in the nursery btisiness. Mr. Heikfs 
\\ as the oldest nurseryman of the state, and 
Mr. Bohlender remained in his service for 
nine years, during which time he thorough- 
ly mastered the business and obtained a com- 
prehensi\e and accurate knowledge of the 
needs of plant life. Subsec[uently he worked 
for Jake Wampler, of Wolf Creek. 

In 1868 Mr. Bohlender began business 
for himself, beginning operations four miles 
northwest of Dayton. He afterward went 
to Pike comity, Ohio, where he remained 
three years, and in 1881 he came to Bethel 
township, where he has since remained. He 
has ninety-four acres of land and has made 
e.\tensi\-e improvements upon his property. 
His annual sales amount to about twenty- 
five thousand dollars and he deals with both 



wholesale and retail trade, carrying all kinds 
Ol fruit, garden and ornamental trees. The 
results attending his eft'urts have been very 
satisfactory, and he is now a recognized 
leader in his line in central Ohio. He is also 
a stockholder in other companies, including 
the Farmers' Nursery Company, the Al- 
baugh Company and the ]Miami Fruit Com- 
pany. . 
Mr. Bohlender was married, in 1864, 
to Miss Anna Belle Elmer, who resided near 
Co\ington, Miami county. The following 
children have been born to them : Thomas, 
v.'ho is now engaged in fruit growing in 
California; Edmund, a practicing physician 
of Dayton; Howard, a jeweler-smith in 
Dayton; Fletcher, who assists his father in 
the nursery business; Virgie, wife of Harry 
Kyle, of Greenxille, and Ivy, who is now in 
school. In matters of national importance 
Mr. Bohlender supports the Republican 
party, but at local elections, where no issue 
is invohed. he casts his vote independently, 
regarding rather the capabilities of the man 
than his political affiliation. From a little 
German home across the sea he made his way 
to the new world, and at the early age of 
eleven years entered upon his business 
career, winning most creditable success, 
which is not the outcome of propitious cir- 
cumstances, but the honest reward of labor, 
good management, ambition and energy — 
vyithout which qualities no man can win 
prosperity'. 



T. A. KERR. 



J. A. Kerr, the son of Jonathan D. and 
Matilda (\\'estlake) Kerr, was born in 
Chambersburg, Montgomery county. Ohio, 
July 7, 1853. He is a descendant of George 
Kerr, a native of the county of Kerry, Ire- 



422 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



]:ind, who came with his parents to America 
sometime prior to the Revokitionary war. 
George Kerr was a soldier in the army of 
Washington and after the war for inde- 
i:)endence was won, he, with other liardy, ad- 
venturous men emigrated to tlie Xorthwest 
territory, and was one of the first settlers 
in Marietta. Ohio. In 1813 he moved to 
Lebanon, Ohio. One of George Kerr's sons, 
James Kerr, married ^liss Sallie Thompson, 
whose early history was one of thrilling in- 
terest and is published in this volume; and 
her son, J. T. Kerr, is the father of our sub- 
ject. It would be interesting to trace the 
family history back to the time when they 
left old Ireland for a home in America, but 
the writer has not the record to give a cor- 
rect statement of the ancestors of the Kerr 
family. 

The father of J. A. Kerr was a farmer 
and a man of more than ordinary intelli- 
gence, and was desirous that his children 
should receive as good education as his 
means would permit. J. A. Kerr spent his 
early years upon the farm and attended the 
common schools until the age of sixteen. 
He was sent for two winters to the Normal 
school at Lebanon, Ohio, where he studied 
mathematics and surveying. He afterwards 
studied law and at the age of twenty-three 
he was admitted to practice in the courts ol 
Ohio and in the United States courts, and 
l(;cated in Tippecanoe in 1876. He has ever 
since devoted his time and energy to the 
practice. He is a successful practitioner, a 
close student of the law and has won for 
himself a large clientage and a fine reputa- 
tion as an able a-ttorney. 

In politics he is a Democrat, but he is 
an independent thinker and does not hesitate 
to criticise the mistakes of his own party. 
He indulges now and then in writing hu- 



morous sketches and as a humorist has a 
local reputation. He is a constant reader 
and is inclined to use his pen on political and 
literary subjects, and is at present connected 
with the Troy Democrat, the leading Dem- 
ocratic paper of this county. 

Mr. Kerr was married to ]\Iiss Elizabeth 
Coote. in 1873. and one daughter and a 
son have blessed their home. She has been 
indeed a helpmate to her husband in all his 
enterprises. The daughter has passed away. 
The son, a yoiuig man of eighteen years, is 
the comfort and pride of his parents. 

J. A. Kerr is now in the prime of man- 
hood, and has yet before him a life of much 
usefulness. He has by his practice accumu- 
lated a comfortable competence and won a 
reputation as a man of intellect and ability. 
He has the energy and industry that will 
win victorv in the battle of life. 

E. s. w. 



AIRHART M. FRY. 

The building interests of Piqua are well 
represented by Mr. Frv. a leading contractor 
of the city, evidences of whose handiwork 
are there seen in man)' of the fine buildings. 
His remarkable ability in the line of his 
chosen vocation and his trustworthiness 
have secured for him enviable prestige in 
business circles, and as one of the leading- 
men of his adopted city he well deserves 
mention in this volume. Born in ^lont- 
gomery comity, Ohio, on the 8th of Septem- 
ber, i860, he is a son of Henry Fry, a native 
of Germany, who was reared in the father- 
Ir.nd and there learned the cabinetmaker's 
trade. When a young man he crossed the 
broad .\tlantic to the new world, taking up 
his residence in Cincinnati, where he fol- 



I 

11 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



423 



lowed his trade until about 1854. He then 
removed to ^Montgomery county, Ohio, and 
purchased a farm, upon which he remained 
for twenty years, when he became identified 
with the farming interests of Darke county. 
There he still resides at the ripe old age of 
eighty-four years, having some time since 
put aside his business cares. His study of the 
political issues of the day have caused him 
to give his support to the Democracy. In 
early manhood he married JMiss Tonsia 
Freshwood, also a native of Germany. She 
came to America when about twenty years 
of age and is still living. By her marriage 
she became the mother of seven children : 
Charles H., a farmer of Darke county; 
Mary, wife of John Bruner, of that county; 
Ferdinand, an agriculturist of Jay county, 
Indiana; Airhart ]\1.; Emma, who died at 
the age of sixteen years; John, who is living 
on a farm with his parents, and Henry, a 
carpenter residing in Piqua. 

Mr. Frv remained upon the home farm 
until twenty-one years of age and obtained 
his education in the public schools. On ar- 
riving at man's estate, he started out upon 
an independent business career, going to 
Bloomer, where he began working at the car- 
penter's trade. In the fall of 1881 he began 
working at bridge building on the Toledo 
&' Cincinnati Railroad line, being employed 
in that capacity for eighteen months. At 
the time he severed his connection with the 
compan}' he was offered the foremanship, 
but he refused it and returned to Bloomer, 
where he followed carpentering for seven 
years. About that time he was married 
and took up his abode near North Clayton, 
where he engaged in contracting and build- 
ing for about two years. On the 2d of 
March, 1890, he came to Piqua and has since 
been intimatelv associated with the building 



interests of this city. He has taken con- 
tracts for the erection of many of the most 
important structures here, including the 
Young Men's Christian Association build- 
ing, the public library, the National Linseed 
Oil building, the North street school build- 
ing, the Piqua National Bank building, the 
Piqua Electric Light liuilding, the freight 
depot of the Pan-Handle Railroad, the 
building of the Piqua Milling Company, the 
M. P. Orr Linseed Oil building, the factory 
and offices of the Piqua Hosiery Company, 
the Benkert drv-goods store and the resi- 
dences of \^". P. Orr, John H. Young, John 
\"allery and J. L. Boyer. He contracted 
for the Evangelical Lutheran church at 
Maysville, Ohio, for seventeen thousand 
ciollars. He has also erected many smaller 
buildings and usually employs from thirty 
to fort}' workmen. 

On the loth of November. 1887, Islr. 
Fry was united in marriage to Mary A. Rou- 
ston, of Bloomer, daughter of Henry and 
Susan Rouston. She was a consistent mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian church and died in 
Piqua, August 2"/, 1899, leaving four chil- 
dren : Alvin V., Margery Irene, Raymond 
Chester and Nina Elizabeth. Mr. Fry be- 
longs to the Presbyterian church and is a 
public-spirited and progressive citizen, whose 
interest in the welfare and pros^jerity of 
Piqua is shown by the substantial assistance 
which he gives to the many movements and 
measures calculated to prove of public good. 
In America "labor is king." and 'tis the only 
sovereignty that our liberty-lo\-ing people 
acknowledge. Admiration and respect are 
always accorded those men who, by their 
own efforts, have risen to positions of promi- 
nence and have achieved success by untiring 
industry, unfaltering perse\'erance and hon- 
oralile dealing. Such an one is Mr. Fry, 



424 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and well does he deserve public mention 
among the prominent business men of his 
adopted county. 



ANDREW M. MORROW. 

Andrew AI. Morrow resides upon one 
of the good farms of Washington town- 
ship, Miami county, and is successfully car- 
rying on agricultural pursuits. He owns 
one hundred and thirty-seven acres of rich 
laud, forty of which he has himself cleared. 
He comes from a family of Scotch-Irish 
lineage. His ancestors fled from Scotland 
to Ireland on account of religious persecu- 
tion and changed the name from ^lurray 
to Morrow, and came to America and set- 
tled in Perry county, Pennsylvania, in 1 766. 
The grandfather of our subject lived and 
died in Sherman's \-alley, in Perry cciunty, 
Pennsylvania. ^lajor Richard ^lorrow, 
the father of our subject, was born at the 
old family homestead in Sherman's valley, 
in 1788. He was left an orphan during 
early childhood and was bound out to a 
millwright with whom he learned the trade. 
In his native valley he was married on the 
5th of July, 1814, to Miss Frances Clark, 
whose liirth occurred December 26, 1787, 
her parents being Robert and Mary ( .\lex- 
ander) Clark. In the fall of 18 14. Mr. 
Morrow and his wife joined a party of colo- 
nists from that section and started for Ohio. 
The Morrows located in Highland county, 
where they remained until the following 
spring, when they came to ]\Iiami county, lo- 
cating on a quarter-section of land, three 
miles south of Piqua, in Washington town- 
ship. The region was almost an unbroken 
forest at that time, and the tract which Mr. 
Morrow entered on the 20th of December, 
18 1 5, was covered with a heavy growth of 



timber so that he had to cut away the trees 
in order to plant crops. He erected a 
double log house with a two-story front, 
one of the most pretentious homes in the 
township, and there he and his wife spent 
their remaining days, with the exception of 
about fi\e years, during which time thev 
resided in Piqua, returning to their farm in 
the summer of 1861. As before indicated. 
Mr. Morrow was a millwright in his youth, 
but after taking up his abode in the Buckeye 
state, he devoted his attention to farming. 
The married life of this worthy couple cov- 
ered a period of more than half a century, 
and they were separated only a short time by 
death, as Mr. Morrow passed awy on the 
28th of May, 1864. while his wife was called 
to her final resting place on the 12th of Au- 
gust, of the same year. They were pe-^ple 
of the highest respectability, active and cm- 
sistent members of the Presb^'terian church 
and were also leading members of the Bib'e 
society. His fellow townsmen, realizing his 
worth and ability, frequently called Mr. 
Morrow to positions of public trust and re- 
sponsibility, and he was almost continu- 
ously in ofHce. For many years he served 
as township trustee, was also county com- 
missioner, and. at one time was major of a 
regiment of the Ohio state militia. He 
took an acti\e and commendable interest in 
everything pertaining to the welfare of the 
county, did all in his ])ower to promote its 
growth and substantial improvement, and 
left the im]jress of his stroup" individuality 
upon its development. 

Mr. and Mrs. Morrow became the par- 
ents of the following children : Josejih 
^Marshall, born March 11. 1815. was acci- 
dentally killed on the farm of Judge Ad- 
ams, south of Piqua. Robert Alexander, 
bom April 11, 1818, was married Decern- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



42b 



ber 8, 1842, to Mary Whittaker and died 
November 19, 1846. Hugli Clark, liorn 
October 9, 1820, was married ^lay 7, 1851. 
to Susan F. Morrison, and died near the old 
hcmestead September 5. 1874. James, whose 
sketch is .s^iven in this history, is the next 
of the family. Milton, born February 14, 
1825, married Clarissa Prugh, and died on 
his farm in Washington township, January 
26, 1889. William, born July 31, 1828, 
dietl in Dayton, Ohio, January 5, 1893. An- 
drew M. completes the family. 

Andrew Mitchell Morrow has spent his 
entire life in Miami county, his birth having 
occurred on the 17111 of November, 1833, 
on the old family homestead upon which he 
now resides. At the usual age he began 
his education in the country schools, pur- 
suing his studies for two months each year, 
except when the citizens would raise money 
to prolong the session to three months. He 
was a studious boy and improved his oppor- 
tunities in the school room, thus laying a 
good foudation for a practical English edu- 
cation. Possessing an observing e}^ and re- 
tentive memory, he has become a well-in- 
formed man, and reading keeps him in touch 
with the general interests of the day. In 
his youth, after school hours and during va- 
cations, he employed his time diligently at 
home with the farm duties. At his father's 
death he inherited a portion of the old iiome- 
stead and afterward i)urchasecl the interest 
of the other heirs, becoming the owner of 
the present valuable farm of one hundred 
and thirty-seven acres, the greater part of 
which is under a high state of cultivation. 
His present residence was built by his father, 
in 1840, but he has erected other buildings 
and made other substantial improvements 
which stand as monuments to the thrift and 
enterprise of the owner. On the 8th of 



April, 1858, Mr. Morrow was united in 
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Ellen Drake, 
who was born in Washington township, No- 
vember 22. 1833, a daughter of Daniel and 
^largaret (Curry) Drake. The Drakes 
were from New Jersey, and in 1833 took up 
their abode in Washington township, Miami 
county. Their ancestry can be traced back 
for many generations to Sir Francis Drake. 
Mr. and Mrs. Morrow became the parents of 
three children: Ellen Frances, born May 
16, i860; ilargaret Caroline, who was born 
May 14, 1862, and died in October, 18S0; 
and Harland D., born September 5, 18O6. 
The mother died October 28, 1873. and, on 
the 26th of December, 1876, ]\Ir. ]\lorrow 
was again married, his second union l^eing 
with Olive L. Dennis, liorn August 6, 1844, 
in Clermont county, Ohio, a daughter of 
James and Sarah Ann (F'arker) Dennis. 
Her paternal grandfather, Francis Denn.is, 
was a native of Ireland, and when t'uve 
years of age was brought to America by 
his parents, who died soon after reaching the 
United States. Having arrived at years 
of maturity, he married Miss Mary Munay^ 
and from Kentucky they renfoved to Clei'- 
mont county, Ohio. Mr. Denins died near 
New Boston, this state, in 1832, and his wife 
near Williamsburg, Ohio, in i860. 

Their son, James Dennis, was born in 
Clermont county, Ohio, August 10, 1809. 
and for many years operated a grist and 
saw-mill and also a chair factory. He died 
in his native county, in December, 1889, 
when about eighty 3'ears of age. He was 
twice married, his first union lieing with 
Sarah Ann Parker, daughter of Isaac Par- 
ker, of New Jersey, whose wife was a Miss 
Culberson before her marriage. Mrs. Den- 
nis died in Octoljer, 1874, and Mr. Dennis 
afterward married Mrs. Susan Morrow, the 



420 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



widow of Hugh IMorrow. the hrother of our 
subject. She died in Leavenworth, Kan- 
sas. ]\Ir. Dennis was the father of nine 
children, namely: Caroline, wife of Samuel 
Scott I ynn, of Altaloma, Texas ; Charles 
P., a practicing dentist of Portsmouth, Ohio, 
who wedded ^Nliss Sarah AI. Lane: Mary 
Ann. widow of Thomas Page, of Fayette 
county, Ohio ; Martha J., widow of the Rev. 
Isaac J. Cushman, of Oxford, Ohio; Eliza 
v., who become the wife of Xewton D. 
Spence, and alter his death married Simms 
Tate, of .\dair county, Iowa ; John F., a 
dentist, who wedded Miss Lida Gilfillen, 
and lives at ^Vashington Court House, Ohio; 
Mrs. Alorrow: Theodore G., who married 
Miss Lida Kennedy, and is a dental practi- 
tioner of Jamestown. Ohio: and Aral)elle, 
who died in this state. Ly the marriage of 
Andrew M. Morrow and Olive L. Dennis 
four children have been born, namely : Clif- 
ton Parker, born October 28, 1877; Eliza 
Dennis, born October 14, 1879; Raymond 
Clark, born September 22, 1881 : and FL>rre.st 
Ely, born September 25, 1883. 

Mr. Morrow was reared in the Whig 
part}-, but on' the organization of the Re- 
publican party became one of its stanch 
supporters, and has since fought under its 
banners. Of the Presbyterian church of 
Piqua he is a devout and faithful member, 
and has served as one of its elders since 
1880. He is a well-informed man, an ex- 
tensive reader and an entertaining o mversa- 
tionalist, and his pleasant home is noted for 
its generous hospitality. His amiable dis- 
position and devotion to the welfare of the 
family renders him an ideal husl)and and 
father, and to him friendship is inxiolable. 
He possesses those sterliup' traits of charac- 
ter which in every land and in every clime 
command respect. 



REESE McXEIL SIFFORD. 

If those who claim that fortune has fav- 
ored certain individuals above others will 
but investigate the cause of success and fail- 
ure, it will be found that the former is large- 
ly due to the improvement of opportunity, 
the latter to the neglect of it. Fortunate en- 
vironments encompass nearly every man at 
some stage in his career, but the strong man 
and the successful man is he who realizes 
that the proper moment has come, that the 
present and not the future holds his oppor- 
tunity. The man who makes use of the 
Xow and not the To Be is the one who passes 
on the highway of life others who started out 
ahead of him and reaches the goal of pros- 
perity far in advance of them. It is this 
quality in ]Mr. Sifford that has made him a 
leader in the business world and won him a 
name in connection with commercial inter- 
ests that is known throughout the state. He 
holds the responsible position of snperin- 
ttndent of bridges and buildings for the 
Cincinnati. Hamilton &■ Dayton Railroad 
.Company, and makes his home in Co\ing- 
ton. Ohio. His birth occurred in Spring- 
field township. Ross county, August 14, 
1842. On the paternal side he is of German 
lineage. His grandfather. Christian Seif- 
fert, was born in Germany, and. as is seen, 
the orthography of the name has been 
changed in the later generations. After 
coming to the United States the grandfather 
settled in Pennsylvania, and later removed to 
Maryland, where his death occurred. He 
was a cabinet-maker by trade, and followed 
that pursuit in order to support his family, 
one of whom was Lewis ^^'. Sifford. the fa- 
ther of our subject. He was bom in Mid- 
dletown, Maryland, February 2=,. 1810. and 
was a cabinet-maker bv trade. \\'hen a 






GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



427 



young man he came to Ros? county, Oliio, 
and there wedded Mary McXeil, a daughter 
of Azeal McXeil, who came from Virginia 
to Ohio, locating in Ross county. Mr. Sif- 
ford took up his abode in Liberty township, 
and later removed to Springtield township 
the same year, and for some time the father 
of our subject was engaged in ci inducting a 
saw-mill and also surveyed land in that sec- 
tion of the state. He was a man of sterling 
character and of marked ability, and his 
oratorical power was of no mean order, and 
made him an effective worker in political, 
campaigns. He served as county commis- 
sioner, was for four years United States 
marshal and at one time represented his 
district in the state legislature. On his re- 
tirement from the office of marshal he be- 
came resident engineer cif the C)liio Canal 
Company. In politics he was a stanch 
Democrat, unswerving in his advocacy of 
the principles of the partv. He held' mem- 
bership in the ^^lethodist Episcopal church, 
and his life was at all times characterized 
by honesty and fidelity to duty. -\ man of 
imposing appearance and well-cut features, 
he thus gave evidence of his sterling char- 
acter and at all times commanded the re- 
spect of all with whom he came in contact. 
His death occurred in Springfield township, 
Decemljer 20, 1878, and his wife, who was 
born in Fairfield county, Ohio, March 15, 
1813, died in Springfield town.ship, Ross 
county, October 5, 1876. Their children 
were Catherine, wife of James B. ^labury, 
of Kansas City, Missouri ; Mary, wife of 
David Dunn, of Chillicothe, Ohi(3 ; Reese, of 
this review: Lewis C, of Lima, Ohio; 
Emma, who became the wife of Joseph Ir- 
win, and died in Dayton, Ohio: John and 
Maria, twins ; and William, of \\'ellston, 
Ohio. 



Mr. Sifford, whose name introduces this 
record, spent his childhood days under the 
parental roof in Ross county, Ohio, and in 
the public schools acquired a good educa- 
tion, pursuing his studies until eighteen 
years of age. He then served a two years' 
apprenticeship at the carpenter's trade, which 
he followed as contractor of Iniildings for 
some years, or until 1870. From 1870 until 
1886 he was emploved as foreman under the 
management of the lessee ()f public works 
of the Ohio canal, between Columbus and 
Portsmouth, wdiich position he held until 
1886, when he entered the employ of the 
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad 
Company, Dayton and fronton <livision, be- 
tween Dayton and Ironton, Ohio, filling 
the position of foreman of bridges and build- 
ings for nine years, wbicli he spent at Chilli- 
cothe, Ohio. In 1895 he was sent to Cov- 
ington as superintendent of Ijridges and 
buildings on the C, D. & C. division of the 
Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton Road, and 
has since occupied the responsible position, 
his knowledo-e of carpentering and mechan- 
ical arts well qualifying him for the office. 

In R05S county, Ohio, December 24, 
1862, Mr. Sifford was united in marriage 
to Miss Elizabeth Dunn, who was born in 
Scioto township, that county, June 16, 1841. 
Her father, David Dunn, was born in Hunt- 
ingdon county, Pennsylvania, January 31, 
1805, and was a son of Andrew Dunn, 
whose birth occurred in Ireland. After 
coming to the United States he located for 
a time in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania, 
where he made his home until 1807, when he 
came to the Buckeye state. He made the 
journey on foot, carryine in his arms his son 
Da\-id, who was then but eighteen months 
old, while the mother rode on horseback with 



a young babe in her arms. 



Thev first set- 



428 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tied at Clear Creek, near Lancaster. Fair- 
field county, and Mr. Dunn engaged in farm- 
ing. About the latter part of 1809 he re- 
moA'ed to Delaware count}-, where he tlied at 
a ripe old age. David Dunn was reared 
upon his father's farm, and when he was 
seventeen years of age he started out in life 
for himself, going to Ross county, where he 
carried on agricultural pursuits until 1865. 
From that time until his death he was a resi- 
dent of Pickaway county. He was a man 
of strong constitution and retained his 
mental and physical faculties unimpaired al- 
most to the last, being able to read fine print 
without the aid of glasses until his death, 
which occurred at the age of nearly eighty- 
nine years. He never used tobacco in his 
life. ^Ir. Dunn was twice marrietl. Iki 
Ross county, in 1827, he wedded Ann _Mus- 
selman, who died in March. 1836, and later 
he wedded Catherine Raines, who ched in 
1874. The children of the first marriage 
were Mary and Andrew, who died in Kan- 
sas, and Susan M., who became the wife of 
Lewis Sense, and died in Iowa. The chil- 
dren of the second marriage are David, who 
lives in Chillicothe. Ohio; ]\Irs. Sififord; 
^\nn. wife of Nathan McFadgen. oi Chilli- 
cotlie : JoJm. of Pickaway county ; James, 
who died in Xenia, Indiana ; Alfred, George 
and Xelsnn. who are living in Pickaway 
ciamty: Kachael and Jane, whu died in in- 
fancy. 

Until Mr. and Mrs. Sifford ha\'e been 
1)orn eight children, namely : Ida May, who 
died in Ross county wiien young; Linnie 
Myrtle; Mack, of Dayton, Ohio, who mar- 
ried Clara Da\is and has one child. Leon; 
Annie; Lawrence T.. who is a bridge car- 
penter on the Cincinnati. Hamilton & Day- 
ton Railroad; Harry, of Covington, who 
wedded Erla, daughter of Thomas and Jen- 



nie (Cole) Hill, of Miami county, by whom 
he has one child, Dorothy Lovetta; Claude, 
an employe of the Cincinnati, Hamilton & 
Dayton Railroad Company; and Gertrude, 
\\ho is in school. 

In 1863, while a member of the state 
militia. Mr. Sifford went with his regiment 
as first lieutenant, holding a commission un- 
der Governor Tod, in pursuit of Morgan, 
who was making a raid through the state. 
He exercises his right of franchise in sup- 
port of the men and measures of the Demo- 
cra-tic party, and socially is connected with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, of 
Chillicothe, Lodge X'o. 24. He owns a 
comfortable home on College street, in Cov- 
ington, and is a highly esteemed and in- 
telligent citizen whose extended reatling has 
made a well-informed man. His domestic 
tendencies are shown in his devotion to the 
welfare and liappiness of his family, and he 
manifests his loyalty as a citizen in his sup- 
port of all measures for the public good. 



\\TLLIA}>I X. SCARFF. 

Clearly defined purpose and consecutive 
efYort in the affairs of life will eventuate in 
the attaining of a due measure of success. 
In the business world, as well as in all other 
deijartments of the material world, effect 
logically follows cause, and in the analyza- 
tion of a successful career we find that pros- 
perity has resulted from effort well directed, 
from sound judgment and from indefati- 
gable enterprise. It is true that sometimes 
incompetent men win success, but their 
wealth comes as the effect of the labor of 
some one. One of the most prominent busi- 
ness men of central Ohio is ^^'illiam N. 
Scarff. and his efforts have resulted largely 



J 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



429 



in promoting horticultural interests in this 
state. In that department of business life 
he sustains a very wide reputation, being 
known throughout the country in connec- 
tion with certain improvements and progress 
in his chosen field of labor. 

Mr. Scarff was born in Miami countw 
December 19, 1863, his i)arents being John 
J. and Mary E. ( Neft j Scarff. They were 
married in Miami county and the father be- 
came a most successful farmer and stock 
raiser, making a specialty of the breeding of 
Devonshire and Jersey cattle and of Poland 
China and Chester White swine. He also 
raised fine jjoultry, and in the \'arious de- 
partments of his business met with credit- 
able success. His sales became very exten- 
sive and he was widely known in connection 
with his stuck raising interests, his efforts 
being largely instrumental in advancing the 
grade of stock raised by the farmers of this 
locality. His life has been one of acti\-ity 
and enterprise, lint he is now lix'ing retired, 
at the age of seventy-four years, enjoying 
the rest which he has truly won and richly 
deserves. 

William N. Scarff spent his boyhood 
days upon his father's farm and in the dis- 
trict schools acquired his elementary edu- 
cation, which was sui)plemented Ijy two 
years" study in the Ohio .State Uni\'ersity. 
Failing health compelled him to abandon 
his collegiate cijurse, and with the hope of 
being benefitted by outtloor life he began 
fruit raising on a \'ery small scale, ha\-ing 
an acre of land, which he planted to various 
kinds of small fruits. That was the nucleus 
of his present extensive Ijusiness. As his 
sales have increased he has enlarged his 
facilities, has secured new varieties of fruit 
and has done much toward producing su- 
perior qualities. He has extended the field 



of his operations by building up a large 
nursery trade, and he has to-dav two hun- 
dred and fifty acr^s of valuable land de\'oted 
to the fruit and nurserv business. He makes 
a specialty of small fruits, and in' the vear 
1899 he raised twenty-five hundred bushels 
of strawberries and five hundred bushels 
each of raspberries. Ijlackberries, currants 
and gooseberries. Throughout the year he 
furnishes regular employment to from fifteen 
to twenty men, during the [lacking season 
to from fifty to seventy-fi\-e men and wi >men 
and during the picking season to from one 
hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and 
fifty. He has made a vevy close and crmipre- 
hensive study of the needs of various fruits, 
and his thorough understanding has enabled 
him to produce fruit of a superior size, 
quality and flavor. He has recently ])lanted 
a new orchard of cherries, plums and 
peaches, having fifteen hundred trees of 
each kind. An eighty-acre farm, four miles 
north of Dayton, is de\'oted entirely to his 
nursery business, and in 1896 he purchased 
the old Scarff homestead of one hundred and 
forty-four acres in Miami county. Thishehas 
also planted to fruit and nursery stock. In 
1899, in company with his brother, M. T. 
Scarff', of Michigan city. North Dakota, he 
also purchased his father's homestead in 
Clark county, of two hundred and thirty- 
two acres, and there he engages in fruit 
growing, general farming and stock raising. 
His nursery business is confined to the 
production of small-fruit plants, which he 
produces to the amount of over two million 
annually, his yearly sales bringing him from 
fifteen to twenty thousand dollars. He sells 
to the wholesale trade and also sells through 
catalogues, of which he sends out fiftv thou- 
sand annually. Air. Scarff' introduce<l the 
Eiu'eka raspberry, an early black-cap and one 



430 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of the finest of tlie class; also the Plunger 
raspberry, a later market fruit, and the 
Marie strawberry. The "strawberry is a 
splendid producer and is very superior in 
size and flavor, being especially adapted for 
home consumption and for the market. In 
his farminp- he luakes a specialty of produc- 
ing the finest kinds of cereals, corn. wheat and 
oats, his idea being to secure seed grain of 
the popular varieties and superior quality. 
These he sells in connection with his nurserv 
stock. During his boyhood he assisted his 
father in the care of poultry, and still makes a 
specialty of the raising of ^^'hite. Bufif and 
Barred Plymouth Rocks and Seabright Ban- 
tams. They also have a flock of genuine wild 
geese, which have been raised from a pair 
domesticated by Mr. Scarff's father forty 
years ago. You will also find upon the farm 
many other rare land and water fowls, such 
as peacocks, guinea and sea fowls. 

On the 17th of September, 1890, Mr. 
ScarfY was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Ella Miller, of New Carlisle, and they now 
have three interesting children : Max Miller, 
Howard Xeff and Lucile. The parents are 
members of the Xew Carlisle Methodist 
Episcopal church, of which Mr. Scfirfif is a 
trustee. For ten years he has been a mem- 
ber of the State Horticultural Society, and 
for three years has been and now is its vice- 
president. He was also a member of the 
Miami County Horticultural Society for fif- 
teen years, and in 1895 ^i^ organized the 
Clark County Horticultural Society, since 
which time he has been its president. His 
entire life has been passed in this section of 
the state, and his career. e\'er honorable and 
upright, has won him the high regard and 
respect of all with whom he has come in con- 
tr.ct. There is but one general ruler of a 
nation, be he king, emperor or presiilent. and 



but few attain to positions of leadership in 
military life, but the business world oft'ers 
a vast field to those who are ambitious 
enough to prosecute their labors with dili- 
gence. Many can attain prominence in 
commercial and industrial circles, and there 
is ever room for leaders in this direction — 
men who are not content to follow in the 
paths of progress, but go beyond into new 
and untried fields, making discoveries and 
promoting methods which prove of benefit 
to the race. This Mr. Scarfi^ has done. He 
is recognized as one of the leading horti- 
culturists of Ohio, and his prominence has 
gone beyond the borders of his native state. 
Marked success has attended his eff^orts and 
it has been worthily won, being the just re- 
ward of earnest labor and capable manage- 
ment. 



REUBEN ROUTZON. 

Among the intelligent and highly es- 
teemed agriculturists of Miami county is 
numbered Reuben Routzon, who, through 
his well-directed business efforts, has at- 
tained a position of affluence and at the 
same time has gained the confidence and 
good will of his fellow men liy his system- 
atic and honorable methods. He is of Ger- 
man lineage, the Routzon family having been 
founded in America by Jacob Routzon, the 
grandfather, who. when a lad, crossed the 
Atlantic to the new world with his parents, 
the family locating in Frederick county, 
Maryland. He there learned the shoemak- 
er's trade, and in connection with that pur- 
suit also operated rentetl land. He married 
Elizabeth Krisher, and in 1833. accompa- 
nied by his wife and children, he started 
westward for Ohio, making the journey with 
wagons. On reaching Shelby county, he 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



431 



located on eighty acres of land in Loraine 
township, which he entered from the gov- 
ernment. He tliere bnilt a hewed-log house, 
18x20 feet, and was engaged in the cultiva- 
tion and impro\-ement of his farm until his 
death, which occurred in 1859, when he was 
about seventy-eight years of age. In poli- 
tics his support was given to the Democracy, 
and he held memijership in the Lutheran 
church, of which his wife was also a mem- 
ber. She died in 1867, at the age of eighty- 
four years. In their family were eleven 
children : Rachel, who was accidentally 
scalded to death in Maryland, at the age of 
three years ; George, the father of Reuljen ; 
Thomas, who married Jemima Russell and 
died at his home in Covington ; Jacob E., 
who married Adiah Hahn and died on his 
farm adjnining the old homestead in Shelljy 
county; L}-(lia, who is the widow of Eman- 
uel Shearer, and is living with her son, 
George Shearer, in Xewberry township, 
Miami county, her husband having died in 
the spring of 1900, in Loraine township, 
Shelby county ; David, who married Cath- 
erine Snow and resided on the old homestead 
for some time, but in 1890 removed to Cov- 
ington, where his death occurred ; Eliza, who 
became ]\Irs. Fisher, afterward married 
Josiah Finfrock, and is now the wife of 
William Betts, of Piqua; Absolem, a resi- 
dent of Covington; William, who is making 
his residence in Piqua ; Annie, who became 
the wife of William Finfrock and died in 
Clayton ; and Maria, who married Joseph 
jMcCurdy and died in Piqua. 

George Routzon, the father of our sub- 
ject, was born in Frederick county, Mary- 
land, April 23, 1808, was reared upon a 
farm, and afterward worked as a farm hand 
by the month in his native state. He was 
married in Maryland to Miss Xancy Able, 



who was born in Frederick county. May 31, 
1807. In 1832 they started by wagon for 
Ohio, and after a journey of five weeks 
reached Alilton, Miami county, in the spring. 
During that year the father worked as a 
day laborer, but the following year entered 
ninety acres of land in Newberry township, 
for which he paid a dollar and a quarter per 
acre. Two years later he sold forty acres 
of that tract. The country was wdd and 
tlie land swampy. There were no houses in 
the near vicinity of their home and wild 
deer frequently passed their cabin door at 
night. The family endured many hard- 
ships and trials, the father often working 
on neighboring farms, at which time the 
mother would carry his dinner to him in the 
fields. In order to do this, she frequently 
had to make her way through swamps where 
she had to jump from log to log in order to 
keep out of the water. They had no well 
upon the place at first, and IMrs. Routzon 
would melt snow in winter in order to get 
water for her cows. The home of the family 
was a little log cabin, 18x20 feet, situated 
in the midst of the forest. At first there 
was no floor in the house, but later a floor 
was built beneath the bed. There were no 
windows and a quilt was used for a door; 
but as the years passed the faiuily were able 
to enjoy many of the comforts of life, the 
well tilled fields yielding to him a good in- 
come. The father continued to work his 
fifty acres of land, and placed it under a 
high state of cultivation, continuing its oper- 
ation until his death, which occurred Decem- 
ber 10, i860. Fle was a member of the 
Lutheran church, was a Democrat in poli- 
tics and served during the greater part of 
his life as school director. His wife died 
June 10, 1896, and thus passed away two 
of the worthy pioneer people of the com- 



43: 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



nninit}-. They were the parents of eight 
children : Elizabeth, deceased wife of 
George H. Finfrock; Reuben; Israel, of 
Newberrv township, win > married Eliza- 
beth Rarick, and afterward married Eliza 
Swank; Savilla. wife of Samuel Verty, of 
Kewberry township; \\'illiam, who mar- 
ried Margaret Apple, but is now deceased; 
Levi, who married Sarah Wyatt and lived 
in Xewberry township; Thomas, who mar- 
ried Margaret Apple, and is a resident of 
Newberry township; and Isaiah, who died at 
the age of three years. 

Reuben Routzon, of this review, was 
born August 5. 1833. in the old log cabin 
on the homestead farm, and was reared amid 
the wild scenes of the frontier, there becom- 
ir.g familiar with the arduous labor of clear- 
ing and develi iping new land. He was \ery 
young when he began to handle an ax in the 
■forest, and in preparing the fields for cultiva- 
tion, thereljy developing habits of industry 
and enleri)rise which have been the means 
of bringing to him success in later life. He 
began his education in wh^t was known as 
Fetter's school. The building was con- 
structed of round k)gs and, instead of glass 
in the windows, paper was used, greased with 
opossum fat, which matle it translucent. 
The benches were made of split logs and the 
other furnishings were as crude and primi- 
ti\e. He completed his education when 
eighteen years of age, putting aside his text- 
books in order to learn the carpenter's trade 
under the direction of Peter Hartle. The 
first summer he received three dollars per 
month and a set of bench tools; the second 
lie was given thirty-sc\en cents per day. and 
on the expiration of that period was admit- 
ted to partnership by his employer, Mr. 
Hartle. He was thus engaged in the con- 
struction of many of the leading buildings 



in Xewberry township and followed his 
trade with good success for sixteen years. 

On the 28th of February. 1861. Mr. 
Routzon married Miss Catherine Rhoda- 
hofifer, who was born in ^Montgomery coun- 
ty, near Farmersvilie, May 16, 1834. She 
was a daughter of David and Margaret ( Ap- 
ple) Rhodahofifer, and with her parents 
came to Xewberry township. They are now 
deceased. The marriage of our subject 
and his wife has been blessed with ten chil- 
dren : George \\'., who was born December 
7. 1861. married Angeline Bronson' and re- 
sides in Staunton township; ^Margaret, who 
was born December 1 1. 1862, is the wife of 
John Christy, of Darke county; Xancy Eliz- 
abeth, born January 31. 1866, died at the 
age of two years; David Jefferson, who was 
born February 13. 1867. married Sarah Ap- 
ple, and resides in Xewberry township; An- 
geline Belle, who was born January 11, 
1869, became the wife of Henry Ballinger, 
of Darke county: Mary Jane, who was born 
Xovember 8, 1870, is the wife of. Amos 
Fessler, of Monroe township; Sarah Ann, 
who was born April 15, 1872, is at home; 
Ida May, who was born September 11, 1873, 
became the wife of Isaiah Apple, of Shelby 
county; Wesley S., who was born Decem- 
ber 31, 1875. is with his parents; Savilla 
Josephine, who was born March 10, 1877, 
is the wife of Uriah Apple, of Xewberry 
township. 

After his marriage. Mr. Routzon lo- 
cated on his present farm, which is the old 
family homestead, and has added a twenty- 
tive-acre tract to the fifty acres left by his 
father. He also owns a farm of one hun- 
dred and twelve acres, part of which is the 
old homestead of his wife's father. He 
carries on general farming, and is an enter- 
prising agriculturist who follows progress- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



433 



ive and systematic methods. He is not 
afraid of work, and to this more than any- 
thing else may he attrihuted his snccess in 
life. In pohtics he is a stalwart Democrat, 
and has served as trustee of his township for 
four terms and as assessor for one term. 
Both lie ami his wife are consistent and 
faithful members of the Lutheran church, 
in which he has served as treasurer, secre- 
tary and trustee. His life has been well spent, 
and he has never withheld his support from 
any measure or movement which he belie\-etl 
would prove of general good. A self-made 
man. he has advanced steadily step by step 
on the road to affluence, and his life record 
should serve to encourage others who are 
forced to start out for themselves without 
capital. 



MRS. EUSEBIA B.'MEEKS. 

In everv community are to be fnund 
women who, after discharging the domestic 
duties pertaining to wife and mother, find 
time to work with either pen or hand for the 
good of the community in which they live. 
When deep sorrow needs a comforting word, 
and tears are to be wiped away by soft 
and gentle hand, the poor to be relie\'o 1, and 
the hungry fed ; when the forsaken need a 
friend, and the outcast a prayer ; where 
?OGd is to be done and the community made 
better in the name and by the grace of our 
lovmg God, they are at work. Such a life 
was led by Mrs. Eusebia B. Meeks, who 
died in Troy, Ohio, June 17, 1889. She was 
the daughter of Rev. John Blodgett, a Bap- 
tist minister, and his wife, Roxanna Daven- 
port Blodgett, and was born June 7, 1821, 
in Champion, Jefferson county. New York. 

Her father was of Huguenot ancestry, 
and the story of the escape of his ancestors 



from the bloody massacre of St. Bartholo- 
mew's day was iianded down from genera- 
tion to generation with rexerent and thrill- 
ing interest. The spirit of bravery and, if 
need be, of martyrdom for conscience sake 
descended to the posterity of her Huguenot 
ancestor, and was possessed in a marked 
degree by the subject of this sketch. 

Mrs. Meeks' early life was spent largely 
in the companionship of her father and her 
early education was conducted liv him. She 
was a delicate child and when an infant be- 
came lame from an accident, the result of 
the carelessness of a nurse girl who had 
charge of her. For that reason she could 
n.ot be sent to school, Ijut she receixxd a 
good home education anil acquired the habits 
of deep, earnest thought, not only in her 
studies but other subjects of general interest. 
As she grew to womanhood her physical 
trouble grew better, and she was able to 
walk, but never entirely reco\-ered from her 
lameness. When al)out eighteen years of 
age she entered and attended for two years 
a seminary at Harveysburg, conducted by 
the Friends, or, as they were called in that 
day, "Quakers." In her twentieth year she 
united with the Baptist church and for many 
years was a faithful, devoted member of 
that church, but in later years she united 
with the Presbyterian church, of Troy. 

On the nth day of February, 1847, she 
was married to Mr. William Harris, who 
died four years later. Their married life was 
one of rare affection and trust. One daugh- 
ter was born to them, — now Mrs. Anna D. 
Stillwell, whose one aim in life has been to 
follow the example of her mother, and she 
is one of the good, useful women of Troy. 

After her husband's death Mrs. Meeks 
made her home with her parents, who had 
removed to Casstown, Miami county, Ohio, 



434 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



until the nth day of September, 1S53. when 
she was united in marriage to Dr. I. S. 
Meeks. They removed to Troy, in Novem- 
ber, 1S59. and remained there until she was 
called from labor to reward. 

When ]\Irs. Meeks was a girl of thirteen 
years, her father accepted a pastorate at 
Lebanon, Ohio, and there she was associated 
in church and society with the Corwins and 
had access to the library of Hon. Thomas 
Corwin. She early became an nncompro- 
mising foe of slavery and intemperance. 
She was. gifted as a writer and had the 
al)ility to clothe her thoughts in pure, vigor- 
ous English, 1)ut she never searched for 
graces of rhetoric to render attractive the 
arguments of her convictions. Her writ- 
ings never sparkled with wit, yet were some- 
tinies, in her earnestness, touched with the 
spirit of bitter, cutting sarcasm. 

She was one of the active Crusaders of 
Troy, and devoted the later years of life to 
the cause of temperance, and she died a vet- 
eran in active warfare against the accursed 
traffic. Her voice and pen have long been 
silent in the solitude of the grave, but her 
memorj' remains with her friends and sis- 
ters of the Woman's Christian Temperance 
Union, serving as an inspiration to them to 
battle on for a higher and nobler standard 
of manhood and womanhood. 

E. S. W. 



JOHN R. STRATTON. 

In a little log cabin on the site of his 
present home in Lost Creek township, 
Miami county, John Riley Stratton was born 
on the 27th of November, 183 1. His par- 
ents were Orrange and Isa1)ella (Long) 
Stratton. The father was born in Tioga 
county, Pennsylvania, and was a son of 



Cephas and Hannah Stratton. The family 
is of English lineage and was founded in 
America in early colonial days. The great- 
great-grandfather of Orrange Stratton aided 
in bulding Fort Pitt, where the city of Pitts- 
biu"g nt)w stands, and took part in the Brad- 
dock campaign. The family established a 
home in Tioga county, whence Cephas Strat- 
ton reuKJved to what is now Cumminsville, 
near Cincinnati. He was a resident of this 
city for two or three years before Or- 
range Stratton joined him in 1820. Cephas 
Stratton spent his remaining days at Cum- 
minsville, where he died when little past the 
prime of life. Orrange had five brothers, 
but was the only one to come to IMiami 
county. One brother, Myron Stratton, re- 
moved to Jeffersonville, Lidiana, and his son 
is the famous \\'infield Scott Stratton, the 
mining king of Cripple Creek, Colorado. 
He was born about the time of the Mexican 
war. In early manhood John Riley Stratton 
visited the home of his uncle Myron and he 
therefore remembers his cousin \\'infield as 
a lad. 

John R. Stratton spent his boyhood days 
or the home farm. He bade adieu to friends 
and relatives in the winter of 1849, i" order 
to enter upon his business career in the city. 
He secured a clerkship in a dry-gods stoi"0 
in Cincinnati and was thus employed for 
four years. On the expiration of that pe- 
riod he went to New Orleans, by boat. He 
had expected to remain there, but yellow 
fever was prevalent and he returned. In 
the fall of the same year, however, he again 
made his way to the Crescent city, where he 
erigaged in clerking for two years. He then 
went up the river to St. Louis, where he re- 
mained for a short time and next made a 
visit to his old home. Later, in the winter 
of 1S56, he went to Davenport, Iowa, and 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



435 



spent two winters in teaching school in 
Scott county, Iowa, while in the summer 
montlis he engaged in the raising of garden 
vegetables, near Davenport. He loaded his 
crop of onions and potatoes onto a flatboat 
which he intended floating, down the Miss- 
issippi river to market. The river was 
filled at the time with similar boats and at 
Grand Tower an exciting incident occurred. 
The channel narrows very much at that 
place and high banks are on either side so 
that the current is very strong. Four men 
were on the flatboat and, the river being 
gorged with ice, it was only by a desperate 
effort that they pulled to the shore, making 
fast their cable of two-inch rope, but the ice 
snapped the rope. Mr. Stratton's com- 
panions struck out for the shore, but he 
stuck to the boat. Seeing that it was being 
crowded down, he jumped into the water 
and clung to the broken end of the rope until 
the others came to his assistance, when he 
succeeded in pulling the boat back of a small 
bank and thus protecting it. This was dur- 
ing the Christmas holida3's. The ice was 
carried down stream in a week and the water 
sank rapidly, leaving the boat fully a quarter 
of a mile on dry land, so the four men simply 
camped in that neighborhood, spending their 
time in hunting and fishing until the ist of 
March. In February, however, Mr. Strat- 
ton took a few bushels down to Cairo, one 
hundred miles below, where he sold them, 
returning by steamer. Unloading his flat- 
boat he attempted to haul it to the water, 
but it took twenty men a whole day to move 
it the width of the boat. Mr. Stratton was 
much discouraged, but that night the water 
rose and in a few hours the boat was afloat 
so that he again began loading it and, when 
the task was completed, the river was high 
enough to float it easilv down stream. This 

25 



was the happiest hour of his life, and the 
music of a band on a passing steamer seemed 
to him the sweetest he had ever heard. He 
went down to Memphis, where he sold his 
produce to good advantage and also sold his 
boat, after which he returned to Davenport 
and raised a second crop. This he sold in 
St. Louis, attempting to go no further south 
on account of the war. While in that city 
he visited the state convention, where the 
question whether Missouri should remain in 
the Union or not, was being discussed, 
Sterling Price acting as president of the con- 
vention. 

I\Ir. Stratton returned to Davenport and 
in 1862 enlisted in Company D, Twentieth 
Iowa Infantry. He served in Missouri, 
Arkansas and the Indian Territory under 
General Herron, participating in several skir- 
mishes and the battle of Prairie Grove, in 
northwestern Kansas. The next spring his 
command went to Vicksburg, the regiment 
lying in trenches and participating in the 
siege of that city. Later they went to Port 
Hudson and to Xew Orleans, where Mr. 
Stratton witnessed the grand review, just 
before Grant went to take command of the 
Union forces in the east. Contracting a 
■fever, his surgeon secured for him a furlough 
and he returned home, but after recovering 
he went back to New Orleans, and found 
that the regiment had gone to Texas. Ac- 
cordingly he boarded the Cape Dale, bound 
for Texas, but when off the coast of Gal- 
veston they were caught in a storm and the 
vessel was disabled. Three days they kept 
afloat only by pumping and in the third night 
e\'erybody thought the vessel was doomed 
to sink; finally a blockading vessel offered 
to take the men on board, but the storm was 
such that it was dangerous for the vessel to 
come close enough. At length, however, 



436 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the storm subsided and one of the blockading 
fleet towed the vessel into Berwick bay. Mr. 
Stratton then went by rail to New Orleans 
and a week later was sent to Point Isabel, 
Texas, with a squad of men, to join his regi- 
ment. On reaching that place, however, the 
command had left there and at Aransas Pass 
they finally found their companions. They 
Avere there camped for eight months, or un- 
til July, 1864, when they went to Browns- 
ville, on the Rio Grande, remaining at that 
point for two months, and in the fall of the 
same year they were sent to Fort Morgan, 
near Mobile, and were among those to take 
possession of the fort, which had been cap- 
tured as the result of dropping shells into it 
from the vessels. This was the greatest 
bombardment Mr. Stratton ever witnessed. 
Subsequently he was sent back to New Or- 
leans for a few months and afterward to 
Pensacola, Florida. With his command he 
marched through Florida and Alabama to 
the rear of Mobile, which had not yet fallen. 
Starting out with five days' rations, it was 
found necessary to make their food supplies 
last two weeks. They marched through 
swamps most of the way and occasionally 
Mr. Stratton and his companions picked up 
corn, where horses had been fed, and parched 
it to eat. It was on that trip that the Twen- 
tieth Iowa endured its greatest sufferings, 
but finally the regiment reached Fort Blakely 
and, after its surrender, marched into the city 
of Mobile, where our subject received an 
honorable discharge. He then returned to 
Iowa, but soon after came to Ohio. In 1898 
he attended a reunion of the regiment at Dav- 
enport, Iowa, for the first time since the war. 
Th.ere he spent some of the happiest days of 
h.is life, for in the intervening years he had 
met only one of the old comrades of the 
blue. 



After his return to Ohio, Mr. Stratton 
remained upon the old home farm and has 
since successfully carried on agricultural pur- 
suits. He was married, in 1866, to jMiss 
Jane Ann Walker, a sister of John E. 
Walker, and they now have three children : 
Clifford Eugene, who is clerking in Troy; 
Curtis AX'alker, a farmer residing near the 
old homestead; and Susie \'iola, wdio is yet 
with her parents. 

Mr. Stratton is a Republican in his po- 
litical views, and is a member of Marion A. 
Ross Post, G. A. R., of Addison, Ohio, in 
which he has taken an active interest. For 
ten years he served as master of Burr Oak 
Grange, No. 541, and has been a member- 
of both the county and state organizations 
of the Grange. He also belongs to the Lost 
Creek Christian church, of which he is trus- 
tee. His life has been spent in the quiet 
pursuits of farming, and in days of peace he 
is as loyal to the country as when he followed 
the old flag upon the battlefields of the south. 
He is familiar with the history of pioneer 
development of the west, and in many ways 
has aided in its substantial growth and im- 
provement. 



ADAM BRIGHT. 

Investigation into the history of those 
men who have been most successful in the 
affairs of life will show that in the majority 
of cases their prosperity has resulted from 
untiring eft'ort, they having not only the abil- 
ity to plan but the power to execute. Close 
application and unflagging industry have 
done more to secure success than any other 
elements which have contributed to the finan- 
cial upbuilding of the race. The life record of 
Adam Bright stands in exemplification of 
wh.at may be accomplished !>y one who is 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



437 



nut afraid to work and whose labors are 
guided by sound judgment. He is to-day 
numbered among the most prosperous farm- 
ers of Miami county and his Inisiness repu- 
tation is unassailable. 

Mr. Bright was born in Nelson county, 
Virginia, September 4, 1834, a son of Ste- 
phen and Catherine Bright. In 1839 the 
parents came with their family to Ohio, lo- 
cating in Gallia county, whence they came to 
Miami county five years later. Mr. Bright's 
uncle, John Bright, was then living on the 
farm now owned by the subject of this re- 
view. He had come to the county in 1827 
and was therefore one of its pioneer settlers. 
Not long after their arrival in this section of 
the state Stephen Bright and his family took 
u]j their abode in Clark county, two and a 
half miles southeast of Addison, where they 
li\-ed until 1854, when they removed to In- 
diana, the father spending his remaining 
days in the Hoosier state, where he died at 
the age of sixty-seven years. 

Adam Bright, however, remained in 
Ohio when his parents went to Indiana. He 
worked by the month in Clark county receiv- 
ing six dollars for his services as a farm 
hand. He also assisted in clearing land for 
one summer, but he felt the wages he re- 
ceived did not compensate him and he there- 
fore resolved to learn the carpenter's trade, 
at which he served an apprenticeship under 
Andy Howell, for whom he worked for nine 
months, for thirteen dollars per month. He 
was employed on farm buildings, and on the 
expiration cf that period his employer offered 
him eighteen dollars per month for the suc- 
ceeding season. However, he did not find 
this occupation entirely to his taste and on 
Saturday night, after completing six doors 
as a week's work, he left the bench and never 
returned to it. From that time forward he 



has devoted his energies to agricultural pur- 
suits. During the first year in which he ear- 
ned on farming for himself he operated land 
on the shar-es, recei\'ing a third of the crops. 
During that time he saved enough money to 
buy a land warrant for eighty acres, paying 
for this eighty dollars. He located the war- 
rant in Pulaski county, Indiana, and his fa- 
tlier settled upon the land, making his home 
there until his death. In the meantime he 
operated a rented farm for John Merritt for 
twelve years, receiving one-third of the 
profits. About twenty years before this time 
his uncle, John Bright, had died, and in 1866 
his widow also passed awa}', leaving no fam- 
ily. The farm was then sold and the pro- 
ceeds went to his brothers and sisters. 
Adam's share of the place was about forty 
dollars. At the administrator's sale, in 1867, 
be purchased the farm, paying seventy-eight 
hundred dollars for the tract of one hundred 
and sixty acres. He made a payment of 
one-third cash, the remainder to be paid in 
one and two years. The capital which en- 
abled him to make this purchase was se- 
cured through his labors upon a rented farm 
and as a stock raiser. He has been very 
successful in the purchase and sale of cattle, 
hogs, and sheep, and during the war he made 
a large amount of money in that way. He 
started in the business with Benoni Wilson 
as a partner, and purchased stock over a dis- 
tance extending one hundred miles in each 
direction. Mr. Wilson supplied the money 
and Mr. Bright did all the work. He was 
also in partnership with Wallace McRae, 
an old trader, and they conducted business 
together until 1864, when Mr. Bright en- 
tered into partnership with George Simmons, 
a relationship that has since been main- 
tained with mutual pleasure and profit. As 
his financial resources have increased Mr. 



438 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Bright has added to his land. He traded 
his eighty-acre farm near Addison for an- 
other tract near home, and he is to-day the 
owner of eight hundred and five acres of 
rich land, comprising in all six farms, each 
of which is improved with substantial build- 
ings. The farms are all located in Lost 
Creek township, being w'ithin a short dis- 
tance of the old homestead. Me has paid 
from fifty to seventy-five dollars per acre for 
liis land and the improvements which he 
has placed thereon have made the various 
farms desirable and valuable properties. 
When he came into possession of the home- 
stead it was all run down, Init with character- 
istic energy he began its development and to- 
day the highly culti\-ated fields yield to him a 
golden tribute. Throughout all the years 
he has engaged in stock raising he has found 
it a profitable source of income, Conover be- 
ing his shipping point and his market, Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania. He feeds from two 
to five hundred head of hogs, five hundred 
sheep and three or four hundred head of cat- 
tle annually. In this business he is asso- 
ciated with a partner, but is alone in his 
farming operations. 

At the age of thirty years Air. Bright 
was united in marriage to Miss Ellen ]\Ier- 
ritt, of Champaign county. They li\ed to- 
gether four years and had one child, Alary, 
who is now the wife of J. T. ^^'ilgus, of 
Lost Creek township. In 1872 Air. Bright 
was again married, his second union being 
with Eliza Davis, also of Champaign county. 
Their children are four in number, namely: 
Harry .\., who married Bertha AI. Nicholas 
and operates one of his father's farms ; Alin- 
nie, wife of Alva C. Studebaker, of Elizabeth 
township ; Otis C. ; and Cory L. They also 
have a grandchild. Earl Alartin Bright, son 
nf Harry Bright, who is now three vears of 



age and who has lived with them since two 
weeks old. Another member of the family 
i.-^ Delia Wilson. 

Air. Bright is a Republican in his po- 
litical affiliations and has frequently attended 
the county conx'entions. He served as laiod 
appraiser for one term of ten years and 
proved a capable official. Both he and his 
wife are members of the Casstown Baptist 
church and are highly esteemed in the com- 
munity. Air. Bright has long been recog- 
nized as one of the most enterprising and 
successful business men in Aliami county, 
and entirely through his own efforts he has 
worked his way upward to a position among 
its wealthiest farmers. 



LUCIEN L. YOUART. 

Lucien L. Youart is the chief engineer 
of the Tippecanoe City Electric Light & 
Water Works. He was born in this city, 
August 24, 1876, and is a son of George K. 
Youart, whose sketch appears on another 
page of this work. His father was also an 
engineer, and as soon as old enough to handle 
a shovel our subject began to feed the fire 
m the furnace for his father. From his ear- 
liest boyhood therefore he became familiar 
with machinery and the j)rinciples which un- 
derlie its operation, and when only seventeen 
years of age he was given entire charge of 
the engine at the Excelsior works. He 
continued in that position for some time and 
afterward was given charge of the engine in 
the works of the Tippecanoe Building & 
Alanufacturing Company, remaining at the 
latter place until April i, 1899, ^vhen he was 
appointed by the city council to his present 
position. He is very capable, thoroughly 
understan<ling his business, both in principle 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



439 



and detail. The plant of which he has 
charge consists of a neat and conveniently 
arranged power house, in which is a fourteen 
by thirty-six one-hundred-horse-power Lane 
& Boodly Corliss engine. The steam is sup- 
plied from a battery of steel boilers, which 
are sixty by eighteen feet. The water works 
system was inaugurated in 1897, when L. T. 
Sheets was mayor of the city, John M. 
tiaaga, clerk, and Harry Favorite, secretary, 
while H. H. Bryant. A. L. Crane. S. K. 
Robinson. William Koetitz and George Smith 
were members of the city council. In 1896 
plans had been approved, but these were 
modified from time to time until 1897. when 
the works were constructed under the super- 
vision of Harrison C. Babbitt, a ci\il en- 
gineer. This plant is known as the direct 
svstem. supplied by two half-million-gallon 
smiple duplex pumps. Five miles of mains 
ha\'e already been laid, these being supplied 
with thirty-four valves and forty-eight 
hydrants, and, including the electric light 
system, the plant was constructed at a cost of 
thirty thousand dollars. The water is a pure 
quality and of ample quantity, being fur- 
nished by three six-inch wells about sixty 
feet deep. It is pumped direct from tlie 
wells into the mains. The electric light 
plant consists of a seventy-five kilowatt- 
power dynamo, known as the two-hundred 
volt system. The circuit consists of several 
miles of wire, carrying thirty-fi\'e arc and 
over one thousand incandescent lights. 

Mr. Youart was married, October 12, 
1898, to Miss Bertha Swindler, who was 
born in Miami county, Ohio, and in the com- 
munity they enjoy the warm regard of many 
friends. Mr. Youart is past noble grand of 
Tippecanoe Lodge. I. O. O. F., and has 
filled all the offices in the subordinate organ- 
ization. Both he and his wife are members 



of the Rebekah Lodge and he belongs to the 
National Association of Stationary Engin- 
eers. \Miile yet a young man he has won 
an enviable position in the community, hav- 
ing the confidence and regard of his business 
associates, for his reputation in business mat- 
ters is unassailable. 



JOHN E. \\'ALKER. 

In the history of the agricultural devel- 
opment of Miami county it is necessary that 
Mr. \\'alker be mentioned, for he has con- 
tributed in no small degree to the promotion 
of the farming interests of this locality. He 
was born inSpringCreek townsiiip.four miles 
northeast of Piqua, on the 24th of October, 
1837, his parents being John and Margaret 
(Ferree) Walker. They were both natives 
of Adams county, Pennsylvania, and were 
married in that locality. In 1830 they came 
to Ohio and spent one year near Cincinnati, 
but in 183 1 located in Spring Creek town- 
ship, Miami county. The father was a 
blacksmith and conducted a small country 
shop. He died in 1839, when his son John 
was only two years old, leaving eight chil- 
dren to the care of his widow. \\'hen our 
subject was a lad of nine summers, the 
mother removed with her children to Eliza- 
beth township, which continued to be the 
family home for a number of years. She 
managed to keep her children with her and 
thus carefully guided and reared them, pre- 
paring them for life's practical duties. Her 
son John \\-as the last to leave home. She 
died on the old homestead in 1883, at the 
age of eighty-six years. Of her family 
three are still living. The eldest had died 
in childhood, Margaret at the age of nine 
^ ears and Nancy at the age of seventeen 



440 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



years. The others were Jemima, wlio l^e- 
came tlie wife of Miller Fuson, and died 
when about thirty years of age; Howard, 
who died at the age of forty-six; Josiah, a 
mechanic residing in Troy; Nathaniel, who 
died at the age of twenty-one; Jolm E. ; and 
Jane Ann, wife of John R. Stratton, of Lost 
Creek township. 

John E. Walker remained with his 
mother and early began work on the farm, 
so that he soon gained a practical knowledge 
of agriculture. He was married December 
I, 1864, to Miss Hulda M. Stratton, who 
was born in Lost Creek township, where J. 
R. Stratton now resides, her parents being 
Orrange and Isabella (Long ) Stratton. Af- 
ter their marriage her father and mother lo- 
cated near Cincinnati, and in 1831 came to 
Lost Creek township, Miami county, where 
the father was obliged to cut away the tim- 
ber in order to have space enough to build a 
log cabin. To the development and cultiva- 
tion of his farm he devoted his remaining 
days, and both he and his wife passed away 
when ajjout sevent3--five years of age. He 
was born December 15, 1800, and died No- 
vember I, 1875, while his wife was born 
April 3, 1804. and died April 5, 1879. They 
had li\ed together for fifty-two years, cele- 
Ijrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary 
September 29, 1874, "by a family reunion. 
They liad eleven children, most of whom 
reached maturity, but Willie died at the 
age of four years; Elizabeth J. at the age of 
eight years, and Jasper died when eleven 
years of age. The others were ^lilton L., 
who died at the age of forty-seven years; 
David F., who died at the age of forty-three 
}xars; John R., who is living on the old 
liomestead; James H., a carpenter of Cla- 
rion. Lidiana; DeW'itt Clinton, a farmer in 
Pawnee Citv, Nebraska; Mrs. Hulda M. 



Walker; Sarah D.. who became the wife of 
Josiah N. Wiley, and died at the age of 
twenty-six years ; and Martha H., who has 
resided with her sister since her mother's 
death. Samantha Stratton, a sister of Or- 
range Stratton, passed the last seven years 
of her life with ]^Irs. Walker, dying Decem- 
ber 6, 1899. Winfield Scott Stratton, a son 
of ]\Iiron Stratton, who was a brother of 
Orrange Stratton, is a first cousin of Mrs. 
Walker. He is the well-known mining king 
at Cripple Creek, Colorado, reared at Jef- 
fersonville, Indiana. Some four years ago 
he sent four thousand dollars to provide a 
home for his aunt. This was at a very op- 
portune time and was used to clear oflf a 
mortgage on the Walker homestead. His 
aunt had cared for him in his infancy, but 
he had lost track of. her and when informed 
of her condition he at once sent the money, 
and his kindness was certainly appreciated 
by the family. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Walk- 
er remained for some time in Elizabeth 
township, but came to their present farm in 
1888. It was the old homestead of Thomas 
Rosseter, who had resided thereon for sixty- 
three years, his heirs selling the propertv to 
Mr. \\'alker, who here owns one hundred 
and twenty acres of rich and arable land. 
He has remodeled and improved both the 
house and barn, and has made other suljstan- 
tial improvements, having now a valuable 
property which has been acquired through 
his own efforts. He devoted his attention 
to general farming and to raising hogs, 
feeding part of his crops to his stock. 

Cnto 'Mr. and [Mrs. Walker ha\e been 
born three children who are living, and they 
lost one in infancy. William Riley, the 
eldest, is a farmer, of Elizabeth township, 
residing near the old homestead. He was 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



4il 



born April 7, 1866, was married February 
2^, 1892, to Miss Iva B. Gearhart, of Troy, 
Obio, and bas two cbildren : Ruby F., wbo 
was born September i, 1893, and cHetl Sep- 
tember 12, 1893, and Gladys Mae, born 
April 1 1, 1896; Margaret Isabella, born May 
18, 1867, died October 10, 1867; Orrange 
Stratton, wbo was a student in Delaware 
College, and is now a motorman at Dayton, 
was born February 11, 1870, was married 
May 12, 1 89 1, to Elenor B. Wilson, and to 
tbem were born two cbildren : Hazel Ma- 
ree, born October 14, 1892. and Jobn Wil- 
son, born September 9, 1898. J. Harry as- 
sists in tbe operation of tbe bome farm. ]\Ir. 
\\^alker bas long resided in tbis locality, is 
a public-spirited man and bas manifested a 
deep and commendable interest in exerytbing 
pertaining to its welfare. Industry and per- 
severance are numbered among bis cbief 
cbaracteristics, and bave made bim a repre- 
sentative farmer of tbe neigbborbood. 



SAMUEL R. HAYES, M. D. 

A medical practitioner at Alcony, Dr. 
Hayes bas demonstrated bis ability to suc- 
cessfully cope witb many of the intricate 
problems wbich meet those who become 
identified witb the science and practice of 
medicine. His recognized skill has gained 
him a liberal patronage and won him a place 
among tbe leading representatives of the 
medical fraternity in this section of the state. 

The Doctor is a native of Pennsylvania, 
bis l)irth having occurred in Lancaster 
county, on the 30th of May, 1862, his par- 
ents being Joseph and Leah ( Stamm ) 
Hayes. Tbe father was a farmer, and when 
bis son Samuel was eight years of age he 
came witb bis familv t:i Miami couiitv. Obio, 



locating in Bethel township. He is now liv- 
ing a retired life, and after twenty-six years' 
residence upon tbe old homestead, he re- 
moved to Aledway, where he is now spend- 
ing bis last years unincumbered Ijy Inisiness 
cares. 

Dr. Hayes spent the first eighteen years 
of bis life upon bis father's farm, and 
through the summer months assisted in the 
work of the fields, while in the winter sea- 
son he pursued his literary education in tbe 
schools- of tbe neighborhood. About 1880 
be began reading medicine with Dr. C. M. 
Dixon, of Brandt, wbo directed bis studies 
for a year. He afterward spent two years 
in the medical department of the State Uni- 
versit)' of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, and then 
devoted two years to study in the Cincinnati 
College of ^Medicine and Surger}', being 
graduated in the latter institution in the 
class of 1886. with tbe degree of ]M. D. Hav- 
ing thus thoroughly prepared himself for 
bis chosen calling, he began putting to a 
practical test the knowledge he had acquired 
by responding to professional calls at Lud- 
low Falls, where be first opened an office, 
there remaining for a vear. On tbe expira- 
tion of that period he went to W^estville, 
Ohio, and in October, 1893, came to Al- 
cony, w here he bas since constantly been en- 
gaged in practice, bis business steadily in- 
creasing both in volume and importance. He 
is a close student of his profession, and keeps 
in touch with tbe onward march of progress 
made by the medical fraternity. 

In September, 1886, Dr. Hayes was 
united in marriage, in Brandt, Miami coun- 
t\-, to Mabala Belleman. a daughter of Henry 
and Eliza Belleman. Her father was one 
of tbe veterans of tbe civil war. Mrs. 
Hayes was born in Bran.dt, and by her mar- 
riage has become tlie mother of two children, 



442 



GENEALOGICAL AND BfOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Ruth Beatrice and Tliomas Corwin. The 
Doctor holds membership in Christiansburg 
Lodge, I. O. O. F., and in New Carhsle 
Lodge. A. F. & A. M., while his wife be- 
longs to the Methodist Episcopal church. He 
possesses energy and laudable ambition — 
qualities which are essential to a successful 
career, and in a profession where advance- 
ment depends alone upon individual merit 
he is rapidly pushing his way to the front. 



CHARLES C. CLIXE. .AI. D. 

For a number of years a successful medi- 
cal practitioner of Tippecanoe City. Charles 
C. Cline was born in Clinton countv. Ohio, 
on the 29th of October. 1849, ^ntl tlied Oc- 
tober 22, 1S82. His grandfather, Michael 
Cline, was a native of Germany and crossed 
the briny deep to the new world about the 
beginning of the nineteenth century, taking 
up his residence in A^irginia where his son, 
Daniel Cline, was born and reared. In the 
Old Dominion Daniel Cline wedded Marv 
Miller, and later came to Ohio, taking up 
his abode in Clinton county, where.their son, 
Charles Cline, was born. 

Dr. Cline received very limited educa- 
tional privileges. He had no opportunity to 
pursue his studies until after he was twelve 
years of age, and then could attend school 
only at long intervals. In early life he 
became an employe in a lime factory where 
he remained for fifteen years, serving dur- 
ing the last few years of that period as fore- 
man of the kiln. Not content to devote his 
life to that work, he determined to enter 
upon a professional career and matriculated 
in the Ohio ^ledical College, in which he was 
graduated in the class of 1878. He began 
practice at West Charlestown. where he re- 



mained for three years, after which he came 
to Tippecanoe City, where he resided until 
his death. He was a member of the various 
medical associations, and always kept fully 
abreast with the progress and advancement 
made in the science of medicine. He was 
a close student and his correct application of 
medical principles to the needs of suffering 
humanity made him very successful in his 
chosen calling. 

On the 23d of April, 1871, near Spring- 
held. Ohio. Dr. Cline was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Sarah A. Gordon, a native of 
Clark county, Ohio, and to them were born 
two children, who died in infancy, while 
two, Ida and Paul, are still living. The 
daughter is a graduate of the high school 
of Tippecanoe City, of the class of 1894, 
and since that time she has been engaged in 
teaching in the schools of this town. She 
is a very progressive teacher, and has won 
a position of distinction in the efficient corps 
of teachers of Aliami county. Her work is 
executed in a most conscientious manner, no 
effort being spared to instill true principles 
of education and ethical life in the minds 
of her pupils, with whom she is a great 
favorite. 

The Doctor was a member of the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows and a Knight 
Templar Mason, and in his life he exempli- 
fied the noble and benevolent principles of 
those fraternities. He made friends readily 
and had the happy faculty of drawing them 
closer to him as the years passed by. He 
had the strictest regard for the ethics of 
professional life, and his relations with his 
professional brethren was of a most pleas- 
ant character. A man of strong conviction, 
he held tenaciously to whatever he deemed 
right, but his personality was so pleasing and 
his courtesy so uniform that he won the re- 






GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



443 



spect and confidence of those who held oppo- 
site views. . His path was ever upward, 
both in a spiritual and temporal sense. As 
this review shows, he was distinctively a 
self-made man — one of nature's noblemen, 
whom no force of circumstances could pros- 
trate or draw into obscurity. His friends 
were many and on the list were numbered 
many of the representative men of the 
county. His death was the cause of wide- 
spread regret, the community mourning the 
loss of one of its truest and best citizens. 



THE BOUSMAX FA^HLY. 

The Bousman family is one of the oldest 
and most respected in Miami county, and the 
founder in this section of the state was 
Lorentz Bousman, who was married at the 
Natural Bridge, in Virginia, to Sarah Gear- 
heart. They camo to Ohio, and a numl icr of 
years later Mr. Bousman established his 
home on the farm which is now occupied by 
William Bousman. In their family were 
three sons, William, Leonard and Snmuel, 
and several daughters. The father gave a 
tract of one hundred acres of land to each of 
his sons, Samuel, the youngest, recei\-ing the 
old home farm. Subsequently he remo\'ed 
to Indiana and afterward to Kansas. Will- 
iam, the second son, purchased the old home- 
stead. However, he had improved the first 
tract which his father gave him, it being the 
property now owned by Marion Jackson. 
Leonard Bousman settled on a farm lying 
between the old homestead and the property 
owned by his brother William. Besides the 
three sons, in the family were four daugh- 
ters : Mary became the wife of Jacob Barger. 
They made their home on a farm near \]\-- 
bana, Ohio, which was given him by bis 



father, and there Mrs. Barger died in early 
life. Betsy became the wife of John Deiger, 
and they live on land near Urbana given 
them by her father. Katie became the wife 
of Andy Dye. Phebe became the wife of 
Henry Boltenhouse, with whom she re- 
moved to California. Lorentz Bousman, 
the father of this family, died in 1848, when 
about eighty years of age, and his wife 
passed away the year previous. 

William Bousman, their second son, was 
three times married, his first union being 
with Nancy Shell, by whom he had five chil- 
dren, namely: John, Margaret, who became 
the wife of William Kezeman and removed 
to Macomb, Illinois, where both died ; James, 
who spent his last days in Indiana ; Sarah, 
who became the wife of David Randolph, 
and removed to Macomb, Illinois, where she 
died ; and William who remained with the 
family in Elizabeth township. For his sec- 
ond wife Mr. Bousman married Mary Rudy, 
and they had two sons who are living, 
Joseph, of Tippecanoe City, and Cornelius, 
of Troy. For his third wife William Bous- 
man chose Sarah Hoagland, who survived 
him. He died in 1866, at the age of sixty- 
six years, his birth having occurred in 1800. 

John Bousman, the eldest son of Will- 
iam Bousman, was born August i, 18 ly, 
and was married March 18, 1845, ""i Eliza- 
beth township, to Abigail, daughter of Peter 
and Rebecca (McCarty) Hampton. ♦• She 
was born in Salem county. New Jersey, and 
when six years of age she lost her father. 
In her twentieth year she came west to live 
with an uncle. Van C. Hampton, who re- 
sided on a farm adjoining the Bousman 
homestead. He built the first woolen mill 
in Miami county, and operated it for many 
years. About three years after their mar- 
riage Mr. and Mrs. John Bousman removed 



444 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



to the old family homestead, located by his 
grandfather, and which had been operated 
by liis father until tlie latter's death in 1866, 
when it was willed to John Bousman. Here 
John Bousmau made his home imtil his 
death, April 13, 1881. The house upon the 
place was built by his father in i860, and 
the okl house erected liy the grandfather, 
Lorentz Bousman, is still standing, being 
now used as a smoke and meat house. Its 
windows have been carried away by the chil- 
dren of old neighbors and cherished as relics 
of the pioneer days. John Bousman devoted 
his time to the improvement of the farm 
and was one of the highly respected and 
prominent agriculturists of the community. 
His grandfather had been an old-line Whig, 
but the three sons were Democrats and John 
Bousman cast his tirst presidential vote for 
General William Henry Harrison. In his 
family were the following children, namely : 
Saben R., who married Cynthia Jane Rol- 
lins, and operated the old homestead ; Mary, 
wife of \\'illiam \\Mse, of Clark county, by 
whom she has two daughters, Ellen and 
Elizabeth, who are at home: and William, 
w-ho is also living on the old homestead. I\Irs. 
Bousman, the mother, yet survives her hus- 
band and lives upon the old home farm, 
where she has lived for over fifty years. She 
has the love of her family and the esteem 
and veneration of manv friends. 



MAGEE BROTHERS. 

That the plenitude of satiety is seldom 
attained in the affairs of life is to be con- 
sidered as a most grateful and l)e:ieficial de- 
privation, for where ambition is satisfied and 
every ultimate aim realized — if such is possi- 
ble — there must follow individual apathy. 



Effort will cease, accomplishment be pros- 
trate and creative talent waste its energies in 
supine inactivity. The men who have pushed 
forward the wheels of progress have been 
those to whom satiety lay ever in the future, 
and they have labored continuously and 
have not failed to find in each transition 
stage an incentive for further eft'ort. A 
laudable ambition has prompted the Magee 
Brothers to continue their efforts along well 
defined lines of labor until now they are rec- 
ognized as among the leading representa- 
tives in their department of business in this 
section of the state. They have been promi- 
nent factors in promoting the commercial 
and industrial activity of Piqua, and in win- 
ning for this city an enviable reputation as a 
manufacturing center. They own and con- 
trol a large printing, designing and engrav- 
ing house. The members of the firm are 
Charles \\'arren and Edwin Roy ^lagee, and 
both are well known as reliable business men 
whose rapidly increasing trade is well 
merited. 

They are natives of Warren, Trumbull 
county, Ohio, from which place the father, 
W. A. Magee, removed with his family to 
Piqua about twenty years ago. He was at- 
that time e>mployed in the Snyder & Com- 
pany Bending Works, and is still connected 
with the enterprise. His wife bore the 
maiden name of Malvina Hart, and was a 
daughter of Charles Hart, of Gustavus, 
Trumbull county, Ohio. The two brothers, 
Charles and Edwin Magee, attended the 
Piqua schools, but left the high school be- 
fore graduating. Charles learned the print- 
er's trade in the office of Jerome Smilley, 
proprietor of the Daily Leader, and after 
serving his apprenticeship spent some time 
in acquiring skill and experience in larger 
offices in eastern cities. In 1896 he re- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



445 



turned to Piqua and the same year ])urcliased 
the Inisinoss of the Fraternal I'ubhshing 
Company. At that time the plant consisted 
of one small press, but the facilities have 
Ijeen constantly increased until now seven 
large presses are constantly in operation, and 
their work rooms and offices are arranged 
in the l)est possible manner and supplied with 
all the latest improved machinery and mod- 
ern conveniences. Thus the firm is able to 
turn out a very high grade of work in print- 
ing, engraving, designing and binding. 

Edwin Roy Magee, the junior member 
of tlie lirm, after completing his education 
was employed in the office of the Cincinnati 
Corrugating Company, and in 1897 entered 
the printing office (nvned by his !)rother. 
He married Miss Harriet Tysnn, of h'letch- 
er, Miami county, a tlaughtcr of G. \V. 
Tyson, who was born in Virginia, and set- 
tled in this county at a very early day. The 
Magee Brothers give the greater part of 
their time and attention to their lousiness 
interests, and their trade has steadily and 
constantly increased so that they now have 
both night and day forces of men. They do 
all the business of some of the large factories 
whose catalogues and printed matter find 
their way to every part of this country and to 
foreign lands as well. Not content with a 
liberal share of the patronage of Piqua, the 
Magee Brothers, prompted by a laudable 
ambition, ha\e won their business support 
from other localities and are now enjoying 
a very liberal and constantly increasing 
patronage. As business y men they have 
been conspicuous among their associates not 
onl\- for their success but for their probity, 
fairness and honorable methods. In every- 
thing they have been eminently practical, and 
this has been not only manifest in their busi- 
ness undertakings but also in private and 



social life. Having made their way through 
the world by dint of their own efforts, they 
have always had a kindly sympathy for those 
whom they have found starting in life as they 
started, and have been ready to aid those 
who are willing to work. In manner they 
are genial, and their cordiality and kindly 
disposition have gained them many warm 
friends. So worthily has their prosperity 
been won that the most envious cannot 
grudge them their success. During the 
years that they have participated in the busi- 
ness life of Pi()ua they have so conducted 
all the affairs intrusted to them as to merit 
the confidence and esteem of the entire com- 
munity and no word of censure has ever been 
uttered against their actions. 



SALLIE E. TAYLOR. 

Tippecanoe City has just reason to be 
proud of her schools which rank among the 
best in the state and among her efficient corps 
of teachers is numbered Miss Taylor, who 
for many years has been in charge of the pri- 
mary department. It is now a generally 
recognized fact that primary work is proba- 
bly the most important grade in the schools, 
for there are formed the habits of study and 
application which will color the student's 
entire school life. It is theref<jre very neces- 
sary that the young minds be properly 
trained in the right direction so that in later 
years no time need be spent in correcting 
bad habits of study. That Miss Taylor is 
regarded as particularly capable and efficient 
in her work is shown by her long connection 
with the primary department of the Tippe- 
canoe City schools. A native of Chillicothe, 
Ohio, she lost her father when only five years 



446 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of age and her mother when eleven years of 
age. She was educated in tlie public schools 
and in a seminary, and at the age of fifteen 
years came to Tippecanoe City with her 
grandparents, John W. and Sarah Taylor. 
Mr. Taylor died in Columbus. He and his 
wife resided with their daughter, Mrs. Eliza 
Drury, whose husband. William Drury, was 
a me^rchant of Tippecanoe City. After a 
few years, however, the family removed to 
Columbus, Ohio, and all are now deceased. 
Miss Taylor, however, did not accompany 
iier relatix'es. having at that time l^ecome one 
of the successful teachers of Tippecanoe 
City. She has spent about thirty-six vears 
in the school room, where she has displayed 
marked ability in imparting clearly, con- 
cisely and readily to the little ones the fun- 
damental principles of knowledge. 

Miss Taylor is a member of the Lutheran 
church, although reared a Presbytei ian. 
For many years she has been a teacher in the 
Sunday-school and is active in other spheres 
of church, work. She is also a memljer of 
the \\'oman's Relief Corps and the Progress 
Club, a historical and literary society, but 
her attention is ciiiefly given to her labors 
along echicational lines. She has daily per- 
formed each duty faithfully and well, and 
thus gained inspiration and courage for the 
next day. Progress has ever characterized 
her \\-ork and she keeps thoroughly in touch 
with the advancement that is being made in 
educational methods. She attends the vari- 
ous teachers' institutes, and is member 
of a number of teachers' associations and 
societies, and her work has indeed been 
of very great value to the schools of Tippe- 
car.oe City. ^Tiss Taylor is ^•ery popu- 
lar with the best residents of this place, 
is a lady of broad general culture and an en- 
tertaining conversationalist, gladly received 



in social circles where true worth and intel- 
ligence are received as passports into good 
societv. 



JOHN E. BOUSMAX. 

John E. Bousman is a practical and en- 
terprising agriculturist, occupying one of the 
oldest farms of Miami county, the place hav- 
ing been settled about 1801 by John and Mi- 
chael Williams, who came to Ohio from 
Greenbrier county, Virginia. Our subject 
was born in Elizabeth township, Septem- 
ber 18, i860, on the farm now owned by 
John Missigman, and is a son of William 
J. and Ann Rebecca (Beard) Bousman. The 
father was born and reared on the same 
farm, but the mother's birth occurred at 
Enon, Clark county, Ohio. The paternal 
grandparents were Leonard and Elizabeth 
(Jackson) Bousman. The parents of our 
subject were married October 21, 1858, and 
when their son, John Elmer, was about nine- 
teen years of age they removed to the farm 
upon which he now makes his home, and 
which had been under cultivation from the 
first year of the century. As stated, that 
became the home of John and IMichael Wil- 
liams. The latter left Greenbrier county, 
Virginia, with the intention of going to In- 
dian Prairie, on the Stillwater, near Pleas- 
ant Hill. \Miile en route he stopped at a 
fort in Staunton held by the ancestors of the 
Knoops, Carvers, Blues and Girards. In 
1804 Henrv ^^"illiams, brother of ]\Iichael, 
came from Greenbrier county and remained 
for a year on the farm with his brother John, 
after which he settled on Long Prairie, in 
Clark county, Ohio. John, however, lived 
and died on the old homestead now occupied 
by ^Ir. Bousman. William J. Bousman 
took possession of the place when it was in 



1 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



447 



rather a dilapidated condition. The fields 
were not very productive, little attention 
having been paid to the rotation of crops, 
and the buildings were sadly in need of re- 
pair. His energetic efforts, howe\-er, soon 
wrought wonderful transformation, and he 
made it one of the valuable properties of 
the community. Here his death occurred 
April 14, 1892, and his wife passeil away 
on the 1 2th of June, of the same year. In 
politics he was a Democrat, and was an 
early member of the Grange. His wife be- 
longed to the Lutheran church. In their 
family were two children. J. Elmer and Alar- 
garet Elizabeth, the latter now the wife of 
Charles Fry, who is living near New Car- 
lisle, Clark county. 

Juhn Elmer Bousman spent his boyhood 
days under the parental roof and early be- 
came familiar with the labors that fall to the 
lot of the agriculturist. Practical experience 
well qualified him for his present business ca- 
reer, and five years before his father's death 
he assumed the management of the home 
farm, which he has since operatetl success- 
fully. In 1899 he tore down tli# old brick 
building which had been erected by the 
Williams brothers, and which was the first 
brick house in the countv. He then erected 
a new and commodious residence in modern 
style of architecture, and it is one of the at- 
tractive homes of the community. 

On the 1 8th of October, 1888, INIr. 
Bousman was united in marriage to Miss 
Mertie Roberts, daughter of G. W. and 
Diantha (Corbly) Roberts. She was born 
in Christiansburg, Ohio, where she lived un- 
til her marriage. She has a brother, F. C. 
Roberts, who is engaged in the undertaking 
business in Troy. Mr. and j\Irs. Bousman 
have a daughter, Maud Ella, and they lost a 
son, who died in infancv. Mrs. Bousman 



is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church at Addison, and is highly esteemed 
by a large circle of friends. Mr. Bousman 
gives his political support to the Republican 
party, takes an active interest in its work, 
keeps well informed on the issues of the 
day and has often served as a delegate to its 
conventions. The cause of education finds 
in him a warm friend, and for four }ears 
he has been a member of the school board, 
doing effective service in its interests. He 
believes in procuring good teachers and in 
paying good prices. He has always advo- 
cated having a township superintendent, and 
his labors have been untiring for the pro- 
motion of the interests and welfare of 
schools. His entire life has been spent in 
this locality. He is widely known, and the 
fact that many of his friends are numbered 
among those who have known him from 
boyhood is an indication that his career has 
been an upright and worthy one. 



LUTHER DEVENNEY. 

A well improved farm of eighty acres 
on section 8, Spring Creek township, is the 
property of Luther Devenney, who carries 
on agricultural pursuits and stock raising 
there. He has a valuable property, and the 
well-tilled fields yield to him a golden tribute 
in return for the care and labor he bestows 
upon them. The buildings and fences are 
kept in good repair, and the neat and thrifty 
appearance of the place indicates the careful 
supervision of the owner, who is recognized 
as one of the wide-awake and enterprising 
farmers of his locality. He was born near 
Granville, Licking county, Ohio, November 
8, 1833, and is a son of David C. Devenney, 
a native of Virginia, who was reared to man- 



448 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



hood in the Old Dominion and there wedded 
Miss i\Iarv Liglit. They afterward came to 
Oliio. making tlie journey westward by team, 
at an early day. The father was a tanner 
by trade, and died in Brown township,Miami 
county, in February, 1880, at the age of 
eighty-one years. In his family were eight 
children: Levi, who died in 1895; Ann, 
who became the wife of John Weaver 
and died in 1885; Amanda, widow of 
J. \\'. Mathews, of Indianola, Illinois^ 
Mary J., who died in 1862; Harriet 
who is li\'ing in Dayton; Eliza, widow of 
Daniel Scudder, of Greenville. Ohio : Luther ; 
and Wesley, who was killed at the liattle of 
Cedar Creek. He held the rank of captain 
of Company E, One Hundred and Tenth 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and enlisted in 
August, 1862. He was first a recruiting 
ofificer, but went to the front as orderly 
sergeant, and for bravery displayed on the 
field of action was promoted to the captaincy. 
He thus served until the 19th of October, 
1864. when he was wounded at the battle of 
Cedar Creek, and on the 23d of October, 
following, he died from his injuries, giving 
his life a willing sacrifice to his cotintry. 

The common schools afforded Luther 
Devenney his educational privileges. The 
labors and sports of childhood occupied his 
time outside of school hours, and thus the 
years passed until he had attained his ma- 
jority. He, too, was one of the loyal sons 
of the Union during the Civil war, respond- 
ing to the call for aid on the 2d of May, 
1864, when he became a private of Company 
E, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry. This regiment, com- 
posed of one himdred-day men, went to the 
defenseof U'ashington, District of Columbia, 
and on the expiration of his term he was 
honorablv discharged and returned to Brown 



township, Miami county, where he engaged 
in farming until 1871. In that year he re- 
moveil to Hancock county, Illinois, settling 
near Carthage, but after two years he re- 
turned to Spring Creek township and pur- 
chased the farm upon which he now lives. 
He owns eighty acres, and this highly cul- 
tivated tract yields to him excellent harvests. 
On the i6th of March, 1865, was cele- 
brated the marriage of Mr. Devenney and 
Miss Louisa C. Patterson, a daughter of 
James Patterson. They had three children, 
but have lost two : Clyde, who died Au- 
gust 23, 1872, and Etta, who died February 
28, 1883. The surviving daughter, Viola, 
is the wife of William Catterlin, of Piqua. 
The family attend the Presbyterian church, 
of which Mr. Devenney is a member. His 
political support is given the men and meas- 
ures of the Democracy, and socially he is 
connected with Devenney Post, No. 248, G. 
A. R., of Fletcher, which was named in hon- 
or of his brother, Captain \Vesley Devenney. 
His life has been quiet and uneventful, but 
lias been characterized by fidelity to duty 
in every relation. He is a man of sterling 
worth, faithful in citizenship, honorable in 
business and true and reliable in friend- 
ship. 



GEORGE W^ HEXKE. 

In commercial circles in Tippecanoe City 
the name of George \\'. Henke figures promi- 
nently, for he is successfully conducting a 
clothing and furnishing goods store. His 
enterprise and industry are in keeping with 
the progressive and utilitarian spirit of the 
times, and his methods are in harmony with 
the ethics of commercial life. 

Mr. Henke is one of the native sons of 
Tippecanoe City, his birth having occurred 



II 



GEXEALOCICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



449 



on the 1 2th of Fe1)ruary, 1868. His father, 
August Henke, was born in Germany, De- 
cember .V 1830. and wh.ta thirteen years 
of age began working at the tailor's trade, 
serving a three-years apprenticeship, and 
the only compensation he received for his 
labors was his board. On the expiration of 
his term he went to Prussia, wdiere he re- 
mained three years, thence removing to Am- 
sterdam, Holland, where he became ac- 
quainted with Charlotte Fredericks, whom 
he married on the 27th of April, 1853. In 
June, of the same year, they started for 
America, taking passage on a sailing vessel 
which dropped anchor in the harbor of New 
York, after a voyage of seven weeks. They 
proceeded westward to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
where the father worked at his trade for two 
years, and in May, 1 861, he came to Tippeca- 
noe City, where he opened a tailoring estab- 
lishment, successfully carrying on business 
until 1S9S, when ho sold his store to Mr. 
Kohler. His excellent workmanship in the 
line of goods which he carried, his reasonable 
prices and honorable dealings secured to him 
a very liberal patronage', and thereby he ac- 
quired a competence which enabled him to 
put aside business cares and live retired, in 
the enjoyment of a well earned rest. In 
his family were four children : Mary, now 
the wife of Rev. M. F. Newport; Emma, 
wife of David Warner ; Joseph, who died in 
early life; and George W., a merchant of 
Tippecanoe City. The parents are members 
of the Lutheran church, and in politics Mr. 
Henke is a Republican. He commands the 
respect of his fellow men by his sterling 
worth and a career which at all times has 
been true to every manly principle. 

George Henke obtained his education in 
the village schools, and at the age of sixteen 
he put aside his text-books to enter his fa- 



ther's store, in which he had already ob- 
tained some experience, working through 
the periods of vacation. He was for two 
years connected with mercantile interests in 
Erie, Pennsylvania, but in 1892 he was ad- 
mitted to a partnership in his father's busi- 
ness, the relation being maintained until 
1894, when he sold his interest to his father 
and opened a tailoring establishment in 
F"rankton, Indiana. There he carried on a 
good business for some time, but ultimately 
returned to Tippecanoe City, and on the ist 
of April, 1899, he opened his present store, 
doing a tailoring business and carrying a 
large line of ready made clothing and men's 
furnishing goods and shoes. He occupies 
the old stand at which he began his business 
career as a clerk, and in which he was as- 
sociated with his father as a partner. In 
early life he took a full course in a cutting 
school in Cleveland, and after joining his fa- 
ther he had charge of that part of the work, 
but at the present time he employs a cutter 
who is thoroughly competent, and he does 
a most excellent business. Mr. Henke is 
the only exclusive clothing merchant in the 
town, and the large and well selected stock 
which he carries insures him a liberal pat- 
ronage. 

On the 19th of February, 1896, Mr. 
Henke was united in marriage, in Troy, to 
Miss Mae Ten Eick, a daughter of Mathew 
Ten Eick, of Miami county. She was born 
in this county, and was educated in a semi- 
nary in Cincinnati, giving special attention 
to the study of music. The home of our 
subject and his wife is now blessed with the 
presence of a little daughter, Edna Jeane. 
The parents occupy a leading position in so- 
cial circles and enjoy the warm regard of 
many friends.' Politically Mr. Henke is a 
Republican, well versed on the issues of the 



450 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ilay. and is a member of Tippecanoe Lodge 
of Odd Fellows. In manner he is frank and 
genial, and his many estimable characteris- 
tics make him a popular citizen of his native 
town. 



OGDEX EDWARDS. 

Fortunate is the man who has back of 
him an ancestry honorable and distinguished, 
and happy is he whose lines in life are passed 
in harmony therewith. In person, char- 
acter and in talents Mr. Edwards is a worthy 
scion of his race. Though his life has been 
one rather of modest reserve than of ambi- 
tious self-seeking, he has displayed excellent 
business ability and has won an honoraljle 
place ^mong the business men of Troy. He 
belongs to a family that has left its impress 
upon the annals of the nation since an early 
period in the history of the country. The 
line of descent on the paternal side can be 
traced back eight generations in America to 
William Edwards, who settled in Hartford, 
Connecticut, about 1645, ^"^ married Agnes 
Spencer. Their son, Richard Edwards, be- 
came a merchant of Hartford and wedded 
Elizabeth Tuttle, of Xew Haven. Rev. 
Timothy Edwards, a son of Ricliard and 
Elizabeth Edwards, was graduated at Hart- 
ford in 1 69 1, and had won the degrees of 
Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts when 
twenty-two 3-ears of age. He l^ecame pas- 
tor of a church at East Windsor, Connecti- 
cut, in 1694, and remained as the beloved 
leader of his congregation until January 2j, 
1758, wdien he was called to his final rest, 
at the age of eighty-nine years. In the 
same year occurred the death of his re- 
nowned son, Jonathan Edwards. In 171 1 
he went as chaplain with a force of colonial 



troops on an expedition against the French 
in Canada. 

Perhaps no member of the famil}- had 
been more highly honored than Rev. Jona- 
than Edwards, whose name is closely asso- 
ciated with the leadership of one of the 
mighty religious mo\-ements of the country. 
He was graduated in Yale College in 1720, 
at the age of seventeen years. For twenty- 
three years he devoted his life to the work of 
the ministry, and. beginning in 1727. he 
was for a few years co-pastor with his grand- 
father. Rev. Stoddard. He then became 
pastor at Northampton, ^lassachusetts. In 
1744 he preached so strenuously against the 
immoralities of the church that those who 
were guilty persecuted him until, in 1750, 
they secured his dismissal. His real worth, 
however, commended him to the trustees of 
Princeton College, and he was in that year 
called to its presidency, where he served 
until his death, in 1758. He was associated 
with the work of revival conducted by the 
Rev. George Whitfield, and known to his- 
tory as "the great revival of 1740 and 1742." 
Robert Hall says : "I consider Jonathan 
Edwards the greatest of the sons of men. 
He ranks with the brightest luminaries of 
the Christian church, not excluding any 
country or any age since the apostles." Sir 
James Mackintosh said of him : "This re- 
markable man was the metaphysician of 
America. His power of subtle argument, par- 
haps unmatched, certainly unsurpassed 
among men, was joined, as in some of the an- , 
cient mystics, with a character that raised his ^| 
piety to fever heat. His treatise on "The Na- 
ture of True Virtue," and other works, elic- 
ited high praise from Lord Kairnes, Dugald 
Stewart and Sir William Hamilton, and 
were read throughout America and Europe. 

Timothy Edwards, a son of Rev. Jona- 






^qdUA^^ t^Cf/iAnl^4 . 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



i53 



than Edwards, was married September 25, 
1760, to Rhoda Ogden, of Xew Jersey, and 
died in 181 3, at the age of seventy-five years. 
His sister Esther became the wife of Rev. 
Aaron Burr, president of the New Jersey 
College, at Princeton, and was the mother 
of Aaron Burr, vice-president of the United 
States. Another sister, ilary, became the 
wife of Timothy Dwight, long the honored 
president of Yale College, and a brother of 
Pierpont Edwards, who was United States 
district judge for Connecticut. Jonathan 
Edwards, a son of Timothy and Rhoda (Og- 
den) Edwards, was born October 10, 1764, 
and died August 31, 1832. He married 
Lucy W'oodbridge, Xovember 20, 1788, 
and their son, Matthias O., who was born 
April 8, 1793, and died June 25, 1843, 
wedded Sarah Bradley, October 12, 181 5, 
and became the grandfather of our subject. 
His wife was born February 29, 1796, and 
died January 5, 1832. 

Jonathan O. Edwards, the father of our 
subject, was born at Binghamton, Xew York, 
August 13, 1825, and, in 1838, accom- 
panied his father to Youngstown, Ohio. His 
death occurred in Troy, August 4, 1897. 
He enjoyed a national reputation as a 
breeder of merino sheep and short-horn cat- 
tle. He devoted his attention to sheep rais- 
ing until 1879, and then entered into part- 
nership with his sons, Ogden and Allen, in 
the breeding of short-horn cattle, this rela- 
tionship being maintained until 1888. His 
herd carried off many prizes at the state 
fairs. He was married. May 19, 1859, to 
Joanna \V. Allen, who was born at Ells- 
worth, Ohio, ]\Iarch 8, 1827, and belonged 
to a family not less honored and prominent 
than the Edwards family. The first of the 
name in America were Samuel Allen and his 
wife, Ann, who left their home in Bridge- 

26 



water, Somerset county, England, in 1620, 
and came to America, locating at Braintree, 
Massachusetts, ten miles southeast of Bos- 
ton. Seven generations of the family have 
since resided in the new world. They came 
from sterling English stock, and have been 
distinguished in this country for their re- 
ligious zeal and piety, their patriotism and 
their love of justice and freedom. Samuel 
Allen, a representative in the second genera- 
tion, was town clerk of East Bridgewater, 
Massachusetts, in 1660. He had a sister, 
Sarah, who became the wife of Lieutenant 
Josiah Standish, a son of ]\Iiles Standish. 
Samuel Allen, the second, married Sarah 
Partridge, and her son, Samuel, the third, 
was married, in 1685, to Rebecca Clark, by 
whom he had a son, Joseph Allen, who was 
born at Bridgewater, Massachusetts, in 
1693. Ii^ 1701 he removed to X'orwich, 
Connecticut, and, in 1729, married Rebecca 
Fuller. Their son, Asahel Allen, was born 
in 1743, and was married, in 1765, to Desire 
Fames. She was a most patriotic woman, 
who did all in her power to aid the colonists, 
and gave her son and husband to the army 
that fought for the liberty of the nation. 
Enoch Allen, a son of Asahel and Desire 
Allen, married Betsy Witter, a daughter of 
Deacon Asa Witter, and they had a son, 
Asa W. Allen, the maternal grandfather of 
our subject. Asa Allen compiled and pub- 
lished a history of the Allen family, which 
was printed in Salem, Ohio, in 1872. It 
contains a fine portrait of the author and 
much valuable information concerning that 
family. Asa Allen Avas born in Windham, 
Connecticut, in 1795, and was a member of 
the militia company commanded by Cap- 
tain Charles Perkins and stationed at Lis- 
bon, Connecticut, for service in the war of 
1 81 2. They assisted in the successful de- 



454 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fense of Stoningtdn Point, in August, 1814, 
when the British fleet attacked that place. 
Mr. AUen married Sophia Hopkins, of Ed- 
meston, New York, in 181 8. and it was 
their daughter Joanna that became the wife 
of Jonathan O. Edwards. The mother was 
the daughter of Chauncey Hopkins, of Ben- 
nington, Vermont, and granddaughter of 
General Ebenezer W'albridge.an ol^cer in the 
French and Indian war, and in the Revolu- 
tionary war, who took an active part in the 
battles of Bennington and Ticonderoga, and 
aided in the capture of Burgoyne. He set- 
tled in Ellsworth, Ohio. 

Ogden Edwards, the son of Jonathan O. 
and Joanna W. (Allen) Edwards, is a na- 
tive of Youngstown, Ohio, his birth having 
there occurred on the 29th of August, i860. 
He attended the public schools of his native 
town and completed his education in Rayen 
College. He is now associated in business 
with his brother, Allen Edwards, who was 
born December 19, 1861. Our subject is 
the resident member of the firm of Edwards 
Brothers, flour and grain merchants of Troy. 
One sister, Mrs. Catherine Gordon, was born 
August 16, 1866. His brother, Allen, was 
married July 30, 1890, to Emma Connor, of 
Ada, Ohio, and they have one daughter, 
Catherine, born July 2, 1891. Allen Ed- 
wards resides in McGuffy, Ohio, and is su- 
perintendent of the Scioto Land & Improve- 
ment Compan}', which owns four thousand 
acres of marsh land. On the reclamation 
of this tract fifty thousand dollars have been 
expended, and the portion drained forms a 
part of the richest section of Ohio. About 
ten thousand acres are under cultivation 
and one hundred thousand bushels of onions 
are grown in a single season, while five hun- 
dred acres are planted to corn. The Ed- 
wards brothers are largely financially inter- 



ested in this enterprise. The flour and 
grain business which they own at Troy and 
which is conducted under the personal man- 
agement of our subject was established in 
1890, at which time Ogden Edwards dis- 
posed of his extensive stock raising inter- 
ests at Youngstown, Ohio, where he had 
been engaged in breeding shorthorn cattle 
with his father, and removed to Troy. From 
the beginning the business in Troy has been 
attended with a high grade of success. The 
firm owns and operates a splendid modern 
flouring mill and two elevators, and annual- 
ly ships thousands of barrels of flour, feed 
and meal to all parts of the state. The repu- 
tation of their Daisy Patent and Lily Patent 
flours is second to none. The two ele- 
vators have a capacity of seventy-five thou- 
sand bushels and the mill has a capacity of 
one hundred barrels per day? The enter- 
prise has become one of the most important 
in Troy, adding materially to the commer- 
cial activity of the city. 

Ogden Edwards was married, in 1893, 
to Miss Kate King, of Warren, Ohio, a 
daughter of J. F. King, one of the exten- 
sive stock raisers of this state. Two sons, 
Jonathan Ogden, born April 2, 1895, 'i"*^' 
Elmore King, born August 10, 1897, blessed 
their union. The family are members of the 
Presbyterian church, and in accordance with 
the political belief and traditions of the fam- 
ily, Mr. Edwards is a Republican. His so- 
cial qualities gained him the warm friend- 
ship of a large circle of acquaintances, while 
in business he sustains an unassailable repu- 
tation. He possesses a most progressive 
spirit and unerring foresight and sagacity 
and strong determination, and these qualities 
have enabled him to gain a leadership as the 
head of one of the leading productive indus- 
tries in this section of the state. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



455 



ISAAC STEELE STUDEBAKER. 

Tlie life record of perhaps no resident of 
Miami county ilhistrates more clearly the 
truth of the saying that industry is the key- 
note to success. The portals of prosperity 
swing wide before its magic touch and the 
storehouse yields its treasures to those whose 
libors are untiring and are discerningly di- 
rected along honorable lines. It has been 
in this manner that Isaac Studebaker has 
risen to a position among the most prosper- 
ous residents of the county, and having ac- 
quired a handsome competence he is now 
living retired in Casstown. enjoying the 
fruits of his former toil. 

Mr. Studebaker was born March 23. 
1822, on a farm in Bethel township located 
between West Charleston and Tippecanoe 
City. He was reared to agricultural pur-' 
suits and remained on the home farm with 
liis father until twenty-six years of age. 
After attaining his majority he was to re- 
ceive one hundred dollars per year, together 
with his board and clothing, but he did not 
draw the money until he wished to purchase 
land. In 1849 I'^is father purchased two 
hundred and forty acres, and in 1850 our 
subject bought the tract of his father. It 
was situated on section 22, Elizabeth town- 
ship, and the purchase price was twenty- 
fivt dollars per acre. The five hundred dol- 
lars which his father owed him was applied 
on the property, but he incurred an indebt- 
edness of fifty-five hundred dollars for 
which he gave notes for five hundred dol- 
lars to be paid within eight years, without in- 
terest. AVhen he began the development of 
his property only forty-five acres had been 
cleared. The house, of round logs, was 
erected in a single day, and in '•hat prim- 
itive cabin he lived for seven years. With 



characteristic energy he began the further 
development of his land and soon had an 
additional thirty acres under culti\-ation. 
His crops were good and he was enabled to 
meet the first payment of his land without 
difficulty. He planted wheat the first year, 
and although the rust destroyed much of the 
wheat, making it only worth about thirty 
cents per bushel, he had sowed his crop two 
weeks earlier than most of the farmers and 
was enabled to harvest 'X before the rust 
came, so that he secured one dollar per 
bushel for that cereal. With the capital re- 
ceived from his wheat sales he paid his notes 
and the money brought from his corn crop 
supplied him with the necessaries of life 
during the following year. At the end 
of six years he had made all his pay- 
ments and could have cleared off all in- 
debtedness, but in the sixth year he 
he started to build, erecting a brick residence 
worth three thousand dollars. His father 
died in 1854, but careful to avoid all liti- 
gation he did not build until the next year. 
In 1857 his farm was entirely free from 
debt and was in an excellent condition, im- 
proved with the good residence which is 
still standing, while eighty acres of the land 
was under cultivation. Although his home 
was valued at three thousand dollars by the 
Ohio Insurance Company, its actual cost 
in money to him was only eight hundred 
dollars, for he did much of the work him- 
self and secured the lumber upon his own 
place, the latter being cut in a sawmill near 
by. The house was finished in black walnut 
and the sash, doors and blinds were all made 
by the carpenter, John Pence, of Casstown. 
In his father's estate there was another 
eighty acres of land on the same half-section 
where Mr. Studebaker resided, and that he 
received by inheritance. It was valued at 



456 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



thirty-four hundred dollars. His father had 
also owned the Wright farm on the Day- 
ton road, and when this was sold at the death 
of the stepmother, Mr. Studebaker received 
eight hundred dollars in cash. 

A most industrious and energetic man, 
he carried forward his work with unremit- 
ting diligence. His father liad given him 
a horse and his wife was also in possession 
of a horse, so that with this team he was en- 
abled to carry on the work of the farm. He 
soon acquired a comfortaljle competence 
and from time to time loaned money. On 
one occasion he loaned one hundred dollars 
to Isaac Sheets, who kept the loan until with 
its accrued interest it amounted to two hun- 
dred dollars and fifteen cents, all of which 
was paid at one time. During the war Mr. 
Studebaker desired to purchase more land, 
and in 1863 became the owner of the farm 
upon which Darius Weddle now lives. He 
bought this for forty-six dollars per acre. 
Much of the land was in a swampy condi- 
tion, but he improved it, and tiling has made 
it a very valuable tract. Later he became 
the owner of the Cox farm of eighty acres, 
which is still in his possession, and he like- 
wise owned sixty acres of the old home- 
stead. He has himself cleared nearly one 
hundred and sixty acres, making great im- 
provements upon the tract, draining the same 
with tiling and an open ditch. His first 
underground drainage was made of stone, 
l)ut later tile was used. As soon as his 
daughters were married lie gave to each of 
them a farm, making out joint deeds to 
them and their husbands, and to each of his 
children he has given ten thousand dollars. 
It was said by .some that ]\Ir. Studebaker was 
a hard taskmaster, but he never rerjuired of 
his men any work that he would not per- 
form himself. He worked side by side with 



them in the harvest fields and was able to do 
as much if not more than any of them. 
His chief characteristic has been his untir- 
ing industry. He has not depended upon cir- 
cumstances to aid him, but has put his trust 
in the more reliable qualities of energy and 
capable management. At all times he has 
conducted his business in a most honorable 
and straightforward manner, and his re- 
liability is above question. 

Mr. Studeljaker was married, on the 25th 
of January, 1848, to Anna \\'arner, a daugh- 
ter of George and Catherine (Olinger) 
Warner, of ^Montgomery county. She was 
born in Clay township, that county, July 16, 
1 83 1, antl for fifty-two years has traveled 
life's journey with her husband, sharing 
with him its joys and sorrows, its adversity 
and prosperity. Unto them have been born 
ten children, but only three reached mature 
years, namely: Anna, now the wife of D. 
W. Weddle. by whom she has four living 
children and three deceased: Priscilla. wife 
of C. ^I. Weddle, by whom she had seven 
children, six of whom are living: and Mar- 
tha, wife of Harry Rinehart, of Troy. They 
lost one child and have three living. 

Mr. Studebaker has served as school di- 
rector for fifteen years, and the cause of ed- 
ucation has found in him a warm friend, his 
labors being effective and earnest in its be- 
half. In politics he was a Republican until 
Grant's administration, when he renounced 
his allegiance to the party and has never 
afiiliated witli it since. He has been a pub- 
lic-spirited citizen, whose efforts have con- 
tributed to the improvement and upbuilding 
of the county. He took an interest in secur- 
ing free pikes in the county, and was in- 
strumental in obtaining these. He can- 
vassed the people living along the line of the 
jiroposed pike and the third time secured the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



457 



co-operation of all the property owners on 
the road. He paid twenty-three hundred 
dollars in taxes for the pikes. This work 
of improvement has resulted in the ma- 
terial benefit of the county, as good roadg 
are the most important element in commer- 
cial activity. At the time of the building of 
the hydraulic canal he voluntarily sub- 
scribed five hundred dollars. Samuel Harter 
was the promoter of this scheme. Sub- 
quently the books were destroyed and the 
directors of the enterprise increased the de- 
mand upon him by the assessment of five 
hundred dollars, so that his payments 
reached a thousand dollars. He never de- 
rived any benefit from the canal and this 
decided him against taking stock in schemes 
promoted by others, preferring that his 
money should be invested 'in enterpTises 
whose worth he is familiar with. He has 
purchased many real estate mortgages and 
has become the owner of much \aluable 
property. Mr. Studebaker is a member of 
the German Baptist church of Casstown, 
with which he has been actively connected 
for forty-five years. He prefers the name 
of Tunker or its English equivalent Dunk- 
ard. The word means dipped, and this form 
of immersion is practiced in the church. 
For forty-five years he has been a minister 
of the church, although for twenty years he 
was prevented from public speaking by 
throat trouble. He has been a delegate to 
the annual conferences for twenty-five suc- 
cessive years, paying his own expenses, and 
his counsels and advice carry weight among 
his brethren of the church. He believes in 
following the teachings of the Bible as in- 
dicated by the immediate followers of 
Christ, and also believes in settling religious 
disputes according to the scriptures. His 
wife has also long been an earnest Christian 



woman, exemplifying her faith in her life. 
For some years she has been an invalid, be- 
ing confined to a wheeled chair. Her sweet 
disposition and kindly manner endear her 
to all who know her and her friends are in- 
deed many. Mr. Studebaker is now well 
advanced in years, but retains the vigor of 
a man much younger. He owes his position 
in life entirely to his own industry, and 
while he has Avon success in business affairs 
he has never neglected the higher and holier 
duties which contribute to man's moral im- 
provement and promote the betterment of the 
human race. 



CAPTAIX HENRY NEAL. 

Captain Henry Neal was a well-known 
resident of Miami county, and held in high 
esteem by his fellow townsmen, for his ster- 
ling worth commended him to the confidence 
and regard of all who knew him. He was 
born in Monroe township, on the 27th of 
June, 181Q, and was a son of Henry and 
Jane (Woods) Neal. His early youth was 
spent upon his father's farm, and the com- 
mon schools afforded him his educational 
privileges. He entered upon his business 
career as a wood chopper, and was employed 
in that way for some time. Thus he earned 
the first one hundred dollars ever in his pos- 
session. Later he engaged in teaching school 
during the winter months, while in the sum- 
mer season he was employed at farm work 
and at other employments which would yield 
him an honest li\-ing. For about nineteen 
years he successfully engaged in teaching 
and also conducted a singing school. He 
held high rank among the able educators in 
his county, his labors being attended with 
excellent results. He died suddenlv of heart 



458 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



disease January 6, 1881. On the 14th of 
February, 1864, Captain Xeal was united 
in marriage to Miss Eliza J. Bowman, who 
was bom in Frederick, ]\liami county. They 
became the parents of two children — 
Charles C. and Edith M. Charles C. is a 
farmer of Monroe township, who married 
Rose K. Pearson. They have two children, 
^Mildred B. and Regina J. Edith M. is the 
wife of John M. Davidson, of Meadville, 
Pennsyhania, and they have one child, Mar- 
gery Jean. 

Captain Xeal was a member of the state 
militia, and during the Civil war entered the 
Union service as first lieutenant of Com- 
pany G, One Hundred and Forty-seventh 
Ohio Infantry, for one hundred days. He 
was promoted and commissioned captain and 
with his command went to the front, where 
he loyally served until the expiration of his 
term. He was overheated during his ser- 
vice in the war, and this Brought on heart 
disease, so that his health was never again 
what it had been before he joined the army. 
In March, 1865, Captain Xeal removed 
to Troy, where he made his home until the 
following fall, when he located ttpon the 
farm in Monroe township, which continued 
to be his place of abode for about a rear. 
He then removed to the home in Frederick, 
where his A\idow now resides, and there he 
remained until his death. He devoted his 
attention to superintending and improving 
his farm properties. In all his business deal- 
ings he was honorable and straightforward, 
and thus won the confidence and good will 
of those with whom he was brought in con- 
tact. He was a consistent member of the 
Presbyterian church, and in his death the 
community lost one of its reliable citizens — 
a man whom to know was to respect and 
honor. 



HORACE COLEMAX. ^L D. 

Long since Dr. Coleman, now a member 
of the meilical fraternity of Washington, 
left the ranks of the many to stand among 
the successful few. He is a man of strong 
individuality and marked personality and 
is a recognized leader of public thought and 
opinion, his influence lieing marked in pro- 
fessional, military and fraternal circles. 
For many years a leading and representative 
ctizen of Miami county, he well deserves 
representation in this \-olume. for his his- 
tory forms an integral part of the annals 
of Troy. 

The ancestry of the family may be traced 
back to Xoah Coleman, who came from 
England to America in the year 1630, tak- 
ing up his abode in the ^lassachusetts colony. 
Elis son, Xoah Coleman, married Hannah 
Gunney. and their children were Xoah. John, 
Ebenezer and Xathaniel. Dr. Xoah Cole- 
man, of the third generation, married Mercy 
Wright, and their children were Mary, Sybil, 
Xoah, Ozias, Daniel, Asaph and Zenas. 
Dr. Coleman removed to Colchester. Con- 
necticut, and there spent his remaining days. 
He served as a surgeon in the Second Con- 
necticut Infantry for four years, from Jan- 
uary, 1777, until January i, 1781, and by 
reason of that service became one of the 
original members of the Society of Cin- 
cinnati in the state of Connecticut. 

Dr. Asaph Coleman, his fourth son, mar- 
ried Eunice Hollister, and their children 
were Julius, Eunice. Asa, Pamelia, Clarissa 
and Maria. Dr. Asaph Coleman held two 
commissions as surgeon, as a member of 
the Connecticut troops in the war of the 
Revolution. 

Dr. Asa Coleman, the father of our sub- 
ject, is a native of Glastonbury, Connecticut, 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



459 



and became one of the pioneers and dis- 
tinguished citizens of Miami county Ohio. 
He married Miss Mary Keifer, a native of 
Sharpsburg. Maryland, and they became the 
parents of the following children : Horace, 
Pamelia, Augustus Henry, Asa, George 
Edwin and Julius Adams. 

Their eldest son. Horace Coleman, was 
born in Troy, Ohio. December 2y, 1824, and 
in the public schools acquired his education. 
Among his teachers were Maciah Farfield, 
Uriah Fordyce, Benjamin F. Powers, who 
taught a select school giving instruction in 
the languages. George D. Burgess, and Rob- 
ert McMurdy. Dr. Coleman spent one year 
in the preparatory school of Kenyon College, 
in Gambler, Ohio. When on the way to 
Gambier his father took him in a carriage 
to Columbus, with the intention of sending 
him by stage to Mt. Vernon, but when 
Dr. Coleman, Sr., applied for a passage he 
was informed that e\'ery seat was taken 
both inside and out of the coach. He felt 
very much annoyed at this, biiit just at that 
time ]Mr. Neal came up and said : "Doctor, 
what is the trouble?" When informed, he re- 
plied. "I will fix your boy. General \\'illiam 
Henry Harrison is at Mr. Alfred Kelley's 
and we are going to send him to Mt. \^ernon 
by special stage coach, which is now at the 
door." He then offered to take Horace on 
the same trip, and with Mr. Neal they en- 
tered the coach and went to the residence 
of Mr. Kelley for their distingtiished passen- 
ger. There were six in the coach, including 
the boy Horace, who occupied the back seat 
with General Harrison during the day's 
journey. 

During the spring and summer months 
Horace Coleman remained upon his father's 
farm and aided in planting corn, following 
the shovel plow and doing other light work 



in connection with the cultivation of the 
fields. Subsequently he spent two years as 
assistant to John B. Fish, engineer and sur- 
veyor. Their principal work was the build- 
ing of the Troy and Dayton pike on the west 
side of the Miami river, and they also worked 
on the Troy and Greenville pike, doing other 
work in their line on ditches and farms. 
W'hen he was seventeen years of age his 
father determined the course of his future 
life. Going to the library and taking there- 
from a book on human anatomy. Dr. Cole- 
man gave it to his son with the remark that 
every morning after breakfast he would 
question him on his previous day's study. 
This course was followed with but little 
interruption for two years, and, becoming 
deeply interested in the subject Horace Cole- 
man determined to. devote his life to the 
practice of medicine. He had for a fellow 
medical student, for one year, -his friend 
Simon E. Hustler. Later our subject en- 
tered the Ohio ^Medical College at Cincinnati, 
where he pursued his first course of lectures 
during the school year of 1844-5. I" i<^4S"9 
he pursued his second course, at tlie close 
of which the degree of doctor of medicine 
was conferred upon him. \\'hile he was 
pursuing his medical studies in Cincinnati 
he had the pleasure and honor of being pres- 
ent at the reception given to James K. Polk, 
in 1845, ^"'^ to the one extended Zachary 
Taylor in 1S49. These receptions were 
held while the two gentlemen were passing 
through Cincinnati on their waj' to Wash- 
ington to be inaugurated president of the 
United States. 

The interval of four years between Dr. 
Coleman's college courses was spent in study 
and in the practice of medicine, a part of 
the time being passed at Fredericksburg, 
Miami county. After his graduation he con- 



460 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tinned practice in Truy. Ijcing associated for 
a part of the time \vith liis father and also 
for a part of the time with Dr. George 
Keifer. his uncle. In the summer of 1850 he 
remo\'ed to Logansport, Indiana, sending his 
family and household goods by canal, while 
he made the journey in a doctor's gig. In 
a short time he was actively engaged in an 
extensive ijractice there and so continued 
until he was commissioned surgeon. Fur 
three years of the time he was in partnership 
with Dr. Graham X. Fitch, wlio was colonel 
of tiie regiment of which the Doctor became 
surgeon. The latter was commissioned by 
Governor O. P. Morton, of Indiana, surgeon 
of the Forty-Sixth Regiment of Indiana 
Volunteers on the 7th of October, 1861, and 
was on active duty with that command in 
all of its important engagements up to tlie 
surrender of \^icksburg and the evacuation 
of Jackson, Mississippi. He resigned July 
31, 1863. He was detailed for service as 
medical director of the Twelfth Division, 
Thirteenth Army Corps, commanded by 
General A. P. Hovey, was medical director 
of the district of eastern Arkansas under 
General L. F. Ross and was surgeon in 
charge of the field hospital of the Thirteenth 
Army Corps at Jackson, Mississippi. In 
December, 1863, he remo\-ed to Troy, there 
remaining until commissioned by Governor 
John Brough, of Ohio, as surgeon of the 
One Flundred and Forty-seventh Regiment 
of Ohio ^'olunteers. on the 2d of May, 
1864. He was on duty with that regiment 
during its term of service and was mustered 
out with it on the 30th of August, 1864. 
Soon afterward, on the 8th of June. 1865, 
he was again commissioned by Governor 
Brough as military surgeon for Miami coun- 
ty, his duty being ti) examine and gi\'e cer- 
tificates of exemption from the draft in com- 



pliance with the statutes of Ohio. He was 
appointed an examining surgeon by the pen- 
sion department on the 6th of February, 
1866, and ser\-ed in that capacity until Sep- 
temljer 14, 1889, when he resigned by reason 
of his appointment as qualified surgeon in 
the bureau of pensions, which position he 
holds at tlie present time, in the autumn of 
1900. He was commissioned by President 
U. S. Grant, on the 5th of February. 1870, 
as an assessor of internal revenue for the 
fciurth collection district of Ohio, and dis- 
charged with marketl ability the important 
and responsible duties of the positii.ni until 
the change in the internal revenue laws dis- 
continued the office of assessor. 

In the military organizations which have 
had their rise among those who wore the 
blue upon southern battlefields during the 
Civil war. Dr. Coleman has been very prom- 
inent. He became a charter meml)er of .\. 
H. Coleman Post, Xo. 159, G. .\. R., which 
was named in honor of his brother, who was 
one of tlie gallant officers of the Union 
army. He also holds a memliership in 
Sedgwick Regiment, Xo. 3, Union Veter- 
ans' Union, of Washington, District of Co- 
Iuml)ia. He is a member of the Ohio Com- 
mandery of the military order of the Loyal 
Legion, of Cincinnati, and was a charier 
member q{ the Society of the Sons of the 
American Rc\'olution. of Washington, Dis- 
trict of Columbia. 

In IMasonic circles Dr. Coleman has also 
attained distinction. He was made a Master 
^lason in Franklin Lodge, Xo. 14, F. & A. 
M., of Troy, in 1846, and serxed as its wor- 
shipful master. For four years he was mas- 
ter of Tipton Lodge, -X'o. 43. F. & A. 
M., at Logansport, Indiana, and was a char- 
ter member ami the first worshipful master. 
of Orient Lodge, Xo. 272, F. & .\. M.. f 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



461 



Logansport, \vith which he hecame identified 
on the 20th of Alay, 1861. He held charters 
from the grand lodge of Indiana for a mili- 
tary lodge during the war of the Rebellion 
and also served as its worshipful master. He 
is likewise a repre£entati\-e of Capitular 
Masonry, having taken the Royal Arch de- 
grees in Franklin Chapter, No. 24, of Troy. 
He is past high priest, Ijoth of this chapter 
and of Logansport Chapte*-, No. 2, R. A.M., 
of Logansport, Indiana. He passed the 
circle of Cryptic Masonry and was created 
a Royal and Select Master in Franklin 
Council, No. 14. of Troy, of which he is 
past thrice illustrious master. He demitted 
from that organization to become a charter 
member, and was made the first illustrious 
master, of Logansport Council, No. 11, R. 
& S. M., at Logansport, Indiana, May 18, 
1858. At the date of his enlistment, Octo- 
ber 7, 1 86 1, he held office in the grand chap- 
ter of Indiana and was thrice illustrious 
grand master of the grand council of the 
state. He received the degrees of knight- 
hood in Reid Commander}-, No. 6, of Day- 
ton, Ohio. November 26 1847, when Will- 
iam H. Reper was eminent commander. 
Subsequently he became a charter member 
of Lafayette Commandery, No. 3. of La- 
fayette, Indiana, on the 19th of September, 
1856, and is also a charter member and past 
eminent commander of Coleman Command- 
ery, No. 7, K. T., of Troy. He has attained 
. the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite 
in the northern jurisdiction, valley of Ohio. 
In Masonic circles he is widely known, 
having the high regard of his brethren of 
the craft, for his life stands in exemplifica- 
tion of its ennobling principles. On the i8th 
of August, 1875, he received a diploma as 
a member of the ]\Iasonic \"eterans" Asocia- 



tion of Ohio, by reason of his having been 
an active contributing member for over 
twenty years. Dr. Coleman became a mem- 
ber of Troy Lodge, No. 43, I. O. O. F., in 
December, 1845, ^''"^1 of that organization is 
past noble grand. His name is still on its 
membership roll and he is a valued repre- 
sentative of the fraternity. 

In his political views the Doctor is a 
zealous and earnest Republican. He joined 
the party on its organization and up to the 
present time has been one of its effective and 
untiring workers. He has done efficient 
service in its behalf as chairman of the 
county committee and a member of the state 
central committee. After winning a sub- 
stantial victory as chairman of the county 
committee during the second Repulilican 
campaign and when Abraham Lincoln was 
declared elected president, he determined to 
attend the inaugural ceremonies, and did so. 
He had the satisfaction of occupying a po- 
sition directly in front of the president and 
could distinctly hear every word as Chief 
Justice Taney administered the oath of 
ofiice and every word of the president's in- 
augural address. He was a delegate to the 
national convention held in Chicago, which 
nominated Grant and Colfax, being a close 
personal friend of Schuyler Colfax, and used 
all honorable means in his power to secure 
his nomination, and was given much credit 
for the work done in that direction, his 
efforts being largely instrumental in securing 
the desired result. He attended the inaug- 
uration of Presi^lent Grant, occupying a seat 
in the senate gallery and also witnessed all 
of the imposing ceremonies connected with 
the occasion. Dr. Coleman's fellow towns- 
men, recognizing his worth and ability, have 
frequently called him to public ofiice, honor- 



462 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ing him with such positions as were in their 
power to bestow. He has served as city 
councilman both in Logansport, IncHana, and 
in Troy Ohio. While a member of the Troy 
council he was chairman of a committee 
authorized to purchase cemetery grounds, 
and has the satisfaction of knowing that the 
purcliase which he urged was made and has 
proved to be a good one. He was subse- 
quently president of the board of cemetery 
directors whose duty it was to secure the 
service of the best available cemetery engin- 
eers to assist in the platting of the ground. 
While the question of a name for the ceme- 
tery was being discussed and names were 
selected from which to choose, a Mr. Whit- 
aker, a member of the Eleventh Oliio In- 
fantry, was the first person buried in the 
new cemetery. Rev. William Young ofificia- 
ting, and while at the side of the grave Dr. 
Coleman suggested to him that the cemetery 
should be called Riverside. After a mo- 
ment's thought the minister suggested the 
name and gave his reasons for believing" that 
it would be an appropriate and suitable one. 
The I)oard of trustees unanimously adopted 
it and it has since been known as the River- 
side cemetery. Dr. Coleman also served as 
a member and president of the board of edu- 
cation of Troy, and the cause of education 
found in him a warm friend, who performed 
effective service in its behalf. 

His parents were devoted members of 
the Episcopal church, and liis aged grand- 
mother was a thorough church woman who 
took great pains in instructing the Doctor, 
when he was very young, in all that pertains 
to the teachings of the church. He has never 
renounced his faith, but became a communi- 
cant of the Episcopal denomination and 
served as vestryman of the church at Logans- 



port and as vestryman and warden of Trin- 
ity church, at Troy, Ohio. On the 4th of 
December, 1872, he became a life member 
of the American Bible Society. 

^^'hen about seventeen years of age the 
Doctor joined the Lafayette Blues, a noted 
military company of that da}'. At the great 
Henry Clay political meeting, held at Day- 
ton. Ohio, in 1844, the Lafayette Blues acted 
as body guard to the Kentucky statesman,- 
and the Doctor well remembers the great 
efifort required to keep back the surging 
crowd from the orator as he stood alone on 
the platform on the corner of the prin- 
cipal street to review the mamnn ith proces- 
sion, — there to see and be seen by all. 

On the /th of Xovember, 1847, Dr. Cole- 
man wedded Miss Mary Louisa Aldrich, a 
daughter of Colin Aldrich. a native of 
Woonsocket, Rhode Island. Her mother, 
who bore the maiden name of Rebecca Fur- 
nas, was a native of South Carolina and a 
daughter of Thomas Wilkison Furnas, who, 
with a colony of Quakers from South Caro- 
lina, emigrated to Troy, Miami county, in 
1804. The marriage of Dr. Coleman was 
blessed with the following children : George 
Oliver, Horace, Walter, Jessie Louisa, Ed- 
ward, Mary Rebecca and Warren. Of these 
George died July 25, 1851. and Walter on 
the 7th of September, i860, but the others 
are still living. 

During all the passing 3'ears of an active 
and useful career Dr. Coleman has contin- 
ued to engage in the practice of his pro- 
fession and is regarded as one of the best 
medical examiners in the bureau of pensions. 
On the 2dx)f January. 1897, having complied 
with the recent act of. congress, he secured 
the license required by said act to practice 
medicine and surgery in the District of Co- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



463 



lumbia. W'liile in Troy, Ohio, he served as 
a director in the First National Bank for 
fourteen years. He possesses marked judg- 
ment and discernment in tlie diagnosing of 
disease, and is peculiarly successful in antici- 
pating the issue of complications, seldom 
making mistakes and never exaggerating 
or minif3nng the disease in rendering his 
decisions in regard thereto. He is a physi- 
cian of great fraternal delicacy, and no man 
e\'er o1)served more closely the ethics of the 
unwritten professional code' or showed more 
careful courtesy to his fellow practitioners 
tlian does he. Almost as a sacred trust he 
seems to hold his professional offices, and 
lie never forljears to go forth to the relief 
of those afflicted, showing clearly that his 
is an abiding sympathy and that he withholds 
not his hand from the poor and needy. At 
this point it would be almost tautological 
to enter into any series of statements as 
showing our subject to be a man of broad 
intelligence and genuine public spirit, for 
these have been shadowed forth lietween the 
lines of this review. Strong in his individ- 
uality, he never lacks the courage of his con- 
victions, liut there are as dominating ele- 
ments in his indi\-iduality a livelj human 
sympathy and an abiding charity," which, 
as taken in connection with tlie sterling in- 
tegrity and honor of his character, have 
naturally gained to Dr. Coleman the respect 
and confidence of men. 



ASA COLEMAN. 

Asa Coleman, a distinguished physician 
and surgeon of Troy, now deceased, was 
born in Glastonbury, Connecticut, July 2, 
1788, and died in Troy, Ohio, February 25, 
1870. He was a descendant of Noali Cole- 



man, an English emigrant to the Pilgrim 
colony in 1630. For six generations the 
name of Coleman has been identified with 
local and general positions in the \'arious 
relations of church, state, ^Masonry, medi- 
cine and surgery. The same patriotic 
spirit that led their ancestors to enroll them- 
selves under the Continental flag moved the 
descendants in later wars to lead the charg- 
ing column or alle\-iate distress in the field 
or the crowded hospital. The line of de- 
scent of our subject from this American an- 
cestor is Noah Coleman, first, second and 
third. Noah Coleman, third, was born in 
Hatfield, Massachusetts, in 1704, married 
Mercy W^riglit, of Colchester, and had a 
family of seven children, namely : ilary, 
Sibyl, Noah, Ozias, Daniel. Asaph and 
Zenas. Asaph, the fourtli son, was born in 
Massachusetts in 1747, married Eunice Hol- 
lister, of Glastonbury, Connecticut, Ijy whom 
he had six children : Julius, Eunice, Asa, 
Pamelia, Clarissa and Maria. He was a 
prominent physician and surgeon in the Con- 
tinental army. Asa Coleman, after re- 
ceiving an academic education in his native 
town, turned his attention to medicine and 
surgery, pursuing his studies niamly under 
the instruction of his father. May 23, 1810, 
he received a diploma from the Connecticut 
State Medical Society. Having made a 
prospecting tour to the new state of Ohio in 
the fall of 1807, he resolved to make that his 
future home, and in May, 181 1, left his na- 
tive state and located in Troy. In November 
of the same year he received a diploma from 
the Ohio Board of Medical Examiners and 
estal)lished himself in the town just named, 
in the j^ractice of medicme and surgery, 
which he followed for more than half a cen- 
tury, with constant success till the close of 
his career. An enterprising pioneer, he took 



464 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



an active and leading part in all the early 
improvements of this now beautiful county 
seat. On September 24, 1808, he had been 
commissioned surgeon of the Sixth Connect- 
icut jMilitia. and on the same date of 181 1, 
he was made surgeon of the Ohio ^lilitia. 
He was constantly on the round of duty. 
visiting the sick and wounded at the block 
houses and forts along the northern boun- 
dary of ^liami county, then the frontier 
settlement. Other commissions followed 
as surgeon, as major, May 20. 1816, and 
lieutenant-colonel, July 27, 1818, from Gov- 
ernor \Vorthington. In October, 181 6, he 
was elected representative to the state legis- 
lature and served in the first session ever 
held in Columbus, December, 18 16. He was 
re-elected in the following year and served a 
second term, declining a third, although 
strongly in^ged to become a candidate. He 
was elected associate judge and commis- 
sioned February 4, 1827. by Governor Trim- 
ble, for a period of seven years. He was 
also chosen as a director of the Miami 
County Branch of the Bank of Ohio, at its 
organization in 1846, serving as an officer 
til its close in 1866. He was instrumental 
in the organization of the First National 
Bank of Troy, was elected its first presi- 
dent, served nearly two years, and resigned 
through failing health. He was made a 
Freemason in 1809, was a charter memlier 
of Franklin Lodge, Troy, in June, 181 2, and 
was first master of tlae same; at the time of 
his death, in his eighty-second year, he was 
the last surviying charter member. He was 
also a charter member of Franklin Chapter, 
R. A. U.. Franklin Council, R. & S. M., 
and Coleman Commandery, K. T., the last 
named bearing his name in honor of his 
Masonic worth. For six years he served 
as director and physician of the county 



infirmary and submitted the plan for the 
present building. He was prominent in es- 
tablishing the Protestant Episcopal church 
in Trov, was elected first senior warden of 
Trinity church in 1830. and annually re- 
elected up to the time of his death, — a con- 
tinued jjcriod of forty years. Fond of agri- 
cultural pursuits, he gave much of his time 
to the operation of his farm and retired 
thither during the last few years of his life. 
He was above medium height, straight and 
well proportioned, and as erect in his ad- 
vanced years as in his 3'outhful manhood ; 
his hearing was dignified, his step firm, and 
his hair silvered white as snow. He lived 
a long, active, useful and l)lameless life, and 
died as one, who, wearied with his labors, 
"wraps the drapery of his couch about him 
and lies down to pleasant dreams." 

He was thrice married. His third wife 
was Mary Keifer, whom he married October 
24. 1S22. She was born in Sharpsburg, 
Maryland, and came with her parents to 
Clark county, Ohio, in 18 12. She sur- 
\i\-ed her husband but a few months, dying 
December 5. 1870. By the last marriage 
they reared six children : Horace, Pamelia 
Hale, Augustus Henry, Asa, George Ed- 
win and Julius Adams. All the above named 
sons served in the Union ranks in the war of 
the Rebellion. 



OSC.VR B. EIKEXBURY. 

Oscar B. Eikonbury is the leading" 
merchant of Eaton. It is not an uncom- 
mon thing to find that they who at one time 
occupied humble positions in the business 
world have attained to places of leadership. 
America is justly proud of her self-made 
men, for in this land whore opportunity is 
not hampered, people of worth, ambition and 



t 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



465 



enterprise can steadily gain advancement 
through diHgence and resolute purpose. 
This Mr. Eikenbury has done, and to-day 
he stands as one of the leading members of 
the commercial interests of Preble county. 
He is a native of Lanier township, born 
January 20, 1854, his parents being Reuben 
L. and Catherine (Geyer) Eikenbury, also 
natives of Preble county. The father was 
a practicing physician and followed that pro- 
fession for about fifteen years. He ob- 
tained his education in the Eclectic jNIedi- 
cal Institute, of Cincinnati, and devoted his 
energies to the healing art until his death, 
which occurred in Huntsville, Indiana, when 
he was thirty-seven years of age. His wid- 
ow is still a resident of Randolph, that state. 
]\Ir. Eikenbury, of this review, is the 
eldest in the family of three sons and one 
daughter, and all are yet living. His 
brother, A. L. Eikenbury, is connected with 
a department store at Greenville, Ohio, car- 
rying on that business in connection with 
his brother-in-law, D. O. Christopher, and 
his brother, W. H. Eikenbury. Our sub- 
ject obtained an academic education in Leb- 
anon, Ohio, pursuing his studies in the nor- 
mal school there. Subsequently he engaged 
in teaching for ten years, f(jllowing that pro- 
fession in the district and graded schools of 
Preble county and of Indiana. He took a 
commercial course in order to prepare him- 
self for mercantile life, and was engaged in 
general merchandising at West Alexandria, 
Preble county, for eight years. In 1881 he 
came to Eaton and erected the building in 
which he is now conducting his business. 
He has a fine, two-story brick building on 
Main street, valued at twenty-five thousand 
dollars. It is 64x75 feet, and is well-equip- 
ped for the purpose used. Mr. Eikenbury 
conducts a department store and has the 



largest and most complete stock of general 
merchandise in Preble county. His business 
is steadily increasing in volume and import- 
ance, and his establishment would do credit 
to a city of much larger size than Eaton. 
Throughout the year twenty employes are 
found in the store, and during busy seasons 
twice that number are employed. The 
store is conducted under the firm name of 
O. B. Eikenbury & Company, the partner 
being A. Edward Schlingman, who gives 
his time to the business. 

Mr. Eikenbury was married, in West 
Alexandria, in 1877, to Miss Caroline 
Schlingman, a native of Preble county and 
a daughter of A. Schlingman, a retired 
manufacturer and a wealthy and influo-itial 
citizen of West Alexandria. Three daugh- 
ters have been born of their union, Bertha, 
Stella and Carrie, the eldest being a gradu- 
ate of the city high school, while the others 
are still students there. Mrs. Eikenbury 
died July 8, 1899. She was an estimable 
lad}-, a devoted wife and mother and her 
untimely death occasioned deep regret 
among her many friends. • The family are 
members of the Presbyterian church and 
occupy a leading position in social circles in 
Eaton. ^Ir. Eikenbury has certainly at- 
tained an enviable position in the business 
world. "We build the ladder by which we 
rise" is a truth which is certainly applicable 
to him. He is a type of the progressive 
spirit of the age, a spirit which has given 
America pre-eminence along its various 
business lines; and the undaunted enter- 
prise, indomitable perseverance and resolute 
purpose which have ever characterized him 
have been the means of raising him from a 
position of comparative obscurity to an 
eminence wdiich commands the admiration 
of the commercial world. 



466 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



FRANCIS MARION RANKIN. 

This well-known business man of Co\'- 
ington, Ohio, comes of good old colonial 
stock. The early home of the Rankin fam- 
ily was in Scotland, but in the latter part of 
the sixteenth century three brothers left that 
country on account of religious persecution 
and started for Donegal, Ireland, but two 
of these were murdered by tiieir enemies. 
The other, \\'illiam Rankin, with his family, 
crossed the channel, and throughout the re- 
mainder of his life made his home in Ire- 
land. In 1720 three of his sons, Adam, 
John and Hal, with their respective families, 
emigrated to America, landing in Philadel- 
phia. It was from John Rankin that our 
subject is descended. His son Thomas had 
four sons who served under Washington in 
the Revolutionary war, and after its close 
Thomas, with his family of twelve children, 
remove-d to eastern Tennessee. His son 
Richard had four sons — Thomas, Samuel, 
David and William — who fought under 
General Jackson in the war of 1812, and 
David was killed in battle. ^^'ilIiam became 
a Presbyterian minister and spent many 
years in Fort Madison, Iowa. He lived to 
be nearly one hundred years of age. Some of 
the family settled in Virginia, others in 
North Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio. 
Richard Rankin, the son of John, the emi- 
grant, was the progenitor of the family in 
\'irginia. Joseph Rankin, grandfather of 
our subject, was born in Pennsylvania, and 
remo\ed to Rockbridge county, Virginia, 
with his father, spending the remainder of 
his life there. He married and reared a 
family of several children. 

Joshua Rankin, our subject's father, was 
born near Staunton, \'irginia, in 1809, and 
in early life married Anna Musselman, also 



a native of the Old Dominion. Soon after 
their marriage they came to Ohio and set- 
tled near Pyrmont, Montgomery county. 
The father was an excellent mechanic, and 
was interested in several different enter- 
prises, among others being the manufacture 
of rope, having previously invented a ma- 
chine for that purpose. Before coming to 
this state he had also invented a clover hul- 
ler, which was largely used. About 1845 
ho removed to Hagerstown, Indiana, but 
four years later returned to Ohio and this 
time located in Covington, Miami county, 
where he followed different vocations until 
his death, April 3, 1857. He was a stanch 
Democrat in politics, and while a resident 
of P}'rmont served as postmaster. In 1878 
his widow married Edward Mooney. -She 
died in Covington in March, 1897, at the 
age of eighty-four years. Her father, who 
was of German descent, followed farming 
in Montgomery county, his home being on 
Tom's run, near Pyrmont. 

Our subject is the eighth in order of 
birth in a family of ten children, the others 
being as follows: Martha J., born Novem- 
ber 9, 1832, married William Murray, a 
soldier of the civil war; Elizabeth Susan, 
born February 23, 1835, '^^''^^' ^^ the age of 
three years; Joseph K., born May 12, 1836, 
married a Miss Wilkinson, and resides in 
Highland, Kansas; David B., born Novem- 
ber 24, 1837, was a member of the Eighth ^ 
Ohio Cavalry from 1862 to 1865, married 
Jennie Thomson, and resides in Covington ; 
Jacob Kennison, born December 29, 1839, 
served for three years in Company B, Nine- 
ty-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, during 
the civil war. married Matilda Enyart, and 
died in Wabash county, Indiana; John 
Henry, born. September 4, 1841. married 
Anna Smith and lives in Springfield, Illi- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



mi 



nois; Mary Ann, born June 14, 1843, '^^^'^ 
in her fifth year ; FrankHn Ohver, born May 
20, 1845, cl'^*^! i'l 1848; James Orrin 
Thomas, born September 20, 1850, died 
Septeniljer i, 1870; and Angus Kurtz, born 
March 12, 1856, married Margaret Rob- 
bins, and resides in Dayton, Ohio. 

Francis M. Rankin, of this re-view, was 
born in Hagerstown, Indiana, June 20, 
1848, and was only a year okl when liis 
parents returned to Oliio and took up their 
residence in Covington, where he has since 
made his home. He attended the public 
schools until fourteen years of age, and then 
laid aside his text-books to enter the service 
of his country during the dark days of the 
rebollion, enlisting', at Covington, for one 
hundred days' service, in Company I, One 
Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, under Captain Class and Colonel 
Rawson. After serving that term he came 
home and re-enlisted, February 7, 1865, for 
one year, in Company B, One Hundred and 
Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
under Captain Class and Colonel Anson B. 
McCook. During his first term of enlist- 
ment he was stationed most of the time in 
\\'ashington, D. C, and vicinity, and was in 
the Fort Stevens fortifications during the 
fight with Early. As a member of the One 
Hundred and Ninety-fourth Regiment he 
was in the Shenandoah valley and at \\'ash- 
ington, being on duty constantly until dis- 
charged at Washington, in October, 1865. 
Before entering the army he had been em- 
ployed in the Covington Woolen Factory, 
but after his return home he served an ap- 
prenticeship to the plasterer's trade, which he 
has since followed with good success. 

In 1874 Mr. Rankin married Miss Laura 
B. Hart, and to them were born throe chil- 
dren : Mamie F., Bessie G., and Martha M. 



j\Irs. Rankin was born on the Hart home- 
stead in Newberry township, Miami county, 
November 11, 1853, and is a daughter of 
Ebenozer Hart, who was born in the Tus- 
carora valley, Juniata county, Pennsylvania, 
November 4, 1806. Her grandfather, Hugh 
Hart, was born in Londonderry, Ireland, 
March 17, 1764, and was married, April 28, 
1794, to Mary Ard, a native of the same 
country, then twenty-one years of age. On 
their emigration to America they settled in 
the Tuscarora valley, where they spent the 
remainder of their lives. The grandfather 
was a well-to-do farmer, a member of the 
United Presbyterian church, and a highly 
educated man of literary tastes, who wrote 
many beautiful poems. In his family were 
the following children: Naomi H., born 
January 25, 1795, married a Mr. Stewart; 
Nancy, born January 2, 1799, died in child- 
hood; Hugh, born No\-ember 15, 1800, died 
in Preble county, Ohio ; Jeanette, born No- 
vember 9, 1802, married James Elliott and 
spent her last days in Sidney, Ohio; Mary, 
born October 17, 1804, married a Mr. Cum- 
min, and was the mother of Judge Cummin, 
of Penns3dvania ; Ebenezer, father of Mrs. 
Rankin, was next in order of birth; Will- 
iam, born February 7, 1809, married Pru- 
dence Ann Robinson; and Joseph, born in 
181 1, married Miss Sarah Irwin, and set- 
tled on a farm in Pfoutz's valley, three 
miles from Millerstown, where he died. 

Ebenezer Hart, Mrs. Rankin's father, 
grow to manhood on the homestead in Tus- 
carora valley, Pennsylvania, and received a 
good education in the schools of his time 
and also from his father. He was reared 
to agricultural pursuits, but when quite a 
young man went to Baltimore, Maryland, 
where he worked at the carpenter's trade for 
a time. Being industrious and economical, 



468 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



he saved money, and on leaving home in 
1836 and coming to Ohio, he was able to 
purchase one hundred and seventy acres of 
lancl im Trotter's creek, in Xewberry town- 
ship, Miami county, being assisted to some 
extent by his father. He made the journey 
to this state on horseback. His first home 
here was a log cabin, but in later years he 
erected a good brick residence, the second 
in that section of the county. He was three 
years in preparing the material for his home, 
burning all his own brick. He was a man 
of magnificent physique, being over six feet 
in heigth and weighing over two hundred 
pountls. He possessed more than ordinary 
business ability, and became a \ery prosper- 
ous farmer, as well as one of the highly re- 
spected and honored citizens of his com- 
munity. He had many virtues, was very 
charitable, and on account of his business 
ability was often consulted on technical 
matters. On the 20th of September, 1836, 
he wedded Mary Ann Templeton, who was 
born in Newberry township, this county, 
February 2. 1816, a daughter of Lemuel and 
Elizabeth { ]\lcKibbon) Templeton, natives 
of Pennsylvania. ^Ir. Hart died December 
14, 1884, his wife June 26, 1892. He was 
a stanch Democrat, was justice of the peace 
for years and settled many estates. In the 
family of this worthy couple were ten chil- 
dren : Elizabeth, born February 24, 1838, 
was married, January 5. i860, to John Xet- 
tlcship. and they reside in Port Jefferson, 
Ohio; Hugh Ard. born February 20, 1840, 
was married, June 15, 1864, to Lydia J. 
Christian, and died in Delphos, Ohio, Feb- 
ruary 27, 1878; Mary Ard, born November 
20, 1841, was married, June 20, 1861, to 
Rol)ert C. Levering, and died at Peterson 
Station, IVIiami county. December 29, 1880; 
Maria, born January 31, 1844, died January 



9, 1858; Nancy, born January 3, 1846, was 
married, March 26, 1868, to Dr. Adam I\L 
W'assam, now of Galveston, Texas: Joseph 
Lemuel, born February 22, 1848. died March 
6, 1857; Ebenezer, born January 23, 1850, 
was married, January i, 1878, to Emma S. 
]\Iinnick. and died in July, 1899, in Eureka, 
Kansas, where he was engaged in business 
as a druggist and physician; William, born 
January 6, 1852, was married, September 
24. 1874. to Emma J. Nicholson, and Janu- 
ary 15. 1880, to Fannie Brumbaugh; Laura 
B., wife of our subject, is the next of the 
family; and \\'esley .\lphonso, born March 
II, 1856, was married, December 28, 1880, 
to Ada Claycomb. and they reside in Galena, 
Kansas. 

Since 1866 Mr. Rankin has been a con- 
sistent and faithful member of the Christian 
church, and also belongs to the Odd Fel- 
lows Lodge, No. 383, of Covington, and 
Longston Post, G. A. R. Bv his ballot he 
supports the men and measures of the Re- 
publican party. Although he is one of its 
stanch adherents, he has never been able to 
con\ert his wife, who is an ardent Demo- 
crat. During her girlhood she united with 
the Cumberland Presbyterian church of 
Covington, but in 1892 joined the Christian 
church, with which she is now connected. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Rankin are widely 
known and are held in high regard in the 
community where they have so long made 
their home. 



JOHN C. WRIGHT. 

John C. Wright, of this review, who is 
farming in Concord township, Miami coun- 
ty, and is serving as assessor of the t >\vn- 
ship. a position which he has acceptably 
filled for the past ten years, was born in 1842, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



4C9 



on the farm where he now resitles, his par- 
ents being Elhott and Catherine '(Myers) 
\\'right. His paternal grandfather removed 
from Virginia to this county when Elhott 
was quite young and entered from the gov- 
ernment a tract of land which has since 
been in possession of his descendants. The 
i\Iyers family came from Pennsylvania to 
Ohio. The parents of our subject were 
well-known and esteemed farming people of 
Concord township, where the father died in 
1850. at the age of thirty-eight years, the 
mother in 18;;, at the age of thirtv-three 



years. 



John C. Wright, of this review, spent his 
boyhood days upon the old home farm, and 
his labors in the field were alternated Ijy at- 
tendance at the district schools. He mar- 
ried Miss Sarah Rudy, a daughter of Sam- 
uel Rudy, of Newton township, and to them 
were burn the following children : Samuel 
Elliott, now a farmer of Newton township, 
who married ]\liss Armina i\Iay Helmick, 
a daughter of Philip Helmick; Maggie 
Elizabeth, wife of John Rontzong, a farmer 
and trustee of \'an Buren township, Darke 
county, Ohio, by whom she has two chil- 
dren, John Omer and Ruth ; John Carlton, 
an agriculturist of Concord township, who 
wedded Mary E., a daughter of William 
Fleming, and has one son, George Stanley ; 
Hannah Alary, wife of Abijah Swab, of 
Darke county, by whom she has two boys, 
George and Herman ; and Charles Irvin, 
who married Miss Lida Deitrich, and has a 
sl)n, Edgar. After the death of his first 
wife Mr. Wright was again married, his 
second union being with Catherine Caroline 
Bubeck, a daughter of John Bubeck, of 
Darke county. His wife bore the maiden 
name of Mary Baisch, and both were natives 
of Germanv. Mr. and Airs. Wright now 



have one son, Herman Walter, a promising 
young man of seventeen years who is still 
at home with his parents. 

During the civil war Mr. Wright mani- 
fested his loyalty to the Union by enlisting 
in the Fifty-seventh Ohio Infantry for three 
years, but after fourteen months, on account 
of disability, he was honorably discharged. 
He participated in the battle of Shiloh and 
many engagements of lesser importance. 
With the exception of the time spent at the 
front Mr. Wright has always resided upon 
the old homestead farm in Concord town- 
ship, where he owns eighty acres of rich 
land, all of which is under a high state of 
cultivation. His home is one of the finest 
residences of the neighborhood, and the 
barns, outbuildings and fences are kept in 
good repair and indicate the careful super- 
vision of the owner, who is regarded as on© 
of the mijst practical, progressi\-e and pros- 
perous farmers of his neighborhood. The 
esteem in which he is held by his fellow 
townsmen is shown by the fact that he has 
served for ten consecutive years as township 
assessor. This is a township in which a 
Democrat never holds office except as a 
special mark of great confidence on the part 
of the community, for the majority is usually 
overwhelmingly Republican. He is most 
true and loyal to the trust reposed in him, 
and is a man whose pitblic and private rec- 
ord are alike beyond reproach. 



\\ ILLIAAI I. THOMAS. 

In the early history of Troy no settler 
left a more lasting impress upon the com- 
munity, in whose steady growth for more 
than half a century he was an important 
factor and an active force, than William I. 



470 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Thomas. He was born in Pliiladelpliia, July 
4, 1796, of Welsh parents, who emigrated 
to the young republic of the west soon after 
the close of the Revolutionary war. Later 
he came with his parents to Lancaster, Ohio, 
where his boyhood was spent. Subsequent- 
ly he entered the Ohio University, at Athens, 
but before completing the full college course 
began the study of law under the Hon. 
Thomas Ewing, Sr., of Lancaster. Upon 
his admission to the bar he settled in Troy 
and began the practice of his profession, in 
which he quickly gained a high and enviable 
rank, due to his great ability as a pleader 
and advocate. His practice was not con- 
hned to Miami county. He was a well- 
known figure in all the courts of the coun- 
ties north as far as Putnam, in the days 
when the most popular and often the only 
mode of travel was on horseback. Through 
this long stretch of country he became fa- 
mous for his ready wit, his forensic ability 
and his great legal learning. 

His knowledge was not confined to the 
books of his profession. He was a student 
along the lines of the best and noblest litera- 
ture and his mind and memory were stored 
with the thoughts of the great authors. 
Noted for his rare and quaint sayings, he 
was the most congenial of characters and 
his native courtesy made him the charm of 
every social circle. 

He held many local and county of^ces 
during his life. He served severa*! terms as 
justice of the peace and for a nvunber of 
years was prosecuting attorney for Miami 
■county. He also served as the Whig post- 
master, in Troy, in the '20s. Li 1836 he 
was elected to the state senate on the ^^dlig 
ticket and served as such for si.x terms. In 
the senate he quickly became one of the 
party leaders, holding the position by his 



thorough knowledge of men and things, 
and with such compeers as Chase and Gid- 
dings kept the state in the Whig column. 
In 1856. when the Whig party was a thing 
of the past, he allied himself with the Dem- 
ocratic party, his ancient enemy, but he 
never was heartily in accord with the prin- 
ciples or practice of his new political ally. 
Upon his death, November 6, 1869. the Mi- 
ami county bar paid a fitting tribute to the 
worth of Mr. Thomas in the resolutions 
which said that he was "eminently conspic- 
uous for those attributes of intellectual power 
and culture, solid and varied learning, and 
eminent professional integrity which merited 
and commanded universal respect and con- 
fidence during the long period of his active 
practice as an attorney and counselor-at- 
law and in the various oflficial trusts com- 
mitted to his charge." 

He was married, September 29, 1828, 
to Lucinda M. Neale, the daughter of 
Richard H. Neale, of Parkersinirg, Virginia, 
who belonged to a noted family of the old 
commonwealth. Of this marriage eleven 
children were born, of whom only four sur- 
vive : Stanley O., of New Orleans, Louisi- 
ana ; Walter S., Llewellyn A. and Gilmer 
T. Thomas, of Troy. e. s. vv. 



OSWELL D. LAMME. 

Oswell D. Lamme, the efficient trustee of 
Elizabeth township, and a well-known fann- 
er of Miami county, was born in Greene 
county, Ohio, June 4, 1847. His parents, 
James and Hester (Black) Lamme, were 
also natives of the same county, and the pa- 
ternal grandfather was one of its pioneers. 
On the maternal side the subject of this re- 
view is of Scotch lineage. His father was 



I 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



471 



a stock dealer, and lived in Spring valley, 
Greene county, until he departed this life, 
about 1855. 

Under the parental roof Mr. Lamme of 
this re\ie\v spent the first sixteen years of 
his life and then, actuated by a spirit of pa- 
triotism, he resix)nded to the country's call 
for aid. enlisting, in 1864, as a member of 
Company H, Thirty-fourth Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantry. He joined the regiment un- 
der the command of Colonel Hunter and 
served until the close of the war. The 
troops were attached to Sheridan's army 
and went to the front as a Zoua\e regiment, 
but later were mounted infantry. He took 
part in twenty-eight skirmishes and battles 
and was captured at Beverly, West Virginia, 
by Mosby's troops, about four hundred men 
being taken captive while in camp, the at- 
tack being made before daylight. They 
were confined in Libby prison, and, after 
suffering many of the hardships of prison 
life for forty days, were exchanged. Mr. 
Lamme then rejoined his regiment, which 
was consolidated with the Thirty-sixth 
Ohio, for at that time there were only about 
three hundred members of the Thirty-fourth 
remaining. He participated in the cam- 
paign of the Shenandoah and was constantly 
with his command, except during the period 
of his imprisonment, until honorably dis- 
charged July, 1865, at the close of the war. 
Returning to his home, Mr. Lamme pur- 
chased a farm in Allen county and in 1877 
came to Miami county. For twenty years 
he has resided upon his present farm. He 
has handled cattle, but has given the greater 
part of his attention to general farming and 
his methods are practical and enterprising, 
bringing to him good success. 

On the 25th of December, 1872, Mr. 
Lamme was united in marriage^ in Miami 



county, to Miss Mary Drake, daughter of 
Jacob and Ruth (Titus) Drake. Her par- 
ents were both natives of New Jersey, but 
were married in Ohio, and the daughter was 
born on their farm in Elizabeth township. 
The father died in the spring of 1865, but 
his wife survived him until February, 1880, 
dying on the old homestead, at the age of 
sixty-eight years. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Lamme have been born the following chil- 
dren : Rena, wife of Bert Gearheart, who is 
principal of the schools in Addison, Ohio; 
William, who pursued a commercial course- 
in the Miami Commercial College, in Day- 
ton, and is now at home, and Jesse, who 
completes the family. The daughter's hus- 
band is a son of J. H. Gearheart and was 
born in Elizabeth township. He is a grad- 
uate of the Troy high school and was a 
student in the Miami Commercial College. 
For four years he has been a successful 
teacher in the schools of Miami county. Mr. 
Lamme and his family attend the Christian 
church at Honey Creek and he is serving 
as one of its trustees. In politics Mr. Lamme 
is a Republican and in 1899 was elected 
township trustee, the duties of which posi- 
tion he is now faithfully discharging. He 
holds membership in the Marion A. Ross 
Post, G. A. R., of Addison, and to-day he 
is as true to the duties of citizenship as 
when he followed the flag upon the fields of 
battle in the south. 



GEORGE K. YOUART. 

George K. Youart is a capable engineer 
in the wheel works of Ford & Company, of 
Tippecanoe City, and with this enterprise 
has been connected almost continuously for 
thirty years. He was born in Miami coun- 



472 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ty, two miles south of Troy, ^larch 21, 
1841, his parents being James and Mary 
(Kerr) Youart. The father was a native 
of county Antrim, Ireland, born in 1804, 
and crossed the Atlantic to the United 
States in 1819, becoming a resident of Mi- 
ami county the same year, the voyage being 
made in company with his parents, John 
Alex and Ann Youart, who settled in Con- 
cord .township, where they spent their re- 
maining days, both living to an advanced 
age. James Youart learned the carpenter's 
trade in early life, but became a farmer. 
He married ]\{ary Kerr, daughter of George 
Kerr and a sister of Hamilton Kerr. In 
1856 the family came to Tippecanoe City 
and the father purchased a steam saw-mill, 
which he operated until his wife's death, in 
1 86 1. Subsequently he removed to London, 
Ohio, where he died in February, 1873, at 
the age of sixty-nine years. They had a 
family of four children, one of whom died 
at the age of thirteen years, while three grew 
to years of maturity. John, however, passed 
away at the age of twenty-nine. The living 
are George K. and Martha Ann, the latter 
now the widow of Dr. I. K. Gilbert, of Car- 
lisle, Ohio. 

George K. Youart was a youth of fifteen 
when he came with his father to Tippecanoe 
City. He assisted in the operation of his 
father's steam saw-mill and learned the busi- 
ness of engineering. He was engineer in 
the mill for a period of six years and when 
his father closed out business he was given 
the position of engineer by his successor, 
filling the place for seven years longer. He 
was also at one time employed as engineer 
by the Smith Bridge Company, of Toledo, 
and in 1869 he came to Tippecanoe City to 
set up the first engine owned by ^Ir. Ford, 
who in that vear began business as the senior 



partner of the firm of Ford & Company. 
Mr. Youart operated that engine for twenty- 
one years and in 1890 it was replaced by 
a one-hundred-and-twenty-fi\'e-horse-power 
Buckeye engine, of which he has had charge 
up to the present time, making a period of 
thirty years, which has been continuous, with 
the exception of about three years spent in 
other factories. During the forty-four years 
in which he has carried on engineering work 
he has ne\-er met with an accident by which 
he has sustained an injury. On one occa- 
sion, while he was chief engineer in the 
sugar factory, the boiler exploded, destroy- 
ing the entire battery of four one-4inndred- 
horse-power boilers, but ^Ir. Youart was 
not on duty at the time. 

On the 7th of September, 1862, Mr. 
Youart was united in marriage to Miss 
Candace Karn, who was reared by an aunt 
upon a farm which is now theirs. Four 
children have been born to them : John R., 
an engineer in the employ of the Street 
Railway Company, of Kansas City, ^lis- 
souri; Alva George, who is clerk in the 
Hotel Cordova, in Kansas City; Harry A., 
an engineer in the Union depot in Kansas 
City, and Lucian Lester, an engineer in the 
water power house at Tippecanoe City. 
The sons were all instructed by their father 
in the business, which he has made his life 
work, and were therefore well fitted fui" the 
practical duties of business life. Since 1874 
Mr. Youart has been chief engineer of the fire 
department, which owns a Silsby engine. He 
has invested in a farm near the village and 
also in village property, which indicates his 
thrift and enterprise, all having been ac- 
quired as the result of his earnest and per- 
severing effort. He is a most trusted and 
reliable employee and fully merits the con- 
fidence reposed in him. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



473 



ALFRED M. Le BLOND. 

A representative of the industrial inter- 
ests of Troy, Mr. Le Blond is nnmliered 
among the native sons of the Buckeye state, 
his birth hax'ing occurred in Mercer county, 
October 17, 1867, his parents being Alfred 
and Jane R. (Slack) Le Blond. The 
mother was born in Morrow county, where 
her people had located in pioneer days. Li 
1868, during the infancy of our subject, 
his father died and his mother then came to 
]\Iiami county. 

Alfred ^L Le Blond has therefnre spent 
almost his entire life in this localitv, was 
reared on a farm near West Milton, and 
during" his youth became familiar with all 
the duties and labors that fall to the lot of 
the agriculturist. He attended the pul:)lic 
schools and, well ecjuipped for life's prac- 
tical duties by a good English education, 
he came to Troy in 1889, and was first em- 
ployed in the Troy Wagon Works. He 
spent three years in the department where 
the wagon beds are manufactured, after 
which he became inspector of the lumber 
and is also foreman of the yards and drying 
department at the present time. A very ex- 
tensive business is carried on by this cor- 
poration at the present time and his duties 
are therefore arduous and responsible. That 
he has the unqualified confidence of the com- 
pany is evidenced by his long connection 
with the business. 

In April, 1893. Mr. Le Blond was united 
in marriage to Miss Ida R. Van Horn, of 
Elizabeth township, a daughter of John and 
Lizzie Van Horn. Their only son, V. Max, 
born August, 1899, has the distinction of 
being the only child of Miami county that 
owes its existence to the Cesarean operation. 
The little boy is the light and life of the 



home. Both Mr. and Mrs. Le Blond enjoy 
the warm regard of all with whom they have 
been brought in contact and our subject is 
highly respected as a citizen of marked in- 
dustry and worth. 



HON. NOAH H. ALBAUGH. 

The life records of the successful busi- 
ness men of Miami county are with but few 
exceptions those of men who in the early 
years of their career had to depend upon 
their own efforts for the common necessa- 
ries of life, and they had before them the 
problem how to live on a meager income. 
The life of self-denial and frugality, how- 
ever, gradually bore fruit until little by little 
they got a small amount ahead that was 
the foundation upon whicli was ])uilt the su- 
perstructure of a successful business life, 
and the attainment of positions of trust and 
honor. Such has been the record of Hon. 
Noah H. Albaugh, the second son of Sam- 
uel and Anna (Rodkey) Albaugh, who was 
born in Union township, Miami county, 
Ohio, May 22, 1834, in a log cabin erected 
by his father on eighty acres of land, which 
he entered, in 1829, at the land office at 
Cincinnati, and paid for at one dollar and 
twenty-five cents per acre. There, in 1830, 
he erected a log cabin, and there raised and 
educated a family of six children, three sons 
and three daughters, each one of whom has 
made a record as a useful member of so- 
ciety. 

The ancestors of Mr. Albaugh came to 
Philadelphia, Pennsyh-ania, in September, 
1734, on the ship "Hope," from the Palatin- 
ate of Rhenish Bavaria. Their names were 
Johann Wilhelm Ahlback, and four sons : 
Zachariah. Johann Wilhelm. Johann Ger- 
hardt and Johann Peter. The name was 



474 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



changed to Albach. Aulabacli. Allbacli, and. 
in the branch to whicli Hon. N. H. belong.s, 
to the form whicli he uses. The literal 
translation of the name into English is All- 
brook. Zachariah Albaugh is an immediate 
ancestor of the Miami county Albaughs. 
He entered government land in Frederick 
county, Maryland, and there settled and lived 
until 1782. The records of Frederick coun- 
ty show that his will was probated August 
19, 1782. He had a large family of chil- 
dren, two of whom the writer will mention 
in this sketch. First, Zachariah, who was 
born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 
September, 1747, and died in Newton town- 
ship. Licking county, Ohio, at the residence 
of his son, Solomon Albaugh, November 
9, 1856. at the remarkable old age of one 
hundred and nine years and nine months. 
He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war 
and entered the army as a private soldier, 
serving in the bloody battle of German- 
town, fought October 31, 1777. After the 
war he removed to W^estmoreland county, 
Pennsylvania, where he resided forty years. 
One of his close neighbors was General Ar- 
thur St. Clair. In 18 17 he removed to Lick- 
ing county, Ohio. 

David Albaugh, the other son, was born 
in Maryland, April i, 1760, and after his 
marriage removed to Huntingdon, Pennsyl- 
vania. He was a preacher in the German 
Baptist church. He had a large family and 
one of his sons was Samuel Albaugh, the 
father of N. H. Albaugh. The writer has 
briefly sketched the ancestry of Mr. Al- 
baugh, because it is a subject of general 
interest in this county, and of special in- 
terest to the young and rising generation of 
kinship, who proudly trace their pedigree 
to the old Bavarian who came from his 
Fatherland to the new continent, across the 



wide and restless ocean, in search of a home 
where his spirit of religious and civil liberty 
was unvexed by a tyrant king or bigoted 
priests. 

To return to the subject of this sketch, 
the writer has learned of no incident in the 
boyhood life of N. H. Albaugh other than 
the usual hard work on a farm in a new coun- 
try, where forests were to be felled and 
ground to be cleared in order that a home 
of comfort might be made. In the winter 
he attended school in a log school house, 
and, fortunately for him, bis father was a 
fair scholar, so that, in addition to what 
he learned at the log school house, he re- 
ceived instruction in the humble log-cabin 
home until he had acquired a good educa- 
tion. \\'hen he was seventeen years of age 
he obtained a certificate to teach school, and 
taught for several years, establishing such a 
reputation for thoroughness in the English 
branches that he was appointed county 
school examiner for this county, and re- 
appointed until be bad served twelve years. 

In 1855 he removed to Bethel township, 
Miami comity, purchased a small farm of 
thirty acres, and taught school in winter, 
while in the summer he farmed, until 1861. 
In 1858 he started a small nursery antl his 
business prospered and grew, so that in 
1888 it was incorporated with a capital of 
one hundred thousand dollars, under the 
name of The Albaugh Nursery & Orchard 
Company. He was elected president and 
has been re-elected every year since. The 
company is very prosperous and the exten- 
sive enterprise is the outgrowth of the small 
nursery started in 1858. It now comprises 
about five hundred acres devoted to nursery 
stock. Peach trees are his specialty, but 
he is growing extensively apples, cherries, 
plums and pears, and employs constantly 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



475 



fifty men, and about fifty additional men 
during the packing and shipping season, the 
annual output being sold principally in the 
central states of the Union. Mr. Albaugh 
also started a nursery, in 1870, at Carmi, 
Illinois, where he owns a body of land, and 
at a later date he established a nursery at 
Burlington, Kansas, and also one at Sparta, 
Wisconsin, all of which are in successful 
operation. Mr. Albaugh is a leading horti- 
culturist and is prominent in the count)' and 
state horticultural societies. He served for 
two terms as president of the American As- 
sociation of Nurserymen, and is now presi- 
dent of the Nurserymen's Mutual Protective 
Association, and was elected again, June 
13, 1900, for the tenth time. In 1890, in 
company with a number of prominent horti- 
culturists, he traveled through Georgia, with 
the result that the Albaugh Georgia Fruit 
Company was formed, with a capital stock 
of thirty-two thousand dollars, of which he 
is now president, and so successful has been 
that company that four other fruit companies 
have been formed, and are now in successful 
operation. In these he is also largely inter- 
ested. 

In 1885 Mr. Albaugh was elected rep- 
resentative to the Ohio legislature from this 
county, and re-elected in 1887. His record 
as a legislator was approved by his con- 
stituents, and, although he had no ambition 
to shine among those who aspired to be 
leaders, yet he was noted for his practical 
sense, sound judgment, and the merit of the 
bills he introduced. He drafted the present 
excellent school law of Ohio, and was un- 
tiring in his efforts to secure its passage. 
He established the reputation of being one 
of the best parliamentarians in the legisla- 
ture, and in his second term was elected by 
acclamation in the house as speaker pro-tcin, 



in which office he served with credit to him- 
self. While a member of the legislature he 
was elected president of the Troy National 
Bank, and he is at present a prominent stock- 
holder in the Fourth National Bank, of 
Dayton, Ohio. In 1892 he was chosen one 
of Ohio's presidential electors on the Re- 
publican ticket. He has always been an ar- 
dent and devoted Republican, and has done 
good service as a public speaker for the 
party, and yet his neighbors in the Demo- 
cratic township of Bethel, in which he re- 
sides, have elected him justice of the peace, 
and notwithstanding his otherwise busy life 
he has served as such for twenty-four years, 
and for over twenty years has served as 
president of the school board of the town- 
ship. One of Mr. Albaugh's strong charac- 
teristics is his devotion to his township and 
its best interests, especially its educational 
interests. Under his management and forc- 
ible influence. Bethel township has one of the 
finest high schools in the county, occupying 
a beautiful building, which is the pride and 
honor of the citizens of that agricultural 
community. The township is dotted with 
nurseries, and his influence has brought into 
the township thousands of dollars for the 
benefit of its citizens. 

During the civil war he enlisted in the 
One Hundred and Forty-seventh Regi- 
ment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, as a pri- 
vate soldier, and was promoted to or- 
derly sergeant of Company B, of that 
regiment, which was in General Augur's di- 
vision of the Twenty-second Army Corps, 
and took a gallant and effective part in re- 
pelling tJie Confederate army under Gen- 
eral Early, in its attacks on Washington 
city. He is a member of the Milton Weaver 
Post, of the Grand Army, at) Vandal ia, and 
is an active worker in that militarv order. 



476 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Fraternally, Mr. Albaugh is a devoted 
Mason and has enjo3-ed the honor of filling 
many high and responsible positions in that 
mystic order, from master of the lodge up 
to the highest honors, and is a member of the 

« 

Scottish rite, thirty-second degree, of the 
Cincinnati Consistory. 

In 1854 Mr. Albaugh was married to 
Lucinda Beeson. They had three children : 
Clifford L., born in 1855; Ida May, in 1857, 
and Jesse E., in 1861. The youngest son, 
when eighteen years of age. lost his life 
by an accident with a team which he was 
driving. Clifford L. married Francis L. 
Anderson in 1883, and they have four chil- 
dren. Mr. Albaugii and his wife are mem- 
bers of the Bethel Reformed church, and he 
has served that church as elder for thirty 
years, and for fourteen years as superintend- 
ent of the Sunday school. 

The record of the busy life above writ- 
ten would not lead the reader of this sketch 
to surmise that Hon. X. H. Albaugh was 
fond of literature, yet he is a careful reader 
of good books, and has a well selected libra- 
ry, and what is more, he has found time 
to write poetry. How much he has now in 
manuscript form, the writer does not know, 
but in 1855 he published a neat little volume 
called "Wayside Blossoms," with the follow- 
ing dedication, which speaks more eloquently 
than the writer can portray, his home life: 

"TO HER 

WHO HAS WALKED T.Y MY SITE, ADOWN 

LIFE'S VALE, 

THKOUCir Sl-NSHI.\E AND SHADOW, 

WHERE, WITHOUT HER HELP. LIKE MIGHT 

HAVE BEEN 

A FAILURE, THIS LITTLE VOLUME 

IS MOST AFFECTIONATELV DEDICATED." 



Space will not permit inserting in this 
sketch some of the poetic gems found in this 
little volume, but its publication was a com- 
plete surprise to the many friends of the 
practical man of method and good business 
sense, who is its author. 

Hon. N. H. Albaugh is a large, portly 
man, with a mannerism peculiarly his own. 
He is a genial, pleasant companion, a solid, 
practical speaker, with now and then a flash 
of wit. the more pleasant because unex- 
pected from a man of affairs. He has a 
reputation for honesty and fidelity that is 
the secret of his influence, both in pri\-ate 
and public enterprises. His is the record of 
a long and useful life, witli the promise of 
many more years of activity to come, for . 
he will never rust nut. but work until the 
Master calls. e. s. w. 



HEXRY COBLE. 

Of the business interests of Troy, there 
is none that has contributed more largely to 
the general welfare and prosperity of the 
community than the Troy Wagon Works, 
and the success of this extensive concern 
is due in a very large measure to the capa- 
bility of the foremen of the dift'erent de- 
partments. For the past fifteen years Mr. 
Coble has been superintendent of the wood 
department and enjoys the unqualified re- 
gard of the members of the corporation 
who recognize his ability and fidelity. A 
native of York county, Pennsyhania. he was 
born March 4, 1854, a son of John K. 
Coble, who was also a native of the same 
locality. The mother bore the maiden 
name of Sarah Campbell and was a daugh- 
ter of Peter Campbell, also of York, Penn- 
sylvania. In 1865 the father removed with 
his familv to Trov. where he followed his 



i 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



477 



trade, that of contracting and building, for 
a number of years. His death occurred in 
1891, but his wife still survives, and yet 
makes her home in this state. Mr. Coble 
had one brother who served in the civil war. 

The subject of this review was a lad of 
only eleven years when brought by his par- 
ents to Ohio, and in the schools of Troy he 
completed his literary education. On put- 
ting aside his text-books he learned the 
carpenter's trade, developing considerable 
mechanical ingenuity. In 18SS he entered 
the shop of the Troy ^^'agon W'orks Com- 
pany, and since that time has been foreman 
in the wood department. For three years 
prior, he was foreman of the Corn Planter 
& Rake Factory, which, in 1888, was 
merged into the wagon factory. In his 
career of fifteen years as superintendent of 
his department he has shown himself to be 
a skillful mechanic who thoroughly under- 
stands the business both in principle and de- 
tail and well merits the confidence and trust 
reposed in him. 

Mr. Coble was united in marriage to 
Ella Shilling, of Madison county, Ohio, a 
daughter of John Shilling, who located in 
Troy, in 1870, and died in this state twenty 
years later. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Coble have 
been l)orn two sons and two daughters, 
namely : Earl Raymond, who is employed as 
a clerk; AMlliam H., who is a farmer re- 
siding near Addison, Ohio, and married Miss 
Ollie Wilson, a daughter of John Wilson ; 
Bessie, who is forewoman in the Sunshade 
Factory, and May Ermie, who is attending 
school. The family have a very comfortable 
home in Troy, and the members of the house- 
hold occupy an enviable position in social 
circles. In religious belief they are Method- 
ists and take an active part in the work 
of the church here. Fraternallv, INIr. Coble 



is connected with the Royal Arcanum and, 
politically, he is a Republican, but has never 
been an aspirant for office, preferring that 
his undivided attention shall be given to 
his business affairs. The important posi- 
tion which he occupies indicates his high 
standing in industrial circles. Steadily has 
he worked his way upward, and although 
he started out in life empty handed he is 
now the possessor of a comfortable com- 
petence, which he certainly merits. 



ALBERT M. BROTHERTOX. 

Although now li\-ing retired. Albert M. 
Brotherton has been an active factor in the 
building interests of Piqua, his native city, 
where he was born on the i6th of October, 
1844. His father, Philemon Brotherton, 
was born in Onondaga county, New York, 
in 181 5, and when a boy of ten years came 
with his parents to Ohio, the family locating 
in Hamilton county, where he remained un- 
til 1829, — the year of his arrival in Piqua. 
Here he was engaged in the manufacture of 
brick until 1852, when he retired from that 
department of labor. For some years he was 
engaged in the cooperage business, employ- 
ing from five to six hands and shipping the 
barrels manufactured to Cincinnati. Subse- 
quently he conducted a grocery and produce 
business until 1885, wheir he retired to pri- 
vate life, having gained a handsome com- 
petence as the result of his careful manage- 
ment and well-directed labors. He con- 
tinued his residence in Piqua until called 
to the home beyond at the age of se\'enty- 
nine years, and was one of the most highly 
respected citizens. In early life he gave his 
political support to the Democracy, but at 
the time of the civil war he transferred his 
allegiance to the Republican party, with 



478 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



which lie affiliated until Grant's second 
term, when he returned to the Democracy. 
He was cemetery trustee for six years, but 
never desired office, preferring to devote his 
time and energies to his business interests, 
in which he met with splendid success. He 
was an active member of the Presbyterian 
church, and his aid was given cheerfully and 
largely to every movement which he believed 
would prove of public benefit. His father, 
Abel Brotherton, was a native of Syracuse 
count)'. New York, and with three brothers 
he came to Ohio in 1800. He was a soldier 
in the war of 18 12 and w-as afterward 
granted a pension by the government. He 
died at the advanced age of ninety-six years, 
after fifteen years residence in Miami coun- 
ty. In politics he was an active Democrat. 
He belonged to one of the old families of the 
country, although there is no authentic rec- 
ords extant concerning" its establishment in 
this country. On the maternal side our sub- 
ject is descended from one of the old fam- 
ihes of Pennsylvania. His mother, who bore 
the maiden name of Nancy Morton, was 
born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, and came 
to Logan county, Ohio, with her parents 
during her early girlhood. They removed 
to Miami county about 1836, and here the 
parents of our subject were married. Mrs. 
Brotherton spent the remainder of her life 
in Piqua and survived her husband only 
twenty-three days, dying at the age of 
eighty-five. She was an active member of 
the Presbyterian church and a lady whose 
many excellencies of character commended 
her to the friendship and regard of all with 
whom she came in contact. She had two 
children: Albert M., and Frank P., who is 
just eight years younger than his brother, 
and is now foreman in the lumber yard 
and planing mill here. 



Albert M. Brotherton spent his boyhood 
days in Piqua and attended the public 
schools. He left the high school before he 
was- eighteen years of age to enlist, on the 
5th of September, 1861, as a member of 
Company K, First Ohio Volunteer Infan- 
try, with which he served for three years and 
one month. He took part in a numl)er of im- 
portant engagements, including the battles 
of Shiloh, Pittsburg Landing. Perryville. 
Stone River, Chickamauga, ^lission Ridge 
and Atlanta, and on the expiration of his 
term of service was honorably discharged 
at Nashville, Tennessee, on the 24th of Sep- 
tember, 1864. He was captured at the bat- 
tle of Stone River, but was only held as a 
prisoner for about an hour, when he was re- 
captured by L^nion cavalry troops. He sus- 
tained four slight flesh wounds, but was al- 
ways found at his post of duty, faithfully 
performing e\ery task assigned to him. 

Mr. Brotherton was not (|uite twenty- 
one years of age when he returned from 
the war with an honorable military record, 
which many an older veteran might welt 
have envied. He afterward attended a com- 
mercial college in Lulianapolis, Indiana, and 
later entered upon his business career in the 
capacity of Ixiokkeeper. He then sold lum- 
ber for several vears and followed the mill- 
wright's trade in Ohio and eastern Indiana 
in connection with his father-in-law, Peter 
\\"ea\'er. He was thus engaged for se\eral 
years, and then began contracting and build- 
ing on his own account in Piqua, erecting 
the South street and North street school . 
houses, remodeling the opera house and re- 
building the Frank Gray Woolen Mill. He 
also built an addition to that jjlant and 
erected many of the dwelling houses of 
Piqua, building thirty-five in one year. He 
has charge of the Investment Company 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



479 



here and owns considerable property in 
Piqua, together with a valuable farm of 
two hundred acres in Mercer county. His 
business career was a very active one. in 
which indolence and idleness were at no 
times manifest. On the other hand energy, 
persex'crance and enterprise are numbered 
among his chief characteristics and have 
contributed in large measure to his suc- 
cess. In 1896 he retired to private life and 
is now enjoying a rest which he richly 
merits. 

On the 26th of December. 1867. Mr. 
Brotherton was united in marriage to Miss 
Anna W'eaver. daughter of Peter and Susan 
(Tunys(jn) Weaver, who removed from 
New Jersey to Miami county. Ohio, at an 
early day. Her father was a millwright and 
worked in the lock mills here. Mrs. Bmther- 
ton was reared in Piqua and is widely known 
in the city. She belongs to the Presbyterian 
church, and Mr. Brotherton is \'ery generous 
in his contributions to its support. In pol- 
itics he is a Democrat and is active in work- 
ing for his friends who desire office, but has 
never sought political preferment for him- 
self. He served on the central ciimmittee 
of the county for seven years, and, as every 
true American citizen should do, feels a deep 
interest in the success of the principles which 
he advocates. He belongs to both the lodge 
and the encampment of the Odd Fellows 
society, in Picjua, and to the Improved Order 
of Red Men. He is also a member of Alex- 
ander Mitchell Post, G. A. R., of which he 
has served as commander. Although he 
inherited liis father's estate, he has added 
largely to it, his powers of management en- 
abling him to greatly augment his capital, 
until he is to-day one of the most substantial 
citizens of Miami county. His business 
methods have ever Ijeen straightforward and 



honorable, and well does he deserve classi- 
fication among the representative men of 
the citv. 



OLIVER P. RUSSELL. 

01i\-er P. Russell is serx'ing as justice of 
the peace and pension general at Troy. He 
is a native of Miami county, born September 
28, 1826, his parents being Isaac and Tamar 
(Mendenhall) Russell, the former of \\'elsh 
extraction. The mother's people were na- 
tives of Nantucket island, and the maternal 
great-grandfather of our subject was killed 
by the Indians at an early period in the de- 
velopment of this covmtry. One of his sons 
was also killed and scaljjcd at that time and 
another son, the grandfather of our subject. 
was made a prisoner and held a captix'e for 
several years, after which he was exchanged 
for an Indian girl whom the white people 
had captured. The father of our subject 
was born in South Carolina, in 1800, and in 
1806 came to Miami county. Here he ar- 
rived at years of maturity, after which he 
wedded Tamar Alendenhall, whose birth oc- 
curred in North Carolina in 1798. They lo- 
cated on a farm four miles south of Troy, 
and there spent their remaining days, both 
living to a ripe old age. They were among 
the pioneer settlers of Miami county, tak- 
ing up their abode here when the entire 
region was almost an unbroken wilderness, 
gix'ing little promise of future development 
and progress. They had a family of ten 
children, one of whom died in infancy. The 
others reached years of maturity and five of 
the number are now living. The only sur- 
viving brother of our subject is Joseph Rus- 
sell, a resident of Morrow county, Ohio. 
The sisters are : Mrs. Rosanna Brooks, 
of Mulberry. Kansas; Mrs. Harriet Pear- 



480 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



son, a resident of Miami county : and Airs. 
Tamar M. Dixon, of Alecosta county, Mich- 
igan. Tlidse who liave passed away are : 
Samuei. who died in March, 1S96. wlien 
about seventy-three years of age ; Isaac, who 
died in 1855, at the age of twenty-three; 
Rachel, who died about 1895, ^^ the age of 
sixty-eight years; Mrs. Rutli Evans, who 
died in early womanhood ; and an infant 
who died unnamed. 

Oliver Perry Russell acquired a common 
school education in his native county and 
entered upon his independent business career 
as a farmer. About 1852 he purchased land 
in Tippecanoe county, Indiana, adding this 
to a tract which had come to him through 
inheritance. He operated this farm for 
eight years and then, selling the property, 
purchased a farm in INIontgomery county, 
Ohio, which he owned until after the close 
of the ci\il war. During the time the south 
was engaged in an attempt to overthrow the 
L nion ]\[r. Russell was numbered among 
those who wore the blue, and enlisted as a 
member of Company G, One Hundred and 
Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry, with the rank 
of corporal. He served at Fort Marcy at 
^^'ashing■ton, D. C, his regiment being en- 
gagetl in defending the capital. He en- 
hsted fur one hundred and thirty days, but 
remained in ser\-ice for four months. The 
hardships of war brought on disease, and for 
a number of years following his discharge 
he suffered greatly and at length was obliged 
to lose his right limb. He now receives a 
pension granted him by the government. 

A\'hen the war was over ]\Ir. Russell sold 
his farm and located in Dayton, where for 
thirteen years he engaged in business as a 
contractor and builder. He also represented 
the Dayton Machine Company, traveling on 
the road for six years. He sold agricultural 



implements throughout sixteen states and 
was regarded as a very successful and reli- 
able traveling salesman. On leaving Dav- 
ton he took up his abode in Cardington, 
Morrow county, Ohio, where he lived for 
nineteen years. During that time he served 
for three years as constable and for twelve 
years as justice of the peace. On the ist 
of April, 1897, he came to Troy and for one 
year was not connected with business cares, 
but after the expiration of that period he was 
elected justice of the peace and has since 
filled that position, discharging his duties in 
a creditable manner, his dicisions being 
marked by the utmost fairness and impar- 
tiality. He has also been a recognized pen- 
sion agent for several years and has pros- 
ecuted a large number of claims to successful 
terminatiiin. 

Mr. Russell was married, on the 23d of 
November, 1845, t'J Miss Lucretia Kerr, 
who was born in Miami county June 2, 
I S28. Theirs was a long and hapijy married 
life, co^•ering a period of over fifty-three 
years; but on March 16. 1899, Mrs. Rus- 
sell was called to the home beyond. Four 
children were born of their union, of whiim 
two are now living, namelv : Mattie and 
; Alice. Isaac H., who was the eldest, died 
I at the age of four and a half years, and 
Emma died when a year old. Mrs. Mattie 
I Utter, the elder surviving daughter, is liv- 
, ing in this city, while Mrs. Alice McClem- 
ent makes her home in Dayton, Ohio. The 
sons-in-law are both active and successful 
business men. Mrs. Russell was a con- 
sistent Christian lady, a member of the Meth- 
ixlist church, and was a lo\-ing and devoted 
wife and mother and a woman universally 
esteemed for her many excellent traits of 
character. Mr. Russell has also been a life- 
kmg member of the Methodist church. He 



J 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



481 



belongs to the Grand Army Post, of Card- 
ington, Ohio, and lias al\va\-s gi\-en his po- 
litical support to the Republican party. He 
has held various local offices, including that 
of assessor, road supervisor and a member 
of the school board, and every trust reposed 
in him has been faithfully performed. His 
life record has been unassailable, for hon- 
esty is synonymous with his name. 



FRANKLIN A. DEWEESE. 

For fifteen years Franklin A. Deweese 
has resided upon the farm in Staunton town- 
ship, which is now his home, and has there 
engaged in the raising of garden and hot- 
house vegetables for the market. His en- 
tire life has been spent in Miami county. 
He was born on the farm where Ed Rusk 
now lives, his natal day being September 
19, 1854, and is a representative of one of 
the old Virginian families. His grandfa- 
ther, Joshua Deweese, was born in the latter 
state December 4. 1796, and having arrived 
at years of maturity wedded Mary Girard, 
who was the first white female child boi-n in 
]\Iianii county, her l)irth occurring April 
21, 1800. Their marriage occurred in June, 
1818, and unto tliem were born fifteen chil- 
dren : Samuel \\'., burn July 14. 1819; Ber- 
tha, born February i, 1821 ; Sarah, April 
27, 1822; Catherine, February 16, 1824; 
Henry G., January 8, 1826; George \V., 
January i, 1828; Rachel, July 7, 1S29: 
Juhn, February 19, 1831 ; Joshua, September 
I, 1832; Joseph, May 30, 1834; Thomas, 
May 5, 1839; Mary, January 30, 1840; Mary 
A., who died in infancy; ]\Iary A., the sec- 
ond (if the name, born July iS, 1849; ^■'"^ 
James, who was born November 9, 1853, 
and died during the war. 



Henry G. Deweese, the father of our 
subject, was a native of Staunton township, 
and in early manhood entered land from 
the government, thus becoming owner of 
the farm now the property of Isaac Peck. 
He was born and reared on a farm of eighty 
acres, which his father had entered, and there 
made his home until his marriage to Miss 
Lucy Estey, who was born in Lijst Creek 
township. Miami count v, Februarx' 21. 1830, 
and passed away Alarch 26, 1900. She was 
a daughter of Da\-id Estey, whose l)irth oc- 
curred in Nova Scotia July 31, 1792. Her 
mother bore the maiden name of Ann Knoop 
and was born in Nova Scotia March 19, 
1792. Mr. and Mrs. Estey had a family 
of ele\'en children, as fcjllows: James E.. 
bom September 17, 1814; Michael, born 
April 13, 1816; Eunice, born February 24, 
1818: Charles, born April 5. 1820; George, 
born December 2, 1821 ; Simon, born Jan- 
uary 24, 1824; Mary, born March 9, 1826; 
William, born April 6, 1828; Lucy A., born 
February 2/, 1830; Jotham, born October 
5, 1833; si'"^l Maria, born February 7, 1836. 
Mr. and Mrs. Deweese became the parents 
of nine children: Annetta, born July 16, 
1849 • ^elia A., born April 10, 185 1 ; Jotham, 
born January 16, 1853; Franklin; Henry 
H., born Alay 17, 1856; JMaggie, who was 
born May 2, i860, and is now deceased; 
Florence, who was born September 8, 1862, 
and has also passed away; Docia, born Sep- 
tember 18, 1869; and Alva W., bnrn jNIarch 

13. 1873- 

^\'hen Franklin Deweese was a lad of 
twelve years he accompanied his parents on 
their removal to what became known as the 
old De Freese farm, in Staunton township, 
and there he was reared to manhood, de- 
voting his time and energies to the work of 
the farm through the summer months, while 



482 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in tlie winter season he pursued, his edu- 
cation in tlie common schools. On attain- 
ing his majority lie hegan operating a stone 
quarry on his father's farm, and was thus 
employed for two years, after which he re- 
moved to Shelby county, where he followed 
farming one year. He then came to Staun- 
ton township and rented his father's farm 
for fue years. In 1885 he removed to the 
place where he now makes his home. He 
has live acres of land, which is devoted to 
the raising of garden products. He has two 
green houses, one 72.X20 feet, the other 
44x16 feet. He raises lettuce. in his hot- 
houses and places upon the market some of 
the finest specimens of garden vegetables 
raised in this part of the county. He has 
made a close study of the business to which 
he gi\es his attention and thoroughly lui- 
derstands the needs of the different plants. 
His close attention to his busines.';. his care- 
ful management and his enterprise have re-' 
suited in bringing to him a good income. 

Mr. Deweese was married. November 
20, 1879, to Miss Nettie Small, who was 
born February 24. 1859, and is the daugh- 
ter of David and Ellen (Conklin) Small. 
David B. Small was born in Hamilton coun- 
ty. Ohio. November 3, J 832, and was six 
months old when brought to Miami county. 
The mother was born in New Jersey De- 
cember 7, 1836, and came to Miami count}' 
when three years of age. The union 
of Mr. and Mrs. Deweese has been blessed 
with Tne children : Lester, born IMarch 26, 
1882; Clyde, born July 10. 1884; Mattie, 
born July 16, 1887; El wood, born July 26, 
1890; and ]May, born Alay 25, 1892. The 
family circle yet remains unbroken by the 
hand of death. The parents are members of 
the Christian church, and Mr. Deweese gives 
liis political support to the Republican party. 



He has served as superintendent of the Troy 
and Piqua pike for sixteen years, and is 
interested in everything pertaining to the 
substantial improvement and upbuilding of 
the countv. 



WTLLIA^I E. PRILL. 

While it is necessary that a man of ex- 
cellent executive force be at the head of ex- 
tensive business concerns, the success of 
every enterprise must depend in a very large 
measure upon the faithful performance of 
duty by each employee, and the aggregate 
effort in such cases results in prosperity for 
the concern. William E. Prill is one of the 
oldest employes in years of continued serv- 
ice with Ford & Company, and at all times 
has merited the confidence and trust reposed 
in him. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, 
September 22. 1859. and when only three 
years of age was brought to Tippecanoe 
City by his parents, John and Eliza (Smith) 
Prill. The father carried on blacksmithing 
at this place until his death, which occurred 
in 1896, when he had attained the age of 
eighty-four years. His widow still survi\es 
him, as do their two children, Ophelia Ann, 
now the wife of J. C. Collins, of Pontiac, 
Michigan, and W. E.. of this review. 

No event of special importance occurred 
to vary the usual routine of boy life during 
the early years of William E. Prill, and in 
1874, at the age of fifteen, he entered upon 
his business career as an employe of Ford & 
Company, the tasks assigned him being 
those usually given an errand boy. His 
fitlelity and close application won him pro- 
motion from time to time. He worked in 
the spoke department for a considerable 
period and performed other services in the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



483 



shop until August. 1898. when he was ap- 
pointed to succeed E. A. Jackson in tlie of- 
fice. He then assumed charge of the ship- 
ping interests and otiier detail work of the 
house, and the firm has fecund liim a most 
valuahle representati\e. With the exception 
of three men he is now the oldest employe 
of the company, having heen connected 
therewith f(ir twenty-six years. 

On the /th of January, 1882. William 
E. Prill was united in marriage to Miss 
Carrie Belle Hutchins. daughter of Colonel 
K. P. Hutchins. who was commander of the 
Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry dur- 
ing the civil war and is now a resident of 
Knoxville. Arkansas. Mrs. Prill was born 
in. Tipi>ecanoe City on the 30th of April, 
1862. In the family is an adopted daughter. 
Bertha Maud, who has found a pleasant 
home with 'Mv. and Mrs. Prill since the age 
of seven years, and is now a school girl of 
thirteen. Our subject and his wife hold 
membership in the English Lutheran church, 
in which he is filling the office of deacon. 
Mrs. Prill is a graduate of the Tippecanoe 
City high school and a member of the Chau- 
tauqua Circle and is a lady of culture and 
refinement, who presides with gracious hos- 
pitality over their pleasant home. In his 
social relations Mr. Prill is an Odd Fellow. 
belonging to Tippecanoe Lodge. Xo. 247, 
in which h^has passed all the chairs and is 
now a member of the board of trustees. He 
and his wife affiliate with the Rebekah de- 
gree of the fraternity, and he is past chan- 
cellor of the Knights of Pythias lodge. His 
political support is given the Republican 
party, and he takes a deep and active interest 
in its growth and welfare. He ser\ed for 
two years as a member of the county execu- 
tive committee and his labors have been ef- 
fective in promoting its interests. Almost 



his entire life has been passed in Tippecanoe 
City, and his sterling qualities have gained 
for him the esteem of his fellow men. 



J. HARRISON SMITH. 

Although CLimparati\ely a young man, 
this gentleman has already attained dis- 
tinction as one of the ablest members of the 
Piqua bar, and is now serving as prosecuting 
attorney of Miami county. In this profes- 
sion probably more than any other success 
depends upon individual merit, upon a 
thorough understanding of the principles of 
jurisprudence, a poweK of keen analysis and 
the ability to present clearly, concisely and 
forcibly the strong points of his cause. Pos- 
sessing these necessary qualifications. Mr. 
Smith is accorded a foremost place in the 
ranks of the profession in Miami county 
and stands to-day one of the most esteemed 
members of the Piqua bar. 

He was born in that city. September i, 
1 861, and is a son of John Frederick and 
Mary (Sullenbarger) Smith. The father, 
who was born in Baden Batlen. Germany, 
in 1833, was a soldier in the civil war and 
was killed in the battle of Stone Ri\-er. The 
mother was a native of Westmoreland coun- 
t\', Pennsylvania, where she was reared, and 
in 1850 came to Miami county, Ohio, where 
she located permanently, becoming the wife 
of John F. Smith in i860. 

Air. Smith spent his boyhood and vc^utli 
in Piqua, attending the public schools and 
graduating from the high school in 1884. 
In 1885 he entered the Ohio Wesleyan LTni- 
versity, at Delaware, Ohio, where he pur- 
sued the work of the classical course for a 
year. He then entered Harvard L'niversity, 
where he remained two vears, taking the 



484 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



regular classical cmirse and alsu studying 
philosophy, political economy, history and 
law. On his return to Piqua he commenced 
the study of law with Hon. John McDon- 
ald, of that city. Soon afterwarvl, in 1890, 
he reco:\'ed the appointment as special agent 
in the United States census department to 
ascertain the mortgaged indebtedness of the 
states of Mississippi and Arkansas, and was 
engaged on that work for six months, at 
the end of whicli time he went to Washing- 
ton, D. C, to assist in the classification of 
the mortgaged indebtedness of the United 
States, completing that work in 1893. In 
the meantime he entered the Columbia Law 
School at Washington, -from which ho re- 
cei\ed the degree of bachelor of law in 1891 
and master of law in 1892. In 1893 he was 
iidmitted to the bar at Richmond, Virginia. 
On leaving Washington Mr. Smith re- 
turned to his old home in Miami .cxinnty. 
Ohio, and worked on the farm for two 
years, but on the 14th of March, 1896, he 
was admitted tij practice in Ohio, and has 
since devotetl his time and attention to his 
professional duties, his office being in Piqua. 
On the 6th of June, 1896, he was nominated 
by the Republican party as their candidate 
for prosecuting attorney; was elected at tlie 
general election the following November, 
and took charge of the office in January, 
1897. In Xovember, 1899, he was re- 
elected for a term of three years, which does 
not expire imtil January, 1903. He has 
priiN'ed a most eflicient man for the place, 
and the affairs of the county have never 
been better managed in this direction than 
under his prosecution. As a Republican he 
has taken (|uite an active and prominent i)art . 
in local, congressional and state politics for 
the past ten years. He is a good judge of 
law, and, what is of aln.ost equal import- 



ance, a good judge of men, and it is these 
qualities, together with his earnestness and 
ability as a speaker, that have given him 
marked success in jury cases. Fraternally 
he is a member of Dorson Lodge, Xo. 16, 
F. & A. M., of ^\'ashington, D. C. : Piqua 
Lodge, No. 8, I. O. O. F. ; and Piepia Lodge, 
No. s^i- B. P. O. E. 



WILLIA^I B. TEX EICK. 

The name of ]\Ir. Ten Eick is one 
which has figured conspicuously in connec- 
tion with the industrial interests of Tippe- 
car.oe City. He has n(it onh^ the ability to 
plan Init the power to execute, and in these 
qualities lies the secret of his prosperity. 
Absolute capability, often exists in specific 
instances, but is never brought into the clear 
light of the utilitarian and practical life. 
Hope is of the valley, while effort stands upon 
the mountain top; so that personal advance- 
ment comes not to the one who hopes alone, 
but the one whose hope and faith are those 
of action. Thus is determined the full meas- 
ure of success to one who has struggled un- 
der disadvantageous circumstances, and the 
prostrate mediocrity to another whose ility 
has been as great and opportunities wider. 
Then we may well hold in high regard the 
results of indi\-idual effort and jjersoi ac- 
complishment, for cause and efl'ect here 
maintain their functions in full fi.>rce. It 
is along these lines that Mr. Ten Eick has at- 
tained to his present enviable position in con- 
nection with the business interests of his na- 
tive county. 

He was born in Bethel township, IMiami 
county, on the 14th of July, 1834, and is a 
son of Henry Ten Eick, who was born in 
Somerset county, New Jersey, August 14, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



487 



1802. The family is of Dutch Hneage, the 
paternal great-grandfather of our subject be- 
ing Henry Ten Eick. who came froin Hol- 
land in an early day. taking up his abode in 
New Jersey. Durmg the Revolutionary 
war he joined the colonial arm}', serving 
under General Washington with the rank 
of captain, and participated in the battle of 
Bunker Hill and other memorable engage- 
ments. He died at the advanced age of 
eighty-six years. His son, ilathew Ten 
Eick, was born in New Jersey, May 4, 1764, 
and was also one of the heroes of the Revolu- 
tion. On the gtli of April, 1796, he married 
Cornelia Post, whose Ijirth occurred Jan- 
uary 4, 1 771. With his family Mathew 
Ten Eick remo\ed from New Jersey to Ohio 
in 1812, making the trip by team. He lo- 
cated in Montgomery ctjunty, near the pres- 
ent city of Miamisljurg, where he erected a 
rude log cabin, beginning life on the frontier 
in true pioneer style. He soon purchased 
a farm, and with unflagging industry de- 
veloped a good home, there spending the 
greater part of his active business life. He 
passed the last eight years of his earthlv ])il- 
grimage in Bethel township, living with his 
son Henry, and died in April, 1853, when 
almost ninety years of age. His wife passed 
away in May, 1849. They were the parents 
of four sons and a daughter. Mathew, the 
youngest son, went to Iowa at an early 
period in the development of that state, and 
in connection witli Governor Lucas laid out 
Iowa City. His eldest daughter was the first 
white child born in the place. 

Henry Ten Eick, the father of our sub- 
ject, was the third son in the family of 
Mathew Ten Eick. During his youth he ex- 
perienced all the hardships and trials of pio- 
neer life, but thereby developed a vigorous 

constitution and a fine phvsiriue. In the fall 
28 I . 1 



of 1 82 1 he engaged in teaming to Fort 
Wayne, Indiana, where he made the ac- 
cjuaintance of Colonel Johnson, and a warm 
friendship sprang up between them, which 
lasted through life. In the spring of 1822 
I\Ir. Ten Eick removed to Shelby county, 
Ohio, and located on a farm, where he car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits and stock rais- 
ing. His efforts there were attended with 
signal success, and to his superior foresight 
as a business man, his industry and econo- 
my, may be attributed his prosperity. He 
remained for six years in Shelby county, 
and then took up his abode in Bethel town- 
ship, Miami county, where he remained un- 
til 1865, when he came to Tippecanoe City. 
He started out in business for himself with 
but limited capital, and through his capable 
management and unflagging industry he 
amassed a large fortune. He owned four- 
teen hundred acres of land in one tract, lying 
in the Horse Shoe bend of Honey creek. 
Bethel township. He placed the entire 
amount under a high state of cultivation. 
He also owned the model farm of central 
Ohio, comprising one thousand acres, for 
which he refused sixty thousand dollars. 
When the Wyandotte reservation of Ohio 
was sold he purchased twenty-seven hundred 
acres, afterward disposing of it in two tracts 
at a large profit. He was equally success- 
ful in stock dealing and established a wide 
reputation, owing to his excellent judge of 
horses. His selection of horses was re- 
garded as par excellence. While buying 
horses in Kentucky he became acquainted 
with Henry Clay, at whose house he fre- 
quently dined. At one time he convinced 
Clay that the farming implements of the 
Miami valley were superior to those used in 
Kentucky and expressed him a patent Wil- 
mington plow, which \vas greatly appre- 



488 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ciated by the Kentucky statesman. Mr. Ten 
Eick afterward sold Mr. Clav what tlie 
latter said was the finest horse he ever 
owned. During the ci\il war the father of 
our subject took out contracts to furnisl-. 
mules for the government, and among the 
many hundred that he supplied, so well had 
they been selected, not one was rejected by 
the government inspectors. In his early life 
j\Ir. Ten Eick was connected with the Whig 
partv, and on the organization of the new 
Republican party he joined its ranks. He 
was married, May 30, 182 1, to Miss Eleanor 
Barkalow, and fifty years later they cele- 
brated their golden wedding. The lady was 
born November 19, 1812, and by her mar- 
riage became the mother of the following 
named children : Sarah, who was born Jan- 
uary 2/, 1823, became the wife of Robert 
Morrison on the 29th of December. 1842. 
and died September 20. 1849; Tunis, born 
January 27, 1825, died June 23. 1865; Der- 
rick B.. born June 12, 1827. was married 
December 27, 1848, to Mary Le Fever, and 
died March 17, 1849; ^lary C, born April 
30, 1829, died May 24. 1844; Rachel, born 
May 30, 1 83 1, is now the wife of David 
McConnaughey and is living in Tippecanoe 
City; William B. is the next of the family; 
David S.. Ijorn June 12, 1836, was married 
September 29, 1864, to Hannah J. Smith, 
and died January 24, 1867; Joseph H., born 
June 29, 1839, died October 2/, 1865; 
IMathew. born April, i, 1841, and Robert, 
born July 18, 1843, "^^'^^^ the youngest mem- 
bers of the family. 

William B. Ten Eick was reared in 
Bethel township, remaining upon the home 
farm until twenty years of age, when he 
went to Wyandotte county, Ohio, to assume 
the management of his father's stock farm, 
embracing twenty-seven hundred acres of 



land. There he remained for four years and 
on the expiration of that period he returned 
to Bethel township, Miami county, where 
he carried on agricultural pursuits until 
after the inauguration of the civil war. when 
he responded to his country's call for troops, 
enlisting on the 13th of May, 1864. as a 
member of Company B, One Hundred and 
Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry, being mus- 
tered in at Camp Dennison. With his com- 
mand he was then sent to the defense of 
Washington and served for four months, 
after which he returned to his native town- 
ship, where he carried on farming until 
1879. In that year he located in Tippe- 
canoe City, where he has since made his 
home. In 1883 he became one of the stuck- 
holders in the Tippecanoe Paper Mill, and 
for four years was the president of the cor- 
poration. In 1888 he became the vice-presi- 
dent of the Tippecanoe Whip Company and 
has since held that ofiice. He also owns a 
fruit farm of one hundred acres at George- 
town, Indiana, comprising peaches and 
pears. 

Mr. Ten Eick has been three times mar- 
ried. On the 15th of April, 1858. he wedded 
Louisa Kiser, by whom he had two children : 
Grace, who died December 21,' 1865. and 
Charley, a merchant of Tippecanoe City. 
The mother died April 4, 1884, and on the 
3d of January, 1885, Mr. Ten Eick wedded 
Miss Sophia Herrmann, who died July i, 
1890. Their only child, William H., died 
in infancy. On the 12th of October, 1893, 
Mr. Ten Eick married Miss Melissa Flor- 
ence Dye, of Elizabeth township. Mr. and 
Mrs. Ten Eick have many friends in Tip- 
pecanoe City and enjoy the hospitality of 
the best homes of this locality. 

In politics he is a stalwart Republican, 
and is a member of D. M. Rouzer Post, Xo. 



II 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



489 



393, G. A. R. He has been a member of the 
Baptist church since the age of eighteen 
3'ears and at all times has been loyal to his 
professions. He possesses resolute purpose 
and untiring industry and these qualities 
have enabled him to so conduct his business 
affairs as to win therefrom a handsome 
competence. He is very reliable in all mat- 
ters of business, and his honesty commends 
him to the confidence and good will of all. 
His genial and courteous manner make 
him popular and he is justly regarded as 
one of the representative, valuable and hon- 
orable citizens of this section of Ohio. 



DANIEL ARGERBRIGHT. 

Daniel Argerbright, proprietor of the 
leading photograph studio of Troy, was born 
in Rockingham county, Virginia, April 3, 
1834, his parents being Abraham and Deli- 
lah (Eaton) Argerbright, both of whom 
were natives of Virginia. His great-grand- 
father, George Agerbright, served under the 
personal command of General Washington 
in the Revolutionary war. The mother's 
people were of English lineage. In 1840 
the parents of our subject came to Ohio, 
locating at West Alexandria, Preble county, 
where the father died in 1845. The mother 
afterward removed to Indiana, where her 
last days were spent. She was again mar- 
ried, her second husband being a Mr. An- 
derson. 

Mr. Argerbright, whoso name begins 
this sketch,. has spent nearly his entire life 
in Preble and Miami counties, and to the 
common-school system of the state is in- 
debted for the educational privileges which 
he enjoyed. In early life he served an ap- 
prenticeship as a body-maker in a carriage 



manufactory, and in i860 he began business 
on his own account, conducting a factory in 
Tippecanoe City until 1872. He then or- 
ganized the Troy Spring Wagon & Wheel 
Works, of which he was superintendent for 
four years, when he re-signed to accept a 
position with the Milburn Wagon Company, 
at Toledo. Six months afterward the works 
were burned and he was thus thrown out 
of employment. Returning to Troy, he pur- 
chased property and established a carriage 
shop, which he conducted for a short time 
and then closed out. He was the first man 
in Ohio to introduce and use macliinery 
in the manufacture of light vehicles, estab- 
lishing this innovation in Tippecanoe in 
1870. Since abandoning the business of 
carriage manufacturing he has engaged in 
photographic work and conducts an excellent 
studio in Troy, where he not only takes first 
class pictures, but also does water-color, 
crayon and pastel work. He also handles 
photographic supplies for men in the pro- 
fession and for amateurs. He has a gallery 
well equipped for turning out a high grade 
of work and receives from the public a very 
liberal patronage, which is 'well merited. 

Mr. Argerbright was married, March i, 
1855, in Monroe township, Miami count}-, 
to Miss Sarah I. Wells, a native of this 
county and a daughter of Silas Wells, who 
was born in North Carolina and came to Ohio 
in pioneer days. They lost one child and 
have one living, now Mrs. Lucy B. Wagner, 
of Troy. They own their own home, which 
is one of the pleasant residences of the city, 
celebrated for its gracious hospitality. 

Mr. Argerbright assisted in recruiting a 
regiment for service in the civil war and was 
tendered a first lieutenancy, but hoiue in- 
terests demanded his attention and he re- 
mained in Miami county. He was, how- 



490 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ever, a loyal Union subject, and to the ex- 
tent of his means assisted in caring for sol- 
diers' families. In 1855 he joined the Ma- 
sonic fraternity and has attained the rank of 
Knight Templar. He served as worshipful 
master in Tippecanoe Lodge and also filled 
the same position in the lodge at Troy. He 
and his family are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, with which he has been 
connected for over forty years. Until 1870 
he was a radical Republican, but in that year 
allied himself with the Prohibition party, 
which he supported until recently, when he 
became an adherent of the doctrines of the 
Union Reform party. He is a man firm in 
the support of his honest convictions, and at 
all times has been true to every trust reposed 
in him. His business success is the result 
of his commendable eft'orts, and as the archi- 
tect of his own fortune he has builded wisely 
and well. 



HOX. ^lARTIX K. GAXTZ. 

Hon. Martin K. Gantz, the son of George 
and Caroline (Kissinger) Gantz, was born 
in Bethel township, Miami county, Ohio, 
January 28, 1862. His father was a farm- 
er, and our subject remained on the farm, 
obtaining what education he could at the 
country schools until he was sixteen years 
of age, when he attended the Normal School 
at Lebanon, Ohio, for two years. 

In ]\Iarcli, 1880. he entered the law 
office of Hon. E. S. Williams, of Troy, as a 
student, and there remained until 1882, when 
he entered the Cincinnati Law School, in 
which he was graduated in June, 1883. Mr. 
Gantz entered into partnership with Hon. 
E. S. Williams and remained with him until 
1889. In 1891 he formed a partnership 
with A. F. Broomhall, Esq.. in the practice 



of law, which continued until 1894. Since 
that date he has had no partner, but has 
built up a lucrative practice. As a lawyer 
he is careful in the selection of his cases, but 
when he accepts a case he is diligent in its 
preparation and energetic in bringing it to 
a conclusion, and rarely fails to win his 
cause. 

In 1884 he was nominated for prose- 
cuting attorney of this county bv the Demo- 
cratic party against Samuel C. Jones, and 
was only defeated by a majority of less than 
five hundred, when the majority for the 
Republican party in the county that year was 
nine hundred and eighty-seven. In March, 
1890, he was nominated by the Democratic 
party for mayor of Troy and was elected by 
a majority of one hundred and ninety-two, 
over an able man, notwithstanding the Re- 
publican majority on the rest of the ticket 
was two hundred and fifty. On the ist of 
October he was nominated by the Democ- 
racy for congress in the fourth congres- 
sional district, then composed of the counties 
of Champaign, Darke, fiercer. Miami, 
Preble and Shelby, over a number of the 
strongest men in the district, after a remark- 
ably exciting political convention that met 
in July and adjourned three times, the con- 
test virtually continuing from July to Oc- 
tolier. The election was also a contest that 
was fought by the Republican nominee. 
General W. P. Orr, a popular and wealthy 
man, yet ]\Ir. Gantz was elected by twenty 
thousand, seven hundred and five, against 
nineteen thousand two hundred and five 
votes cast for General Orr. This is a proud 
record for a young man who, at that time, 
was only twenty-eight years of age — a rec- 
ord such as is seldom made, CAcn in this M 
land of popular suffrage. 

AX'ith the exception of Hon. Joseph \\'. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



491 



Bailey, of Texas, Air. Gantz was the young- 
est member of tlie fifty-second congress. In 
tliat congress he became known as an in- 
dustrious member, who was very attentive 
to tlie interests of his constituents. He was 
a member of the important committee on 
banking and currency, and also of tho com- 
mittee on election of president and vice- 
president and United States senators. He 
made a speech in congress in support of a 
bill sulimitting an amendment to the con- 
stitution to elect United States senators by 
a direct vote of the people, instead of state 
legislatures, which attracted wide attention 
and favorable comment. In 1892 Miami 
county was placed in the seventh congress- 
ional ilistrict, which was Republican Ijy such 
a large majority that the Democratic nomi- 
nee had no hope of success. Mr. Gantz was 
nominated by acclamation and received the 
full support of his party, running ahead of 
the ticket by two hundred votes. 

On the 1st of October, 1885, Mr. Gantz 
was married, in Troy, to Miss Gertrude 
Baird. the daughter of Davis and Martha 
Baird. To this union, one son, Maurice, 
was born, December 13, 1886. Mrs. Ger- 
trude Baird Gantz departed this life May 
25, 1888. In October, 1891, Mr. Gantz was 
married to Miss Mary Green, the daughter 
of Dr. J. H. and Mrs. Almira (Childs) 
Green. She is a lady of fine education, an 
active member of tho Baptist church, and 
prominent in social and literary circles of 
this city. 

In 1898 Mr. Gantz, in connection with 
three other gentlemen, purchased the Troy 
Democrat, and, in addition to his law prac- 
tice, he has the duties of managing editor 
of the leading Democratic newspaper of 
Miami county. He is still, comparatively 
speaking, a young man with a splendid rec- 



ord behind him, and the promise of an hon- 
orable career in the future, but whether he 
remains a private citizen, or again engages 
in the battle for political honors, he has al- 
ready made a history that is a credit to him 
and his friends and to the comnuniity iu 
which he lives. e. s. w. 



WILLIAM H. ETHELL. 

Through his connection with the indus- 
trial interests of Tippecanoe City, William 
H. Ethell has won a place among the lead- 
ing business men of the town. The spirit 
of self-help in an individual is the source 
of all genuine worth and enables a man to 
achieve prosperity when the advantages of 
wealth and the aid of influential friends are 
denied him at the outset of his career. It 
has been entirely thrtmgh his own effiirts 
that Mr. Ethell has gained a place among 
the substantial citizens of 2\Iiami county. 

Born in Xoble count}-, Ohio, on the 17th 
of July, 1848, he is the son of Thomas 
Ethell, whose birth occurred in Loudoun 
county, \'irginia, where he became ac- 
(juainted with and married Sarah G. Sheid, 
also a nati\-e of that county. They came to 
Ohio at an early period in the development 
of Noble county and took up their abode in 
the nndst of a dense forest. There the 
father spent his remaining days, his death 
occurring in 1886. when he had attained his 
eighty-sixth year. He surxiveil his wife 
some twelve years. 

\\'illiam H. Ethell spent his boyhood 
days upon the home farm, and as soon as 
old enough to handle a plow began work 
in the fields, continuing his efforts at rais- 
ing crops until the harvests were garnered 
in the autumn. Through the winter months 



492 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lie secured his education in tlie district 
schools. iDut witli the opening of spring again 
went to the fields. Oil attaining his ma- 
jority he learned the trade of carpentering, 
also millwrighting and hridge-lniilding, 
Avhich he followoil for a few years. He was 
connected with \-arious companies on their 
construction of many important works, 
holding the responsible position of foreman 
over se\eral men. He has in this way 
erected and put in operation \-arious mills, 
and thus ho became familiar with the busi- 
ness in e\ery department, understanding 
tiiorouglily the old as well as the modern 
processes of milling. In 1897 he became 
connected with the enterprise whicii he now 
conducts, the Tippecanoe Roller Mill, of 
which he is proprietor. It was built in 1838 
by Uriah and James Johns. In 1843 't ^^as 
leased by the state to Joe! Schoup for ninety- 
nine \ears. Tho state had built the old 
Miami canal, and through his lea.se the 
lessee secures the water-power privileges 
and one acre of ground. Air. Schoup did 
not conduct the mill, but sold the lease to 
the firm of Pierson & Favorite. At dififer- 
ent times the mill has been operated succoss- 
i\-ely by .Mr. Dudd. Gardiner and Joseph 
Dust, who was succeeded by John K. Horr, 
and on the 28th of July, 1888, the firm of 
Kinna, Favorite & Bryant took possession 
of It, carrying on the business until April 
23, 1897, ^vhen it was purchased by the firm 
of Ethell & Hultman. The latter retired on 
the lotli of August, 1899, Mr. Ethell be- 
coming sole proprietor. The roller sys- 
tem was placed in the mill by the firm of 
Kinna, Favorite & Bryant, and the plant 
is equipped with all moflern accessories for 
turning out excellent work. The capacitv 
is fifty barrels of flour per day and the out- 
put is sold to merchants and local customers. 



The fa\orite brand of flour now manu- 
factured by Mr. Ethell is called Snow Ball, 
and its excellence secures it a large sale. He 
also buys and. ships grain of all kinds and is 
the local merchant for the various products 
which he handles. He gives his i^ersonal 
attention to the business and has built up an 
enxiable reputation as a manufacturer of 
flour. 

Mr. Ethel was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary Wood, and after their marriage they 
became members of the Baptist church, in 
which he has since taken a \-ery actix'e part, 
doing all in his power to promote its welfare 
and growth. For three years he has been 
sui)erintende:it of the Sunday-school, and 
for many years his labors ha\c been very 
effective in promoting religious work in this 
section of the county. His life has been one 
of activity in business affairs, and yet, recog- 
nizing the three-fold nature of man. he has 
found time and opportunity to devote to the 
development of those characteristics which 
must in every land and under all circum- 
stances command respect, being founded 
upon right, truth and honor. 



JOHN M. PEARSON. 

John ]\I. Pearson is living in JNIonroe 
township, which division of the county was 
the place of his birth. He first opened his 
eyes to the light of day on the 31st of Oc- 
tober. 1 83 1, at which time his parents re- 
sided on the farm now owned by Milton 
Evans. Hardly had Ohio entered upon 
statehood when the Pearson family was es- 
tablished within its borders by Jonas Pear- 
son, the grandfather of our subject, who 
came from South Carolina in 1804. After 
remaining for two years he returned to the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



493 



latter state, but when tliree years had passed, 
again came to Miami county, locating in 
Monroe township upon a farm, where the 
birth of our subject occurred. There he en- 
tered three hundred and twenty acres of land 
from the government, erected a log cabin 
and began life in true pioneer style. There 
was only one house in Dayton when, in 1804, 
they passed the site of the present flourish- 
ing city. Mr. Pearson aided in laying out 
roads, inorganizing schools and in promoting 
the progress and development of Miami 
county along many lines, and after a long 
and useful career he passed to his reward, 
at the age of eighty years. He had a fam- 
ily of four children : Hannah, Aaron, Moses 
and Mary A. 

Aaron Pearson, the father of our subject, 
was born in South Carolina and came with 
his parents to Ohio. Having arriveil at 
years of maturity he married Rachel Moore, 
who was born in Monroe township, Miami 
county, and was a daughter of John Moore. 
By this marriage five children were born, 
as follows : John; George, who died in 1880; 
Eli, who lives in Pontiac, Illinois; Chris- 
topher, who died in 1890, and Sarah, who 
died in 1880. She was the wife of William 
Sinks. The second son, George, was twen- 
ty-five years of age when he went west and 
enlisted in the regular army, serving for 
eight years. He took part in the war of the 
Rebellion from the inauguration of hostili- 
ties until peace was declared, and never en- 
joyed good health afterward, his constitu- 
tion being broken down by the rigors and 
hardships of the war. 

John Pearson, whose name begins this 
record, was reared on the old homestead 
farm. He lost his father when ten years 
of age and was left an orphan at the age of 
twelve, by the death of his mother. He 



then went to live with his grandfather Pear- 
son, with whom he lived until the latter's 
death, which occurred when the grandson 
was eighteen years of age. From that time 
forward he has depended entirely upon his 
own resources. He began workings as a 
farm hand and was employed for three 
months at a compensation of twenty-five dol- 
lars. He continued working as a farm hand 
until his marriage, when he began farming 
on his own account. In 1856 Miss Harriet 
Russell became his wife and to him she has 
been a faithful companion and helpmeet on 
life's journey. In 1872 they removed to 
the farm which is now their home, and here 
Mr. Pearson o\<'ns eighty-two acres of land 
on section 24, Monroe township, all under 
a high state of cultivation. He continued 
the active management of the farm for many 
years, but has now rentetl his land and lives 
retired. His has been a useful and hon- 
orable business career and he well deserves 
the rest which he is now enjoying. 

During the civil war Mr. Pearson mani- 
fested his loyalty to the Union cause by 
enlisting, in May, 1864, as a private in 
Company G, One Hundred and Forty-sev- 
enth Ohio Infantry. He was mustered in 
at Camp Dennison and with his regiment 
went to the defense of Washington, D. C, 
continuing in the service until the expira- 
tion of his term, when he received an hon- 
orable discharge, in September, 1864. He 
has always been loyal to every duty of citi- 
zenship, promoting the country's welfare 
with the same fidelity which he manifested 
when defending the stars and stripes in front 
of the nation's capital. In politics he is 
somewhat independent, but usually votes 
with the Prohibition party. For more than 
a quarter of a century he has been a member 
of Monroe Grange and is now serving as 



494 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



its treasurer. He belongs to tlie D. I\I. 
Rouzer Post, G. A. R., of Tippecanoe City, 
and both he and his wife are members of 
the Christian chmxh, witii wliich tliey have 
been connected for more tlian forty years. 
This worthy couple are people of sterling 
character, enjoying the high regard of all 
who know them. 



SAMUEL X. BAUS.MAX. M. D. 

On the 26th of April, i860. Dr. Baus- 
man was born, in Washington township. 
Miami county, his father being Emanuel 
Bausman, a native of Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania. The grandfather, Jnhn 
Bausman, resided in the Keystone state, 
whence he removed to Ohio, establishing his 
home near Covington, about 1840. He was 
accompanied liy his son, Emanuel, who on 
reaching man's estate, married Anna E. 
Ingle, who was born and reared near Cov- 
ington and belonged to one of the old fam- 
ilies of the state. He was a carpenter and 
cabinetmaker by trade, following those pur- 
suits in early life and later devoting his en- 
ergies to farming. An industrious and en- 
ergetic man. he carefully prosecuted his busi- 
ness affairs and won for his family a com- 
fortable competence. In 1886 he was called 
to his final rest, at the age of si.\ty-six \-ears. 
and his wife passed away in 1888. at the age 
of fifty-nine. In their family were seven 
children, as follows: Fianna, wife of Charles 
Laughman ; Catherine, wife of George 
Shook; George \V., a farmer residing in 
Washington township: Samuel X. : Mary E., 
who is living on the old home farm : Albert 
J., who is a practicing physician of Pleasant 
Hill and a graduate of the Ohio Medical 



College of the class of 1894, and Charles 
\\'., who is pursuing a preparatory course 
with the intention of entering the medical 
profession. 

Dr. Bausman, whose name introduces 
this sketch, was born and reared on his fa- 
ther's farm, the district schools affording 
him his elementary education, which was 
supplemented by a three years' course of 
study at Lebanon. In 1883 he went to Oak- 
land, Illinois, where he engaged in grain 
dealing during the summer months and in 
the winter season taught school. He was 
thus emploved for six years, after which he 

' entered the Medical College of Ohio, in the 
fall of 1888. He was graduated in that 
institutiun in the class of 1890 and immedi- 

i ately afterward came to Pleasant Hill, where 
he has since practiced. His preparatory 
training was thorough and comprehensive 
and well fitted him for a successful career 
as a medical practitioner. He has since put 
forth every effort to perfect himself in his 
chosen calling, and his high standing in the 
profession is shown by the liberal jxitron- 
age which is accorded him. 

The Doctor is a member of llie Masunic 
fraternity, belonging to Pleasant Hill Lodge, 
Xo. 361. He also belongs to Lodge Xo. 
574, I. O. O. F., and to the Knights of 
Pythias fraternity of Pleasant Hill. He 
has served as master in the Masonic order 
for two years and has filled all the chairs in 
the Odtl Fellows society. In politics he is 
a Republican and has served on the central 
committee, taking an active interest in the 
work of the party and doing all in his power 
to promote its growth and insure its suc- 
cess. He is a man of genial disposition, 
courteous and kindly, and his prestige as a 
representative of the medical fraternity is 
indeed enviable. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



495 



IRA D. CROW. 

Ira D. Crow, who owns and occupies a 
farm pleasantly situated in Monroe town- 
ship, a1)iiut eight miles from Troy, was born 
in Randolph township, Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, on the 7th of November, 1861. 
He was there reared upon a farm and in the 
common schools of the neighborhood ob- 
tained his education. His father was born 
in Perry county, Pennsylvania, February 14, 
1830, and came to Ohio in 1836. On the 
1st of January, 1849, he was united in mar- 
riage to Sarah Curtner, daughter of John 
and Elizabeth (W'aymire) Curtner. She 
was born in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
May I. i8_'9, and became the mother of 
eight children, three of whom are living; 
Ira D. ; Harry S., of Montgomery county, 
and Anna, wife of Samuel P)etz, of i\Iont- 
gomery county, Ohio. The mother died 
September 14, 1892. The father passed 
away July 18, 1896. 

Ira D. Crow began work in the nursery 
when ten years of age. He remained upon 
the home place until he had attained the age 
of twenty-two and then entered upon an in- 
dependent business career, purchasing a farm 
of sixty-five acres in Union township, Mi- 
ami county. There he engaged in the nur- 
sery business until 1894, when he sold his 
, land, but retained his nursery stock and 
moved to his present farm in IMonnie town- 
shiip, where he owns r)ne hundred and forty 
acres of rich land. He still deals in nursery 
stock and carries on general farming, hav- 
ing twenty-five acres planted to nursery 
products, while the remainder is planted to 
the cereals best adapted to this climate. His 
place is known as the Fidelity Nursery, and 
his long and practical experience in the 
work, comjjined with his unflagging in- 



dustry, has made him very successful in his 
chosen occupation. 

On the 15th of November, 1884, oc- 
curred the marriage of Mr. Crow and Miss 
Nannie I. Johnson, of Chambersburg, Ohio, 
a daughter of Jesse and Sarah Belle John- 
son. The father was born in Montgoinery 
county, Ohio, August 4, 1839, and the 
mother in Greenville, Darke county, Ohio, 
October 14, 1842. They were married in 
August, 1858. Three children were born to 
them: Sella, wife of Edward Kline, of 
Chambersburg; Mrs. Crow, who was born 
May I, 1864, and Edward F., of Montgom- 
ery county. Mr. and Mrs. Crow now have 
one child, Grace E., who was born F"ebruary 
24, 1887. In his political associations Mr. 
Crow is a Republican, but has never aspired 
to office, preferring to devote his energies 
to his business affairs. Socially he is con- 
nected with \\'est Milton Lodge, K. P. In 
all trade transactions he is reliable and trust- 
worthy, and his well directed efforts, keen sa- 
gacity and capable business affairs have 
gained him a comfortable competence and 
won him a position among the substantial 
citizens of his adopted countv. 



ALBERT ACTON HALL. 

Mr. Hall is president of the Ohio Marble 
Company and for many years has been 
actively identified with the business inter- 
ests that have contributed to the material 
welfare and prosperity of the state. The 
name of Hall is known throughout the civ- 
ilized world, in connection with the manu- 
facture of safes. Flis grandfather, Edward 
K. Hall, established the safe and lock busi- 
ness in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1848, 
and his son, Joseph L. Hall, father of our 



496 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



subject, founded a similar enterprise in Cin- 
cinnati that year. His business steadily in- 
creased in volume and importance until the 
Hall Safe & Lock Company, of Cincinnati, 
became a power in the industrial world, and 
at the time of the death of Joseph L. Hall 
he was employing twelve hundred men in 
the manufacture of the products of the 
foundry, in every coimtry on the face of 
the globe in which business is carried on 
along progressive lines the Hall safes are 
found. The business title is now the Hall 
Safe Company, and three of the sons of 
Joseph L. Hall are active factors in its con- 
duct. This was the pioneer enterprise of the 
safe business as carried on to-day, and this 
extensive concern grew to mammoth pro- 
portions under the capable management and 
wise direction of Joseph L. Hall, whose ef- 
forts not only brought to him a fortune, 
but contributed in a large measure to the 
commercial acti\-ity of the state. He mar- 
ried Miss Sarah Jewell, of Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, a daughter of Clark Jewell, who 
was formerly of Penns Neck, New Jersey, 
where the family had lived for generations. 
The Hall family is also one of long identi- 
fication with that state, the ancestors ha\ing" 
located in Salem, New Jersey, about 1670. 
It was there that Edward Hall, the grand- 
father, was born and reared, and from that 
city he removed to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. 
For many generations the Halls were con- 
nected with the Society of Friends, but the 
father of our subject became a member of 
the Methodist church and was one of its 
most liberal and active supporters. 

Albert Acton Hall, whose name intro- 
duces this record, pursued his education in 
the public schools of Cincinnati, and at the 
age of eighteen entered his father's safe 
works. Notwithstanding he was the son 



of the president of the company, he served 
a regular apprenticeship, learning the lock- 
smith's business in all its details. As he 
mastered the duties entrusted to him he 
worked his way steadily upward, and in the 
office has filled every position from that of 
shipping clerk upward. He spent one year 
in New York, as assistant manager of the 
branch located there, and afterward was for 
four years manager of the branch house in 
San Francisco. In 1884 the Ohio Marble 
Company began operation in Piqua and Mr. 
Hall was induced to becoftie a stockholder. 
In 1896 he accepted the presidency and as- 
sumed the management of the business, re- 
moving to Piqua, where he has since made 
his home. During the four }-ears which 
have since passed under his able guidance 
the enterprise has developed rapidly, its out- 
put more than doubling in that time. The 
company owns quarries in this locality, from 
which they j^rocure a high grade of lime- 
stone that takes a fine polish. It is found 
near the surface, an unusual occurrence, and 
therefore largely lessens the ^ost of taking 
the stone from the earth. It is milled into 
Hour and about two million pounds per 
mimth are shipped to the paint and putty 
trade, the mineral and soda water trade, to 
paper manufactories and to asphalt pavement 
works all over the United states. The com- 
pany sustains a very high reputation for 
reliability, and that it faithfully lives up to 
the terms of its contracts is shown by its 
constantly increasing trade. 

Mr. Hall is a man of resourceful busi- 
ness ability, whose efforts have been in no 
wise confined to one line. He is now man- 
ager of tlie Piqua Paint & Putty Company, 
manufacturers of all kinds of high grade 
paint, house paint, ready mixed and coach and 
carriage paint. This business was estab- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



497 



lishecl in 1896, and in the short time wliich 
has since elapsed their paints have been in- 
troduced into twenty of the forty-five states 
and have attained a high standing for their 
excellence. The output has increased rapid- 
ly at a high ratio, and the volume of the 
business now demands that many men be 
employed in carrying on the work. 

Mr. Hall was married to Miss Mary 
Foulds, a daughter of Thomas H. Foulds, 
who served as postmaster at Cincinnati 
under President Grant. Socially Mr. Hall 
is connected with the Masonic fraternity, in 
which he has taken the Scottish rite and 
Mystic Shrine degrees. Through many 
decades his family ha\e been connected with 
the Whig and afterward the Republican 
party, and he is of the same political faith. 
His time, however, has been given to his 
business interests without seeking for offi- 
cial reward in return for the unswerx'ing 
advocacy which he has for the Republican 
tenets. His career has ever been such as to 
warrant the trust and confidence of the 
business world, for he has ever conducted 
all transactions on the strictest principles of 
honor and integrity. His devotion to the 
public good is uncpiestioned and arises from 
a sincere interest in the welfare of his fellow 
men. 



P. J. GOODRICH. 

P. J. Goodrich has the reputation of be- 
ing the most efficient officer that has ever 
held the position of city clerk. He is also 
journal clerk of the common pleas and cir- 
cuit courts of Miami county and is one of 
the leaders of the Republican party, un- 
swerving in his support of its principles. 
However, he places the county's good be- 
fore partisan prejudice and labors rather for 



the faithful discharge of duty than for self 
aggrandizement. 

Mr. Goodrich was born on the 22d of De- 
cember, 1 85 1, in Beverly, \^'ashington 
county, which was the first countv created 
in Ohio. He is a son of H. B. and Rebecca 
(Nickerson) Goodrich, both of whom are 
descendants of the Mayflower Pilgrims. 
The father was born in the Empire state, 
in 1 82 1, and died in Sharon. Ohio, in 1873. 
The mother's birth occurred in Hoskins- 
ville. Noble county. Ohio, in 1820, and her 
last days were spent in Caldwell, Ohio, where 
her death occurred on the ist of June, 1896. 

Mr. Goodrich, of this review, was reared 
in Sharon. Xoble county, and acquired a 
common-school education. For fourteen 
years he successfully engaged in teaching 
school in Noble and Washington counties, 
entering upon his work as an educator when 
sixteen years of age. His father served as 
postmaster at Sharon during Lincoln's and 
Johnson's administrations, and after his 
death, which occurred in 1873, his son, P. 
J. Goodrich, filled fuit the unexpired term, 
a period of eighteen months. In 1883 Mr. 
Goodrich came to Troy and for a year and 
a half filled the position of foreman in the 
Chronicle office. He then spent two years 
as a teacher in the schools of this citv, so 
that his connection with educational work 
will cover a period of sixteen years. In 
October, 1887, he was appointed court bailiff, 
which position he filled until November i, 
1896, at which time he was appointed jour- 
nal clerk in the common pleas and circuit 
courts. In politics he has always been a 
stanch Republican, unswerving in his sup- 
port of the ]irinciples of the party and tak- 
ing an active interest in its affairs, its growth 
and its success. On the 4th of October, 
1892, he was elected city clerk of Troy and is 



498 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



now ser\-ing' his fourth term in that capacity. 
As journal clerk of the courts he has given 
general satisfaction and the records show 
that accuracy and neatness characterized the 
prosecution of his labors. His long con- 
tinuance in these two positions indicate in 
an unmistakable manner his fidelity to duty. 
In June, 1 871, Mr. Goodrich married 
Miss Lucy L. Smoot, of Xoble county, Ohio, 
and to them have been born two children, 
Harry E. and Frank C. Socially, Mr. 
Goodrich is a member of the Knights of the 
Golden Eagle, taking a leading part in the 
work (jf the order. He and his wife are 
consistent and faithful meniljers of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, and for twelve 
years he has been a member of its official 
board, while in the Sunday school he has 
served as superintendent. 



DR. CHARLES H. GOODRICH. 

The subject of this sketch was born at 
Sharon, Xoble county, Ohio, January 20, 
1844, and at the age of fourteen vears he en- 
tered the Republican office at Sarahsville, 
Ohio, as an apprentice, afterward working 
at his chosen occupation at Springfield, and 
Newark, Ohio, and enlisting at the latter 
place, at the age of eighteen }-ears, in the 
defense of his country. He served with 
credit during the entire war in the First 
Ohio Cavalry, being first lieutenant when 
discharged, in July, 1865. 

Shortly afterward he was united in mar- 
riage with Catharine C. Kneisl}-, to which 
iniion four children were born: Harry O.. 
Charles F., Louis P. and Walter R., each of 
whom learned the printer's trade and is now 
engaged in that line of business. 

In 1868 Dr. Goodrich was admitted to 
the practice of medicine, but in a few years 



resumed the ne\vspaper life, editing papers in 
several towns in eastern Ohio, and finally 
located at Troy, Ohio, in 1882, establish- 
ing The Troy Chronicle and later, in 1884, 
The Daily Trojan. 

In 18S9 he was api)ointed assistant door- 
keeper of the house of representatives, and in 
1 89 1 received an appointment under Sec- 
retary Charles Foster. During the latter 
years of his life he was a great sufferer 
from disease contracted in the service of his 
country, from which he died at Washing- 
ton, D. C, August 31, 1892. He was buried 
in the beautiful Riverside cemetery, at Troy, 
Ohio, September 4, 1892. 

As a journalist. Dr. Goodrich had a 
rich, racy style that attracted attention and 
commanded interest. He had good descrip- 
ti\'e powers, a humor, quaint, original and 
sometimes broad in its application. When 
tramjiled upon he had a pen bitter as gall, 
and his short pungent, invective sentences 
were as cruel and merciless as grapeshot 
from an exploding shell. He despised shams, 
he \\as intense in his hatred, and faithful in 
his friendship. 



JAMES LIXCOLX (;OODKXIGHT, 
.\. M., D. D. 

The specific and distincti\e ottice of biog- 
raphy is not to gi\'e voice to a man"s modest 
estimate of himself and his accomplishments, 
l)ut rather to leave the perpetual record es- 
tablishing his character l)y the consensus of 
opinion on the jiart of his fellow men. That 
great factor, the public, is a discriminating 
factor, and yet takes cognizance not of ob- 
jective exaltation nor yet of objective mod- 
estv. but deh'cs deeper into the intrinsic es- 
sence of character, strikes the keynote of 
individuality, and pronounces judicially and 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



499 



unequivocally upon the true worth of the 
man — invariably distinguishing the clear 
resonance of the true metal from the jarring 
dissonance of the baser. Thus in touching 
upon the life history of the subject of this 
review the biographist would aim to give 
utterance to no fulsome encomium, to in- 
dulge in no extravagant praise ; yet would 
he wish to hold up for consideration those 
points which ha\'e shown the distinction of 
a pure, true and useful life, — one character- 
ized by indomitable perseverance, broad 
charity, marked ability, high accomplish- 
ments and well-earned honors. To do this 
will be but to reiterate the dictum pro- 
nounced upon the man by his fellow men. 

James Lincoln Goodknight was born on 
a farm in Allen cnunt}', Kentuck}-, August 
24, 1846, and traces his ancestry back to 
Germany. The first of the name in .\merica 
took up their abutle in Philadelphia, I^enn- 
sylvania, and subsequently remo\-e(l to Rock- 
bridge, Virginia, whence representatives of 
the name \\ent to Alecklenburg county. 
North Carolina. The great-grandfather of 
Dr. Goodknight was Michael Goodknight, 
who removed to Kentucky from North 
Carolina, and his son Isaac was the first 
white child born in that state. Michael 
Goodknight was twice married : his first wife 
he wedded in Germany. He had seventeen 
children. After the death of his first wife 
he married Miss Mary J. Landes and they 
became the parents of se\en children. Two 
sons served in the Revolutionary war. 
While returning frcjm a trip to North Caro- 
lina he was killed at Crab Orchard, Ken- 
tucky. Among his descendants is Charles 
Goodknight, "the cattle king" of Texas, 
who is said to own more land than any other 
one man in the United States. Isaac Good- 
knight, the son of JNIichael, took up his abode 



near Gainsville, Warren county, Kentucky, 
where he spent his remaining days. Jacob 
Goodknight. the grandfather of our sulDJect, 
married Elizabeth Conder and resided in 
Lincoln county, Kentucky. Their children 
were : Mary, who married James ^IcMurry 
and died in Scotts\-ille. Kentucky : John, who 
wedded Miss Landes and after her death 
married Agnes \\niarton ; Elizabeth, who be- 
came the wife of John Billingsley and died 
in Kentucky; Isaac, the father of our sub- 
ject ; Thomas, who wedded Miss Dawson 
and removed to Missouri; Margaret, wife 
of J. H. Porch, of Ladoga, Indiana : and 
Sarah, who married Mr. Harney, of Indiana. 
Isaac Goodknight, father of the subject 
of this sketch, was a natix'e of Lincoln coun- 
ty, Kentucky. He was born on a farm and 
in early life was apprenticed to learn the 
coppersmith's trade. Because in that busi- 
ness it was necessary for him to make stills 
and the worms for \\hisky stills, he aban- 
doned this vocation and learned the tanner's 
trade with his brother-in-law, James Mc- 
I\Iurry. Subsequently Isaac Goodknight 
and his brother, Henry, established a large 
tannery in Allen county, and at one time 
conducted the most extensive business in 
their line in that part of the state. Henry 
died early, leaving the whole business to 
Isaac. In 1850 the latter turned his at- 
tention wholly to his farm, where he en- 
gaged in the raising of grain and stock till 
1870. His last days, however, were passed 
in Franklin, Simpson county, Kentucky, 
where he died in July, 1871. He married 
Lucinda Billingsley, a daughter of Captain 
John and Mary (Doak) Billingsley. The 
Billingsley family is of English origin and 
was founded in America by three brothers 
who came from the "merrie isle" to the 
United States, one locating in Pennsyh'ania, 



500 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



another in the CaroHnas, while the third 
made his way to the northwest. The Doaks 
were of Scotch-Irish hneage. Captain Jolin 
Billingsley was l)orn in North Carohna and 
won iiis title by commanding a company in 
the war of 1812. In his own family were 
ten cliildren. namely : Alexander, who mar- 
ried Elizabeth McMurry ; Jane, who became 
the wife of Henry Goodknight. and after 
his death married William Blackburn ; Ma- 
linda, who became the wife of \\'illiam 
Gee and removed to Pinckney\-ii]e. Illinois; 
Lucinda, mother of Dr. Goodknight ; ^liner- 
va, who became the wife of William Harri- 
son, of Pinckneyville, Illinois ; Talitha, the 
wife of Hosea Thornton, of Pinckneyville, 
Illinois: Rev. John Mitchell, who was a 
captain in the civil war and married Alice 
Lambert, of Kentucky, and made his home 
after the civil war in Flora, Illinois ; Valeria 
C, who became the wife of Joseph Hinton 
and died in Kentucky; and Thomas Henry, 
of Texas, who married Miss Ryan, and after 
her death married Mary Short. The fifth 
member of the family was Lucinda Billings- 
ley, who became the wife of Isaac Good- 
knight and the mother of our subject. She 
survived her husband several years and died 
in May. 1877. They were both leading and 
active members in the Cumberland Presby- 
terian church, in which Mr. Goodknight 
ser\ed as elder, and, in connection with Elder 
Willis Hinter, he built a Cumberland Pres- 
byterian church on the Goodknight farm. 
The parents of our subject had a family of 
eight children : John Jackson, who married 
Melvina Reeder; Jacob Henry, who married 
Nannie Guy, who died in Woodburn, Ken- 
tucky, in 1876; Thomas Mitchell, who 
wedded Miss Middleton, and after her death 
married Norah Murphy; Mary Helen, who 
became the wife of ^^'illiam L. Livelv, who 



died in Arkansas, her hotiie being now m 
St. Paul, that state; Alexander Rowland, 
who died at the age of seven years; Isaac 
Herschel, who married Ella Hoy and resides 
in Franklin, Kentucky, where he is known as 
a very prominent man, having twice been a 
member of the state legislature and three 
times represented his district in the L'nited 
States congress, while at the present time he 
is serving as circuit judge; and Margaret 
E., who became the wife of C. C. Stephen- 
son and died at Boise, Idaho, in 1884. 

Dr. Goodknight spent his boyhood days 
in his native state and acquired liis prelim- 
inar}' education in an old log schoolhouse, 
which was situated two miles from his home. 
School privileges were then very primitixe. 
the teachers often being inefficient, while 
text books were old-fashioned. He pos- 
sessed a studious nature, however, and 
eagerly embraced every opportunity that of- 
fered. He was not noted, as a boy, for rapia 
advancement in liis studies, but laid the 
foundation for the scholarly attainment 
which has since given him pre-eminence in 
ministerial and educational circles. During 
the periods of vacation he worked on his fa- 
ther's plantation. In order to inculcate 
habits of thrift and encourage the boys to 
put forth energetic eflforts. his father allotted 
to each of them a jwrtion of ground which 
they might cultivate for themselves, the half 
of each Saturday being allowed for this 
work. Because T. M. Goodknight. the older 
brother, went into the ministry, the manage- 
ment of the plantation devolved upon the 
Doctor, who was then only fifteen years of 
aee, but his ambition caused him to look 
beyond the plow and he quietly and per- 
sistently prepared for the ministry. As a 
means to this end he began teaching, accept- 
ine the charge of a school notorious for the 



i 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



DOl 



bad conduct of the pupils. His two prede- 
cessors had been run off by tlie scholars, 
but ill Dr. Goodknight they found their mas- 
ter, Ijecause he was a personal friend ; he 
not only being able to maintain discipline but 
also awakened among them interest in their 
studies, which led to marked intellectual ad- 
vancement. He remained in charge of that 
school for one year and then spent the fol- 
lowing year in Franklin Academy, Ken- 
tucky, after which he entered Cumberland 
University, at Lebanon, Tennessee. In the 
meantime he had united with the Logan 
PresbyterA\ On the completion of his col- 
lege course he was graduated with honors 
in the class of 1871, and the following year 
he taught in the Little Muddy school, Ken- 
tucky. The trustees urged him to take the 
school for a period of five years, at a salary 
of one thousand dollars per year, but he had 
determined to enter the work of the gospel 
ministry and instead of taking the school 
he accepted a pastorate in that place, where 
the salary was only two hundred dollars 
per year. At the end of four years, how- 
ever, his salary had been increased to eight 
hundred dollars per year and he was offered 
a thousand to remain. His younger brother 
and sister having in the meantime completed 
their education. Dr. Goodknight then de- 
termined to pursue a theological seminary 
course, and in 1876 entered the Theological 
Seminary of New York, in which he was 
graduated three years later. He received 
calls from several churches, offering salaries 
as high as eighteen hundred dollars per year, 
but he regarded not the money side of the 
proposition, considering only the question 
of where he could do the most good. Ac- 
cordingly he accepted a call from the Cum- 
berland Presbyterian church in Covington, 
Ohio, which paid a salary of only six hun- 



dred dollars. He filled that pastorate until 
1889, covering a period of ten years, and his 
influence was most marked ami beneficial in 
the community. During that time, as a re- 
sult of his earnest labors, a new church 
edifice was erected, worth more than fifteen 
thousand dollars, and the'membership of the 
church was increased from some ono hundred 
and fifty to about five hundred. In 1884 Dr. 
Goodknight was sent as a delegate to the 
Pan-Presbyterian Alliance, held at Belfast, 
Ireland. Upon resigning his pastorate in 
Covington he went to the World's Sunday 
School Convention, in London, and then 
traveled for the summer, and settled at Edin- 
borough, Scotland, to pursue post-graduate 
studies and take a special course in philos- 
ophy. He took first honors in philosophy 
at the university, and while abroad also 
made a special study of the methods of con- 
ducting university work. He also carried 
his investigation into the realm of the home 
and foreign policy of Great Britain, as the 
question of government has ever been one 
of deep interest to him. Proceeding to the 
continent he pursued a special course in 
pedagogy in the L^niversity of Jena, Ger- 
many, under Dr. Rein, studied biology un- 
der Haeckel and philosophy under Leip- 
mann. He also noted the methods of con- 
ducting German schools and universities, 
visiting many of the most noted institutions 
of learning in his ancestral fatherland. In 
the interim he journeyed all over Europe, 
making a close study of the people and their 
customs, gaining thereby that knowledge, 
experience and culture which only travel 
can bring. Subsequently he continued his 
researches in Alexandria and Cairo, Egypt, 
and by way of Port Said went to Joppa, 
thence through Palestine and Syria. By 
way of Damascus and Balbeck he proceeded 



502 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



to Bayreutli, thence to Smyrna, in Asia 
]Min(ji-, and on to Ephesns and Constanti- 
nople, in tlie latter city he closely noted the 
methods pursued in Roberts College. He 
viewed the ancient city of art and learning 
— Athens, Greece — thence ontmued his 
journey to Sicily and un the west coast of 
Italy visited Naples, Vesuvius and Pompeii. 
He also visited Rome, Pisa and Florence 
and other cities in Italy, attended the Paris 
expositinn and thence returned to the world's 
metropc )l!s, London. 

In lulv. 1 89 1, Dr. Goodknight returned 
to his native land. While in Germany the 
degree of doctor of divimtv had been con- 
ferred upon him by W'aynesburg College, of 
Pennsyl\-ania, and while in Germany he 
received a call to the pastorate of the church 
in Waynesljurg, Pennsylvania. Accepting 
this, he entered upon his duties on the 1st 
of October, 1S91, there remaining until June, 
1895, when he was elected president of the 
Uni\-ersity cjf West \'irginia. Under his 
guidance that institution made rapid prog- 
ress, but in 1879 he resigned because of 
political changes in the state. When elected 
and during his stay at the university he had 
the unanimous and hearty support of the 
b( ard of regents, but that bnard was legis- 
lated out of existence and a new board ap- 
pointed. During his presidency the attend- 
ance at the university was duubled, the press 
of the state becoming a unit in its supiKirt 
for the first time, and all dennminations be- 
came its advocate. \\'ith the assistance of 
others in the university he drew u]) what is 
known as the "engineering experiment sta- 
tion jjill," and secured its introduction into 
the house and senate of congress. Two-thirds 
of tlic bouse and three- fourths of the senate 
were pledged to supixirt the Ijill, but when 
Dr. Goodknight ])assed out of his educational 



jxjsition there was no one to push the meas- 
ure and it was not passed. Through his 
special effort, with the support of loyal 
frienils and farsighted business men, the 
Citizens National Hank of Covington, Ohio, 
was organized. As a witness to his business 
al)ility and the confidence of directors he 
was made cashier of this bank. 

Returning to Aliami county in 1897. the 
Doctor l(_icated upon the farm where he is 
now li\-ing in retirement. He has been three 
times married. In 1882 he wedded Miss 
Willianis, of Nashville, Tennessee, who died 
in Covington the following year. In 1885 
he married Miss -Mice Cleaver, of Lincoln, 
Illinois, who died in 1887, and in 1889 Mrs. 
Ella Biddle Elliott, of Piqua, Ohio, became 
liis wife. Jjv his first marriage he had one 
child, C. Williams, who is now a student in 
the high school. By his second union there 
was one son, Allie Cleaver, who is also pur- 
suing a high-school course in Covington. 
In his political \ie\vs the Doctor is inde- 
pendent, supporting the men and measures 
that hobelie\es will best advance the nation's 
welfare. Sociall}- he is a valued member of 
the Masonic fraternity and the- Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. A man of high 
intellectuality, Ijroad human sympathies and 
tolerance, be is imbued with fine sensibilities 
and clearly defined principles. Honor and 
integrity are synonymous with his name, and 
he enjoys the respect, confidence and high 
regartl of ihe cc>mmunil\-. 



THOMAS M. WRIGHT, M. D. 

The liberal ])atronage which is accorded 
Dr. Thomas Melville \\'right is tlie best in- 
dication of his superior ability as a physi- 
cian and surgeon. His comprehensive 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



503 



knowledge and his accuracy in applying the 
principles of medicine to the mastery of 
disease has gained him creditable prestige, 
and he is accounted one of the foremost 
memliers of the medical fraternity in Troy. 
His birth occurred October 5, 1S48, in Mont- 
gomery county, Indiana, his parents being 
James W. and Nancy (Fugate) Wright, 
natives of Russell county, Virginia. The 
father was born in 181 1 and the mother in 
1814, her death occurring in Boone county, 
Indiana, in 1852. The father died in Troy, 
Ohio, in 1897, haxing devoted his entire life 
to agricultural pursuits and to the practice of 
medicine. With his family he removed to 
Indiana about 1836, but his last days were 
spent in the Buckeye state. 

Thomas M. ^Vright acquired his prelim- 
inary education in the common schools, after 
which he entered the National Normal Uni- 
versity at Lebanon, Ohio, in which institu- 
tion he was graduated with the class of 
1870. He had engaged in teaching for two 
years prior to entering the normal, ha\-ing 
had charge of a school at Blue Grass, Illi- 
nois. It was in that way he acquired the 
capital necessary to meet his expenses in 
school. After his graduation he resumed 
teaching, which he followed for four years, 
spending one year as principal of the high 
school in Crawfordsville, Illinois. In 1872 
he began the study of medicine, and in 1874 
abantloned the w'ork of the schoolroom al- 
together in order to give his entire time to 
the mastery of the principles of medical 
science. His reading was directed by Dr. 
Nelson Walkley, of Troy, Ohio, and he was 
graduated in the Kentucky School of Medi- 
cine in 1876. Immediately afterward he 
opened an office in Troy and has since en- 
gaged in practice, securing a large and liberal 
patronage. He has performed many of the 

29 



most important abdominal operations in the 
county, including operative surgical work 
for ovariotomies, strangulated hernia, 
ectopic gestation, c;esarian section and ap- 
pendicitis. He is a member of the Miami 
County Medical Society, of the Ohio State 
Medical Society and of the American Medi- 
cal Association, and is a close student of 
his profession, keeping in touch with its con- 
tinued progress and advancement. 

In 1871 occurred the marriage of Dr. 
Wright and Miss Angeline Mendenhall, of 
Miami county. She died m 1879, leaving a 
son, Thomas M., and the Doctor was again 
married, in 1880, his second union being 
with Miss Emma A. Albaugh, of Miami 
county, by whom he has a daughter, Ange- 
line Bracken. In his political views a Re- 
publican, he keeps well informed on the Cjues- 
tions of the day, but is no aspirant for po- 
litical honors. He has taken all the York- 
rite degrees of Masonry, and is a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. His 
direct regard for the ethics of his profession, 
his wide knowledge and his careful attention 
to his business have won him prominence 
and success. 



REV. GEORGE P. STEINLAGE. 

There is no position held by man more 
important than that of a pastor of a church, 
nor is there a position that has attached to 
it greater importance or responsibility when 
properly conceived and conscientiously dis- 
charged. This is more essentially the case 
with the clergyman of the Catholic faith, for 
he is held more as an instructor and guide, 
not only in religious matters but in moral 
and social conduct by his congregation. 
There are few men by character and educa- 
tion better fitted to preside over a people in 



504 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



all these relations than the reverend gentle- 
man whose name stands at the head of this 
biography. 

Father Steinlage. rector of St. Boniface 
Catholic church, of Piqua, Ohio, was born 
in Osnabruck. Germany, in 1840. and ac- 
quired his early education in the schools and 
colleges of his native land. After pursuing 
his studies for some time in the college at 
]\Iqipen, in Hanover, he was graduated in 
1859. The following year he came to the 
United States, sailing from Hamburg to 
New York. On his arrival in the latter city 
he proceeded at once to Cincinnati, Ohio, 
and entered St. Mary's Seminary, where be 
completed a course in philosophy and theol- 
ogy in 1863. That same year he was or- 
dained by Archbishop John B. Purcell and 
soon afterward was assigned to St. Paul's 
church of Cincinnati, as an assistant to the 
Very Rev. Joseph Ferneding. remaining 
there two vears. He was then transferred to 
St. Philomena's church in Cincinnati, being 
assistant to Father Tobbe for two years. 
The following seven years he was pastor of 
St. Joseph's church at Hamilton, Ohio, and 
during that time built a church and also a 
school house at that place, the former being 
known as St. Joseph's church. On leaving 
Hamilton he was assigned to Taylors Creek, 
remaining there over five years, and for two 
years was at Reading, Ohio. 

On the 14th of February. 1881, Father 
Steinlage came to Piqua. and has since been 
m charge at this place as rector of St. Boni- 
face church. The present church edifice was 
built in 1865. at a cost of thirty thousand 
dollars, and the parsonage was erected in 
1879, but both have been remodeled by 
Father Steinlage, who has made many im- 
provements since locating here. The debt 
of thirteen thousand dollars which was 



against the church property when he arrived 
here has been nearly paid, only about two 
thousand dollars indebtedness remaining. 
The church property also includes a good 
school of four large rooms and is presided 
()\er by the Sisters of Christian Charity. The 
school building and Sisters' residence were 
both built by Father Steinlage. The church 
has a seating capacity of six hundred, and 
the congregation now numbers three hun- 
dred families residing in the city and sur- 
rounding country. Xo estimates of material 
progress, however, can give an indication of 
the great work which Father Steinlage has 
done in molding and shaping to higher issues 
the lives of those to whom he gi\es his best 
thought. Broad in his views and sympa- 
thies, a friend of the poor and oppressed, 
ever ready with helpful counsel for the per- 
plexed or sorrowful, he has a wide field for 
labor and well does he discharge its arduous 
and sacred duties. 



DAVID E. ULLERY. 

A native son of [Miami county. David 
Ellison Ullery is now a retired farmer, liv- 
ing in CoA-ington. He was born October 
25, 1839, on the old home farm in New- 
berry township, and for many years he has 
been actively identified with the agricultural 
interests of the county, but at the present 
time, having acquired a handsome compe- 
tence, he is living retired in the enjoyment 
of the fruits of his former toil. His grand- 
father, Jacob Ullery, was born on Chinco- 
teague Ijsland. just off the eastern shore of 
Maryland, JMarch 5, 1772, and came to Ohio 
about 1 810. His death occurred in New- 
berry township, August 7, 1847, and he was 
buried in Sugar Grove cemetery. He was 



1 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



COS 



of German descent and a member of the 
Dunkard or German Baptist church. 

David Ullery, the father of our subject, 
was born in Montgomery county. Ohio, 
February 28, 1809, and during his boyhood 
accompanied his parents to Miami county. 
He was reared in the usual manner of farmer 
lads, acquired a limited education in New- 
berry township and was a highly respected 
citizen of that community. He was mar- 
ried, March 8, 1836, to Alsey Gibbons, who 
was born in Wheeling, West Virginia, 
J\Iarch 20, 181 8, a daughter of James and 
Mary Gibbons, natives of Ireland. The 
Gibbons family came to Miami county at an 
earlv day, and Mrs. Mary Gibbons died in 
Newberry township, February 27, 1853, at 
the advanced age of ninety years. Unto 
Mr. and Mrs. Ullery were born the following 
children : Jacob, who was killed at the bat- 
tle of Atlanta, Georgia, July 21. 1864; 
James G., who died in Albuquercjue, New 
Mexico, and whose wife was Nellie Surratt, 
a native of Tennessee; and Mary E., who 
died April 8, 1873. David Ullery died June 
5, 1842. His wife survived him until April 
8, 1856. 

David E. Ullery, whose name introduces 
this review, pursued his education in the old 
Hart schoolhouse, where he became familiar 
with the elementary branches of English 
learning. He was reared in the usual man- 
ner of farmer lads of the time, in a pleasant 
home where habits of industry and honesty 
were inculcated. During his boyhood his 
father died, and after his death the farm, 
comprising a quarter-section of land, was 
operated by his elder brother. He began the 
work of the fields at a very early age, and 
becoming greatly attached to his old home, 
he could not endure to see it pass into the 
hands of strangers, and, although he was not 



able to buy it all, when it was sold he pur- 
chased one hundred acres of it. In the 
spring of 1872 he began the operation of a 
sawmill and followed that business in con- 
nection with farming for twenty-eight years. 
His enterprise was successfully conducted 
and his marked energy, perse\'erance and 
business ability enabled him to acquire a 
comfortable competence. 

In the spring of 1861, in company with 
Hugh Hart, an old school friend, he started 
on horseback for Illinois to visit his brother, 
Jacob Ullery, but before they reached their 
destination Fort Sumter had been fired 
upon. This news stirred the patriotic blood 
of these two young travelers and before 
reaching their journey's end they had de- 
termined to enlist. When they arri\-ed in 
Illinois they found that Mr. Ullery's brother, 
Jacob, had already joined the army, 
and David became a member of the same 
company for three months' service. Be- 
fore the Twentieth Illinois Regiment was 
formed, however, the quota was full, and the 
legislature, being in session, issued a call for 
thirty-day men and the Twentieth responded 
to that call. Mr. Ullery, of this review, 
enlisted on the 22d of April, 1861, and was 
assigned to Company D, Twentieth Regi- 
ment of Illinois Volunteers, under Captain 
Charles L. Paige. He afterward re-enlisted 
as a veteran and served until the close of the 
war. He and his brother fought side by 
side until the battle of Atlanta, Georgia, 
where his brother was killed, shot by a mus- 
ket ball. He died on the field, giving his 
life a ransom for his country's preser\-ation. 
The Twentieth Regiment was assigned to 
John A. McClernand's Division, and after 
the battle of Shiloh was in the First Brig- 
ade, Third Division, under command of 
General John A. Logan, in the Se\-enteenth 



500 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Army Corps, under the command of General 
JVlcPherson. Mr. UUery participated in the 
battles of Fort Henry, Fort Donelson,Shiloh, 
where he was wounded by a piece of shell, 
and in many smaller engagements in the Cor- 
inth campaign and around \'icksburg. He 
took part in the Ijattlos of Port Gibson and 
Ra_\-mond. and in the latter was severely 
wounded in the left breast and right 
shijulder, the ball passing through about 
fourteen inches of flesh, also injuring the 
right lung, from the effects of which he has 
never recovered. He remained in the field 
hospital until after the capitulation of X'icks- 
burg, when, in July, 1863, he was taken to 
Lawson Hospital at St. Louis, where ho re- 
mained until October of that year, when he 
returned to his regiment. He was pro- 
HKjted to the rank of sargeant.and was with 
Sherman's command on the march of one 
hundroJ miles to Aleridian. In the spring 
of 1864, after re-enlisting, he was granted a 
thirty-day furlough, at the end of which time 
he joined his regiment in Springfield, Illi- 
nois, and soon after joined Sherman's army 
at Ackworth, Georgia, when he took part in 
the battles of Kenesaw Moun.tain and At- 
lanta, and in the latter the regiment lost fifty- 
four men, killetl and wounded, on July 21, 
thus being reduced to only one hundred and 
fifty men. On the 22nd of July, the Twen- 
tieth Illinois did some very desperate fighting, 
and at sunset it numbered but one ofticer and 
sexenteen men who were still able to hold 
their position on the line. On that day 'Slv. 
Ullcry was captured and remained at Ander- 
sonville prison until October i, 1S64, when 
he was sent to Savannah, Georgia, for a few 
days. He afterwards spent thirty days in 
Charleston, South Carolina, after which he 
was incarcerated in Florence, that state, until 
February zy, 1865. At Wilmington, North 



Carolina, he was paroled and sent to St. 
Louis, by way of Annapolis, Maryland. On 
his way t(_) the former city he visited his peo- 
ple and also paid a visit to his sweetheart in 
Piqua, Ohio. He finally reported at St. 
Louis -and was sent to Springfield, Illinois, 
where he was discharged on the 13th of July, 
1865, having served four years, two months 
and twenty-one days. He came home shat- 
tered in health, weighing only seventy 
pounds, owing to the rigors and hardships 
of war. 

On the 26th of August, 1865, only about 
a month after his return, Mr. L'llery was 
united in marriage to Miss Rachel C. Pas- 
sage, of Piqua, Ohio, a representative of one 
of the r)]d pioneer families of the state. Her 
grandfather, Henry Passage, was married in 
New' York city to Miss Clausser, a German 
lady, and their children were Peter, John, 
Peggie, Elizabeth and Stephen. He died 
near New Waverly, Indiana, having emi- 
grated westward at an early day. Peter 
Passage, the father of Mrs. Ullery, was born 
in Connecticut, in 180J, and when fourteen 
years of age went to New York city where he 
was reared to manhood. By trade he was a 
cabinet-maker, and at an early day he re- 
moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, wdiere he learned 
surveying. He surveyed much of the coun- 
try, as far west as Fort Wayne, Indiana, and 
in that work was associated with Captain 
Riley, a noted surveyor of that state. He 
followed that business until a year prior to 
his marriage, which important event of his 
life occurred in Piqua, the lady of his choice 
being Miss Sarah Lines, a daugiiter of Levi 
Lines. The maternal great-grandfather of 
Mrs. Ullery was Samuel Lines, who, with 
his wife, came from England in colonial days, 
locating in Connecticut when the Indians 
were numerous in that state. One night the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



507 



red men attacked their home and burned 
their cabin. Tliey also carried away tiie 
grandfather of Mrs. Ullery. He was taken 
to Canada and lived with the Indians until 
he had attained man"s estate, when he re- 
turned to his home. 1 he pewter ware of the 
family had been buried on the night of the 
attack, and upon his return he took it up, 
finding- it just where it had been placed many 
years before. After their marriage Peter 
Passage and his wife resided for a time at 
Piqua and then removed to Xew Carlisle, 
Ohio. Later thoy purchased a farm at De- 
fiance, Ohio, and while on the way there 
Mr. Passage was persuaded to accept a posi- 
tion as section boss on the canal, and while 
eneaeed in that work, his famih' made their 
home at Houston, Shelby county, Ohio. 
Some time afterward he purchased a section 
of land in Shelby county, and it is upon this 
tract that the reser\-oir now stands. Mr. 
Passage returned to Houston, where his 
death occurred December jo, 1845. I" 
his early manhood he was a member of the 
Christian church, and in his life exemplified 
his belief. After his death, his widow and 
her family located at Piqua, and after the 
marriage of Mrs. Ullery, the mother made 
her home with her until she, too, was called 
away, in 1887, at the age of eighty-six years. 
She was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1801, 
and was nine years old when her parents re- 
moved to Piqua, making tho journey in a 
wagon. On reaching Mad river, they found 
the stream so sw'ollen that they were com- 
pelled to halt for two weeks, and during that 
time their horses wore stolen by the Indians. 
Theirs was the fifth house built in Piqua, so 
that the Lines family can well be termed 
honorable pioneers of Miami county. Mrs. 
Passage witnesse^l the first treaty made with 
the Indians and could relate manv interesting 



incidents of the pioneer days of the Buckeye 
state. By her marriage she became the 
mother of the following children, namely : 
Cinderella, W'idow of Anthony Harp, of Polo, 
Ohio; Elizabeth, widow of James Harp, of 
Piqua ; Levi, who served in the cix'il war and 
died in Fort Wayne, Indiana, about 1889; 
Rebecca, wife of John Sprague; Peter, who 
was a corporal in the Eighth Ohio Cavalry 
and was wounded at the battle of Beverly, 
but did not die until many years later, his 
death occurring in Polo, in 1896; Mrs. 
L'llery ; and Jennie, wife of Jacob Bowers. 
He served in the Eighth Ohio Caxalry during 
the civil war, and after his death his widow 
became the wife of David Daniels, but sur- 
\-ived her second marriage only one year. 

After the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. 
L'llery, the young couj)le wer.t to the home 
that he had prepared for his bride upon a 
part of the old homestead. There they en- 
joyed many years of happiness, devoted to 
each other and their family. They had six 
children : ]\Iinnie Ci., now the wife of Will- 
iam Drees, of Covington. Ohio ; James Elli- 
son, who died at the age of two and a half 
years; Sadie E.. wife of Wdliam Orr. of 
Piqua; ClitTord C. who died at the age of 
eighteen; Joseph C. and Gustin C, who are 
at home. 

In public affairs Mr. Ullery has been 
\ery prominent. He was connected with the 
township school board in different capacities 
for fourteen years, and the cause of educa- 
tion found in him a warm friend who greatly 
promoted the interests of tho schools. He 
also served eleven years as township trustee. 
He was elected real estate appraiser of New- 
berry township in the fall of 1899, without 
opposition. In politics he is a stalwart Re- 
publican, unswerving in his advocacy of the 
principles of the party. Socially he is con- 



608 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



nected with Langston Post, G. A. R., of 
Covington, and since 1872 has been a mem- 
ber of the Christian church. ^Ir. UUery 
has made good use of his opportunities, has 
prospered from year to year, has comhictetl 
his business affairs carefully and successfully 
and in all his acts displays an aptitude for 
successful management. He has not permit- 
ted the acquiring of wealth to effect in any 
way his actions towards thcjse less successful 
than he, and has always a cheerful word and 
pleasant smile for all with whom he has come 
in contact. As a citizen he is as loyal to his 
country as when upon the field of battle he 
followed the old Hag. His career has indeed 
been an upright and honorable one, worthy 
of high commendation, and he well deserves 
to be classed among the enterprising and hon- 
ored citizens of his native county. 



L. C. CRON. 



This gentleman needs no introduction to 
the readers of the history of Miami county, 
for he is very widely known throughout this 
section of the state and his business reputa- 
tion extends far be_\und the confines of 
western Ohio. For almost a third of a 
century he has been engaged in the manu' 
facture of furniture in Piqua, and his laliors 
have been of substantial benefit to the city, 
while promoting his individual welfare and 
prosperity. He is certainly one of the most 
energetic and enterprising men uf Piqua. 
America has gained pre-eminence as one of 
the strongest commercial powers of the 
world, and in each of its cities are men who 
are recognized leaders in the industrial, com- 
mercial and professional circles. Among 
this number in Piqua is Mr. Cron, and prob- 



ably no single individual has done more to 
promote the business activity and conse- 
quent prosperity of Miami county than he. 
A native of Ohio, he was born in Piqua, 
September 16, 1836, and obtained a good 
elementary education in the public schools, 
supplementing it by study in private schools. 
Throughout his business career he has been 
connected with the manufacture of furni- 
ture. He early began learning the trade 
of manufacturing furniture and has since 
continued to follow that pursuit through an 
active, honorable and useful life. He es- 
tablished his present business in 1868, carry- 
ing it on alone until 1869, when he admitted 
his present partners, imder the name of the 
L. C. & W. L. Cron Company. The firm 
name has since been unchanged and the en- 
terprise is the oldest of the kind in this sec- 
tion of Ohio. As the years .passed their 
trade grew, both in volume and importance, 
andthefieldof their operations was extended. 
They were forced to secure larger facilities 
from time to time until their plant has now 
grown to extensive proportions. It covers, 
together with the ground on which the lum- 
ber is piled, about eight acres, and is con- 
nected with the railroad system of the city 
by side tracks, which enter the premises and 
afford the most complete receiving and ship- 
ping facilities. The factory and warehouses 
are embraced in large and substantial brick 
buildings. The main factory is four stories 
high and the warehouse three stories in 
height. These are connected with a covered 
bridge crossing the street at the second floor. 
The mechanical equii)ment embraces all the 
latest improved, labor saving machinery 
known to the trade, and is operated by a" ^ 
one hundred horse-power engine, and every 
operation in connection with the manufacture 
of the products that may be accomplislied 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



509 



by niacliinery is thus executed. Notwith- 
standing this latter fact employment is given 
to one hundred and seventy skilled work- 
men, which is an evidence of the extent of 
the output. To facilitate the economic and 
rapid protluction of the pr(jducts an inimenje 
stock of lumber is kept maturing, and per- 
fect system and order reign supreme in all 
the departments of the establishment. The 
products of the company are bed-room suits, 
made chiefly from oak and elm. They are 
made in a variety of handsome and attract- 
ive styles, the workmnship being most thor- 
ough and finished, and the output of the 
factory is in demand in trade circles through- 
out all sections of the Union. In addition to 
this they manufacture all kinds of plain and 
fancy house furniture. New and original 
styles are being introduced and the company 
has earned a high reputation for being fully 
abreast and in advance of the times with ar- 
tistic novelties in their line. In all valuable 
elements the products are attractive and 
salable, and therefore are just what the trade 
wants. The central location of Piqua, the 
unsurpassed shipping facilities afforded here, 
the complete manufacturing" plant of the 
company and the progressive management 
of the business, all combine to enable them to 
offer inducements and advantages to buyers 
that invariably insure continued business re- 
lations. The active management of the busi- 
ness is vested in the hands of L. C. Cron, 
president, and Edward ^Vhitlock, secretary. 
Mr. Cron is a practical manufacturer and a 
progressive business man in the prime of his 
usefulness, and he takes great pride in turn- 
ing out the best goods of the kind on the 
market. The policy upon which this enter- 
prise is conducted is based on fair and hon- 
orable dealing, and the well known relia- 
bility of the company, together with the ex- 



cellence of their output, secures to them a 
large and continuous patronage. 

Mr. Cron has been twice married. On 
the 29th of September, 1859, he wedded Miss 
Margaret Ginn, and to them were born five 
children, namely: George L., who was born 
-August 2J, 1864, and died February 15, 
1867; Maggie E., who was born March 12, 
1866; Charles L., born September 26, 1867; 
Jackson C, born June 18, 1869; and Albert 
M., who was born December 2j, 1871, and 
died July 25, 1878. The mother of this 
family was born in Miami county, Septem- 
ber 7, 1838, and was called to her final rest 
on the 27th of December, 1873. On the 
iilh of August, 1874, Mr. Cron was again 
married, his second union being with Mar- 
cella Edmonds, of Dayton, who was born 
December 4, 1847. They had four children : 
Hattie B., born July 27, 1875; and Minnie 
A., who was born September 19, 1878, and 
died July i, 1879; Florence, born May 30, 
1882; Clarence, born in 1886. 

During the civil war Mr. Cron manifest- 
ed his locality to the goverment, for, with 
patriotic spirit, he responded to the call for 
troops in 1861, spending three years in the 
arm\\ He was the principal musician in the 
One Hundred and Tenth Regiment. Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry. He participated in the 
battles of Cedar Creek, Fort Petersburg 
anil many other of less renown. He 
was always found at his post of duty, 
faithfully fighting for the cause of the 
Union. He has filled many positions of 
pull)ic trust and responsibility. He is 
president of the Democratic Publishing Com- 
pany, of Piqua, which was organized in 
1 89 1. He is at present serving as presi- 
dent of the city coimcil. He was mentioned 
for state representative by the Democrats, 
and, though he lost the election, it was a 



510 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



defeat wliich amounted almost to victory, 
for in tlie county which usually gives a Re- 
publican majority of fourteen liundred his 
opponent received a plurality of only ninety- 
one votes. The large support which was 
given Mr. Cron certainly indicated his per- 
sonal popularity and the "confidence and 
trust reposed in him. lie is a man of 
broad capabilities, as his varied and exten- 
sive business interests indicate. He is at 
all times approachable and patiently listens 
to whatever a caller may have to say, always 
courteous and at all times a gentleman in the 
truest and best sense of the term. He cares 
not for notoriety, nor is there about him the 
least shadow of tnock modesty. His has 
been the mind to conceive and direct and the 
hand to execute all of the many improve- 
ments and ad\ancement which have been 
made by the company of which he is the 
head, and that he stands to-day among the 
most successful and prosperous business 
men of Piqua is a fact due entirely to his own 
efforts. 



MARIOX L. DEWEESE. 

;Mr. Deweese, of Troy, is descended 
from good old Re\olutionary stock. His 
great-grandfather. Samuel Deweese, held a 
commission in the Continental armv during 
the war which brought independence to the 
nation. His son, Joshua Deweese, grand- 
father of our subject, located in Concord 
township, ^liami county, at a very early 
day. He is said to have been the first Bap- 
tist minister in this locality, and was licensed 
to preach about 1824. He came from the 
Shenandoah valley of \'irginia, and pro- 
claimed the glad tidings of great joy among 
the pioneers of the Buckeye state. When 
his country's liberties and rights were threat- 



ened, however, he showed the spirit of the 
warrior by promptly responding to his coun- 
try's call for aid in the war of 181 2, taking 
part in the warfare against the Indians, un- 
der General Wayne. He wedded Miss 
Mary Gerard, a daughter of Henry Gerard, 
who came from Pennsylvania to Staunton 
township, Miami county, with the Knoop 
family in 1798. They made the first set- 
tlement of which there is authentic record 
in tlie county, although, doubtless, the 
French visited the locality in 1749, and their 
descendants remained in this part of Ohio 
as Indian traders. Henry Gerard surveyed 
a large portion of the land in Miami county, 
and as compensation for his services re- 
ceived about eight hundred acres, extending 
from Spring Creek to Troy. Some of his 
survey field notes are now in possession of 
the father of our subject. Mr. Gerard took 
an active part in the early develt^pment of the 
county. He built the fir.st mill witliiir its 
borders, and in all possible ways aided in 
its progress and advancement. In his later 
life he removed to Attica, Indiana, where 
he died at the extreme old age of one hun- 
dred and twenty-four years. Isaac Gerard 
was the first teacher in Concord township, 
and David Gerard, a son of Henry, was the 
last white man killed by the Indians in this 
county. He and a comjjanion, bj- the name 
of Ross, were hewing timber one afternoon 
about four o'clock in 1812, when two Indians 
passed by and shot Gerard. Ross made his 
escape, but the Indians proceeded two miles 
further north, where the\- found Mr. D;l- 
bone at work in a flax patch, mortally wound- 
ed him and also scalped his wife before his 
eyes. 

Samuel McDougall Deweese. the father 
of our subject, was born in Concord town- 
ship, Miami county, in 1819, and was reared 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



511 



amidst the \vil<.l scenes of the frontier. Hav- 
ing arrived at years of maturity, he married 
Rachel Conuell, a native of Pennsylvania. 
Both the father anil mother are still li\ing 
and enjoying good healtii. having reacheil 
the ages of eighty-two and seventy-eiglit, 
respectively. He is perhaps the hest in- 
formed man in local history in the entire 
county, and is one of the oldest settlers, his 
residence here covering a period of eighty- 
one years. In his family were six sons, name- 
ly: Albert, a resident of Troy: Edwin, who 
is living in Philadelphia ; Allen, of Pleasant 
Hill, Miami county: Jndson. of Decatur, 
Alabama : and Arthur, of Tippecanoe City, 
Miami comity. There were also two sis- 
ters, Mrs. Flenthan Buckler, of Tippecanoe 
City, ami Mrs. Oresta Cory, of Spriugtield, 
Ohio. The parents are now living in Tip- 
pecanoe City. 

Mr. Deweese, of this review, was born 
on the old family homestead in Concord 
township, JDecember 13, 1845, 3'>*^1 pursued 
his education in the schools of Troy. He 
entered the high school, but when the civil 
war was inaugurated he put aside his text- 
books, anil, at the age of eighteen enlisted in 
the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio 
Infantry, in 1864, for three months" service. 
After receiving his discharge he returned to 
the home farm, where he remained until 
twenty- tour years of age. He was married, 
in 1870, to Elizalieth .\. Frazee, a daughter 
of James Frazee. of Lost Creek township, 
and a granddaughter of James Frazee. Sr., 
who was one of the-pioneer settlers of Miami 
county. The last named wedded Miss 
Knight, also a member o{ one of the i)ronu- 
nent families. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Deweese has been 
born twii daughters, one, Otilia, dying at 
the age of twenty-two years. She was a 



natural artist in oil and crayon : and Lucia, 
who resiiles with her pareitts in their pleas- 
ant home in Troy. Mr. Deweese and his 
wife are consistent members of the Baptist 
church, and socially he is conitected with 
the Grand Army Post. His political sup- 
port is given to the Republican party, but he 
lias never been an aspirant for public office, 
preferring to devote his energies and time 
to his business affairs. He is regTirdevi as 
the best mechanic in the building trade in 
Troy, and has a record of more buildings iu 
the city than any other contracUM". He per- 
forms his part of a contract most faithfully, 
and hi:-: reliability and energy have secured 
to him a very liberal patronage, and is con- 
stantlv increasing. 



HLXRY r>. PRIXTZ. 

Henry B. Printz is a prominent and rep- 
resentative farmer of XcwIkmiv township, 
aiul is descended from sterling Cierman a;:- 
cestry. the strong characteristics oi the Teu- 
tonic race being at many times manifest in 
his career. His paternal grandfather was 
born in Germany, and emigrating to Amer- 
ica took up his abode iu Berks county, IVnu- 
sylvania. narticipating in the Revolutionary 
war when the colonies attempted to throw 
ofi tile yoke of Piriiish o|ipression. His re- 
maining days were spent in the Keystone 
slate. Daniel Printz, the father" of our sub- 
ject, was Ixirn in Berks counly. about I7g8, 
He was a stocking weaver by trade, and fol- 
lowed that luusuit tor some time after his 
removal to Ohio. He was married in the 
county of his nativity to Elizabeth Hayden. 
a native of Berks county. Her father, how- 
ever, was born in F.ngland, and coming to 
the L"niteil States in colonial davs. be. too, 



512 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



strongly sympathized with the spirit of in- 
dependence manifested in the colonies, and 
participated in the Revolutionary war as a 
member of Washington's army. About 
1819 Daniel Printz and his wife, with their 
three children, removed to Clark county, 
Ohio, making the journey with a one-horse 
wagon. His elder brother had preceded 
him to that county, and for several years the 
father resided on his farm near Springfield. 
He then removed to Moorefield township, 
Clark county, where he remained for more 
than twenty-six years, during which time 
he devoted his attention to agricultural pur- 
suits. He finally purchased a small tract of 
land which is now in the heart of the city of 
Springfield. For six years after his arrival 
in Ohio he followed his trade, and then 
turned his attention entirely to farm work, 
becoming one of the most extensive agri- 
culturists of Clark county. He was pro- 
gressive, and was the first man to bring a 
reaper into this state. The following year 
he purchased another reaper, and at all times 
he was ready and willing to promote any 
movement that would advance agricultural 
interests or facilitate his work. His reap- 
ers were considered such oddities that at 
times a hundred people would gather to 
watch the operation of the inachine. They 
did not believe it could satisfactorily do the 
work, and scoffed at the idea of such a 
machine taking the place of the cradle in 
the harvest field. Mr. Printz died on his 
little farm in Springfield, May 19, 1864. In 
the early days he was a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, but afterward united 
with the Universalist church. In politics he 
was a stalwart Democrat, recognized as one 
of the leaders of his party in Ohio. For 
many years he served as justice of the peace, 
and on one occasion he was a candidate for 



state senator. Although he was not elected, 
it was a defeat that amounted almost to a 
victory, for in a strongly Republican dis- 
trict he lost the election by only four votes. 
His wife died about 1861, at the age of sixty 
years. When she was married she weighed 
only ninety pounds, but at the time of her 
death she weighed three hundred and 
eighty-four pounds. In the family of this 
worthy couple were twelve children : Ange- 
line. who became the wife of Lewis Petre. 
and died near Springfield, Ohio; Franklin, 
of Champaign county, who wedded Cather- 
ine Gordon, and after her death married 
Emma Bressman ; Elizabeth, who became the 
wife of Absalom Kepner, and died near 
Clayton, Miami county; Sarah, wife of 
Samuel Short, of Shelby county, Ohio; Dan- 
iel, who married ]Mary J. Coulter, and died 
in 1855, in Clark county; Susan, who mar- 
ried Leonard Seibert, and afterward E. R. 
Ganson, and is now a widow," living in Co- 
lumbus, Ohio; ^lollie C, wife of Jacob Sei- 
bert, a resident of Logan county. Illinois; 
John, who wedded Jane Thatcher, and re- 
sides in Clark county; Rebecca, who l)ecame 
the wife of Daniel Teach, and died in Cov- 
ington, Ohio ; Catherine, who died at the 
age of three years ; Henry B. ; and James K. 
Polk, who married Lavina Babylon, and re- 
sides in Shelby county. For forty years 
there was not a death in this family of chil- 
dren. 

Henry B. PVintz was born in Springfield 
township, Clark county, Ohio, February 28, 
1840, and was reared to manhood in that 
ai.d Moorefield township. He acquired his 
education in the countr}' schools of the neigh- 
borhood, and was reared upon the home 
farm, his time being passed in the usual 
manner of farmer boys of that period. On 
attaining his majority he left the parental 



I 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



513 



roof and started out to make his own way 
in tlie world. Going to Columbus, he was 
employed as a brakeman for two years on 
the Little Miami Railroad, and on the expi- 
ration of that period he returned to his home 
in Clark county. On the 26th of Novem- 
ber, 1863, Mr. Printz was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Deborah Morgan Lynn, who 
was born in Moorefield township, Clark coun- 
ty, June 4, 1839, a daughter of Joseph and 
Catherine ( Suver )Lynn. Her paternal an- 
cestors came from Ireland, her grandfather 
being a native of that country, whence he 
emigrated to the new world, taking up his 
residence in Virginia. Her maternal grand- 
father, John Suver, was born in Germany, 
and was married in Penns}'h-ania to Cather- 
ine Haines. About 1830 he removed to 
Clark county, Ohio, where his death occur- 
red. Her grandfather Lynn died in the 
state of Virginia. His wife was Deborah 
Morgan. Joseph Lynn, the father of Mrs. 
Printz, removed from the Old Dominion to 
the Buckeye state and located in Clark coun- 
ty, where he died about 1868. His wife 
died in 1882, at the age of seventy- four 
years, and he was about sixty years of age 
when called to his final rest. 

After their marriage ^h. Printz located 
on his father-in-law's farm, where he re- 
mained for three years, and then removed to 
another farm in the same township, upon 
which he resided for a similar period. La 
the fall of 1868 he took up his abode south 
of Springfield, where he li\-ed for twelve 
years. His next home was northeast of 
Springfield, and after passing three years 
at that place he became a resident of Miami 
county, on the 5th of March, 1884, locating 
on his present farm, then known as the 
Jamos Patterson property. It comprises one 
. hundred and two acres of rich land, and he 



carries on general farming, his principal 
crops being wheat and corn. He has made 
many substantial improvements upon the 
place, building fences, laying tile, remodel- 
ing the house and barn and doing other such 
work as contributed to its impro\-ement and 
development, and it is now considered one 
of the model properties of the community, 
unto Mr. and Mrs. Printz ha\-e been born two 
children, Joseph L. and Kittie, both living 
at home. The former married Orpha Min- 
nich, and unto them have been born five 
children — Fannie, Margie, Gladys, Joseph 
H. and Reuben M. Mr. Printz is a member 
of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, and 
in his political views is a stanch Democrat. 
He is well versed, both politically and other- 
wise. He has read extensively, is a deep 
thinker, and is independent in thought and 
action. His broad, general information 
makes him an entertaining conversational- 
ist, and he is a genial and hospitable gentle- 
man. He has good business judgment, is 
reliable and trustworthy in all his dealings, 
and through his well-directed efforts he has 
accjuired a comfortable competence. His 
methods of farming are progressive, and the 
neat and thrifty appearance of his place indi- 
cates his careful super\-ision. 



URIAH J. FAVORITE. 

L'riah J. Favorite is now living a retired 
life in Tippecanoe City, his many years of 
active and honorable labor being thus 
crowned with a well deserved rest. During 
the civil war he was a loyal defender of his 
country, and at all times he has been faithful 
to whatever is true and right, whether in pub- 
lic, in business or in social life. Thus has 
he commanded the respect and esteem of his 



514 



GENEALO-GICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fellow men, and as one of the leading citizens 
of the commnnity he well deserves repre- 
sentation in this \-olunio. He was born in 
Tippecanoe City, on the 9th of October, 1843, 
a son of Jonathan and Mary (Hyatt) Favor- 
ite. The father was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and about 1836 came to Miami county 
with his parents. Later he married Miss 
Hyatt, whose father was a merchant and one 
of the pioneer settlers of this ]<_icality, the 
hamlet of Hyattville being named in his 
honor. He was a native of England, and 
with his family came to America during the 
early girlhood of his daughter Mary. Both 
he and his wife attained a very advanced age. 
Jonathan Favorite, the father of our sub- 
ject, was a mechanic, carpenter and mill- 
wright, and iluring the early years of devel- 
opment in this section of the state was a 
I)roiuinent business man. In 1838 he Ijuilt 
the flouring mill, which he conducted for a 
number of }-ears witii excellent success. At 
the same time he worked at his trade, and in 
addition conducted a sawmill. In 1849, '^t" 
tracted l>y the discovery of gold in California, 
he made his way to the Pacific slope, where 
he engaged in mining for tliree years. His 
efforts were attended with creditable success, 
and he returned with capital sufficient to 
enable him to carry on a good business. On 
the return trij), however, he invested in Iowa 
lands and was moving his . family to the 
Hawkeye state when both he and his wife 
died at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, of river 
fever. The family of five children re- 
turned to join an elder sister in Ohio. 
Nancy, the eldest daughter, is the wife of 
John Morrison, and is a resident of Nemaha 
county, Nebraska ; John S. is a real-estate 
dealer of St. Louis, Missouri ; Jefferson, who 
became a printer, was married in Salt Lake 
City, Utah, and died in Sacramento, Cali- 



fornia, in 1876; Mrs. Martha J. Egner makes 
her home in Centralia. \\'ashington ; Uriah 
J. is the next of the family : and I\Irs. Harriet 
A. Hoover, widow of William Hoover, is 
living in Lincoln, Nebraska. It will thus 
be seen that our subject is now the onlv rep- 
resentative of his immediate family in Miami 
county. His uncle, Daniel Favorite, how- 
ever, reared a family north of Troy, and 
some of his children are still residents of the 
locality. George Favorite, a half brother 
of the father, is now living in W'ashington 
city, and an(_)ther half brother, Lafayette, 
died in Troy, Ohio. 

Uriah J. Favorite, whose name intro- 
duces this review, was a lad of about ten 
years at the time of his father's death. The 
children were then separated, and he lived for 
fi\e years in the family of Samuel Staley, in 
Bethel county, and his school prixileges were 
those comiuonly affortled to farmer boys. 
On entering upon his business career he se- 
cured a clerkship in a store in Tippecanoe 
City. Sa\-ing his wages, he afterward en- 
tered the high school at Piqua, where he pur- 
sued his studies until his means were ex- 
hausted. On the 15th of April, 1861, 
prompted by a spirit of patriotism, lie re- 
spondetl to President Lincoln's first call for 
seventy-five thousand volunteers, joining 
Company D. EIe\'enth Ohio Infantry. On 
the expiration of the first term of three 
months he re-enlisted for three years, in the 
First Independent Ohio Battery and was in 
the Kanawha division of the Army of the 
Potomac, with which he saw service under 
the command of General Garfield, Hayes and 
McKinley, all of whom were afterwards 
presidents of the L'nited States. After ~a. 
time his regiment was trans ferretl to the 
Potomac and participated in the battles of 
Fredericksburg, Antietam and all the en- 



11 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



515 



gagenients of tho McClellaii campaign. In 
the spring of 1863 lie was again sent to the 
Kanawha region and participated in the 
Hunter raid before Lynchburg. In August, 
1864. he received an lionorable discharge at 
Parkorsburg, for his second term had ex- 
pired. Still the south was not yet subdued 
and he once more entered the army, as a 
member of the secret ser\ice, being sent to 
Chattanooga to look after go\ernment sup- 
plies. In the spring of 1865 he was com- 
missioned by Governor Brough second lieu- 
tenant of Cijmpau}- (i, Ono Hundreil and 
Ninety-sixth Ohio Infantry, which company 
he had assisted in recruiting in Tippecanoe 
City. With that command he went to the 
Shenand(_>ah \'alle\', where he remainetl until 
after Lee's surrender, receiving his discharge 
at Fort Federal Hill, in Maryland, in Sep- 
temlier of that year. Fie was in nine im- 
portant battles and participated in many 
campaigns. In command of his company he 
went to Fort Delaware to assume charge of 
the prisonors and there remained until all 
were exchanged. 

After the war was over ISIr. Favorite 
returned to Miami county and secured em- 
ployment in the glucose works, learning tho 
business carried on in the chemical depart- 
ment, becoming familiar with e\'erv dutv of 
the laboratory. During various changes in 
the ownership of tho works he was retained 
as chemist, and later was made superintend- 
ent in charge of the interests of the company. 
After a connection of ten years with that 
business he closed it out, selling the buildings 
and remaining in charge until all relations 
were satisfactorily terminated. He then be- 
came a partner of Messrs. Kenney & Bry- 
ant in the purchase and operation of the mill 
which his father had built and owned thirty 
years before. For nine years he then en- 



gaged in the milling busmess, meeting with 
excellent success in his undertakings, and 
since that time he has li\-ed retired, owning a 
pleasant home in Tippecanoe City, where he 
is surrounded with all the comforts that go 
to make life worth li\ing. In March, 1900, 
he was appointed decennial appraiser of re- 
alty for Monroe township. 

Mr. Fa\-orite was married, February 21, 
1865, to Miss Elizabeth A. Athey, a daugh- 
ter of William Athey. She was born in 
\'irgin:a and died April 12, 1896, at the age 
of fifty-eight years. Their children are: 
Minnie May, now the wife of John M. 
Saunders, a grain dealer of Tippecanoe City ; 
and Harry J., a real-estate and insurance 
agent of Tippecanoe City, who wedded Mary 
Hartman, daughter of Dr. Samuel D. 
Hartman. 

^Ir. Favorite is a prominent Mason, be- 
longing to the lodge at Tippecanoe City, No. 
174, to Franklin Chapter No. 24, R. A. M., 
of Troy, and to Coleman Commandery, No. 
17, K. T., also of Troy. His wife was a 
charter member of the Relief Corps, but gave 
the greater part of her time and attention to 
her home. He maintains pleasant relation- 
ship with his old army comrades through his 
membership :n D. JM. Rouzer Post, No. 
393, Grand Army of the Republic. He has 
served as commander of the post and is filling 
that position at the present time. He has 
attended several national encampments, has 
revisited some of the battlefields on which 
he valiantly fought for the preservation of 
the LTnion, and in the work of the organiza- 
tion he takes deep interest. His chief source 
of recreation is with the rod and gun, having 
always found great delight in the sports of 
hunting and fishing. His career has been 
an active and useful one and his well directed 
efforts have JM-ought him success. He has 



516 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



always been a loyal citizen, as true to his 
country in clays of peace as when he followed 
the starry Ijanner through the southland. 



WILLIAM K. BOAL. 

It is the enterprise and character of the 
citizen that enrich and ennoble the common 
wealth. From individual enterprise has 
sprung all the splendor and importance of 
this great west. The greatest merchants 
have developed from "the humblest origins. 
From clerkships ha\-e emerged men who have 
built great business enterprises. America is 
a self-made country, and those who have cre- 
ated it are self-made men. Xo influence of 
birth or fortune has favored the architects 
of her glory. Among those who ha\-e 
achieved prominence as men of marked abil- 
ity and substantial worth in Piqua. the sub- 
ject of this sketch. William K. Boal, occupies 
a prominent position. 

The unostentatious routine of private life, 
although of vast importance to the welfare 
of the community, has not figured to any 
great extent in the pages of history. But 
the names of men who have distinguished 
themselves by the possession of those quali- 
ties of character which mainly contribute to 
the success of private life and to the public 
stability and who have enjoyed the respect 
and confidence of those around them should 
not be permitted to perish. Their example 
is more valuable to the majority of readers 
thaii that of heroes, statesmen and writers, 
as they furnish means of subsistence for the 
multitude whom they in their useful careers 
have cmplo3'ed. 

Such are the thoughts that involuntarily 
come to our minds when we consider the 
life of him whose name initiates this sketch. 



William King Boal was born in J^Iuncy. Ly- 
coming county, Pennsylvania, November 3, 
1 83 1. His father. James Boal, was a native 
of Glasgow, Scotland, and acquired his edu 
cation in the Glasgow L'niversity. In con- 
nection with his fatlier and brother he loaded 
a vessel, the Mary B.. with merchandise and 
the two sons sailed with it to Philadelphia, 
where they disposed of the goods. James 
Boal remained in his native land and engaged 
in the importing business throughout his 
acti\'e career. \\'illiani Boal built and sailed 
other \essels until the firm had seven engaged 
in the merchant trade. James Boal married 
Agnes Frederick, who was born in Muncy, 
Pennsylvania, in 1806. It was for her great- 
grandfather, Moses Frederick, that the city 
of Fredericksburg, \'irginia, was named. 
George F. Boal, another brother of our sub- 
ject, was graduated in Dickinson College of 
Pennsylvania, afterwards studied law and 
became a member of tlie legislature of the 
Keystone state. Another brother of our 
subject., James McLellan Boal, studied 
at Dickinson College and afterward removed 
to Minnesota. He was at one time the 
owner of the site on which the city of St. 
Paul now stands, and was a member of the 
first legislature of that state. 

After the death of his father, James Boal. 
in 1840. William K. Boal, of tlvis review, 
removed with his mother to Greenup county, 
Kentucky, where his sisters, Mrs. James W. 
Allison and Mrs. William M. Patton, resided. 
On completing his education at the Induc- 
tive Seminary there, he afterward entered the 
office of the Iron Furnace Works, owned and 
controlled by his brother-in-law, William M. 
Patton. In this way he gained an excellent 
knowledge of the business with which he was 
afterward to become so actively cc^nnected. 
He ser\ed as bookkeeper and manager until 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



5i; 



1855, when lie accepted a ptjsition in a bank 
at Ashland. Kentucky, there remaining until 
1863. In that year he went to Cincinnati, 
Ohio, where he became a very extensive 
dealer in cotton and hemp. He also con- 
ducted a ciiminission Inisiness, his annual 
sales amounting to more than a million, five 
hundred thousand dollars. In 1872 he pur- 
chased the stove foundry of W. C. Davis & 
Company. Under his management the busi- 
ness increased rapidly and he sold it to the 
Favorite Stove Company, but the new or- 
ganization did not make a success of the en- 
terprise, and in 1888 Mr. Boal organized 
the Favorite Stove & Range Company, se- 
curing the plant and business of the defunct 
Favorite Stove Company. The new cor- 
poration purchased land and established its 
foundry in Piqua, and since that time the 
business has steadily and constantly grown 
until it is now one of the largest iif the kind 
in the United States. 

From an account of this mammoth busi- 
ness published in one of the local Piqua 
papers we quote freely, for certainly such a 
gigantic concern is deserving of particular 
mention in connection with the industrial 
activity of the city. For a number of years 
Piqua has enjoyed the reputation of having 
the most extensive manufacturing interests 
of any city of its size in the state, and chief 
among these is that conducted by the Favor- 
ite Stove & Range Company, whose exten- 
sive plant is located between Young and 
South streets. The officers are: \V. K. 
Boal, president; Stanhope Boal, vice-pres- 
ident; and E. W. Lape, secretary and treas- 
urer ; while the Board of directors is composed 
of W. K. Boal ; Jacob Bettman, of Cincin- 
nati; A. M. Orr; Adam Gray, of Cincinnati; 
and Stanhope Boal. Under the wise con- 
trol and capable management of the presi- 



dent, this has become one of the leading stove 
antl range manufactories of the United 
States. The plant was removed to Piqua 
from Cincinnati in the fall of 1888, and on 
the 25th of February, of the following year, 
began operation. Since that time its l:)usi- 
ness has steadily and rapidly grown, and to- 
day the output of the factory is known 
throughout the United States. The line 
of goods manufactured is quite extensive, 
consisting of Favorite steel ranges, cast 
ranges and many kinds of cOok stoves, all of 
which are made for different kinds of fuel, 
together with Favorite baseburners for hard 
coal, and all kinds of heating stoves in varied 
sizes. In addition they manufacture Favor- 
ite gas ranges and Favorite gas heaters for 
artificial and natural gas, and the Favorite 
Piqua hollow ware is one of their products. 
The plant has a capacity for turning out one 
thousand steel ranges, baseburners and other 
fine stoves each week, which is equivalent to 
three thousand sto\es of the cheaper grades. 
In a single day twenty-eight tons of iron 
are used in making castings of the various 
stoves and ranges. When the company be- 
gan operation in Piqua about eleven years 
ago, it had in its employ two hundre;l and 
seventy-five men, including the traveling 
salesmen. To-day there are four hundred 
men employed at the plant, while the tra\-el- 
ing salesmen and other representatives num- 
ber fifty, and the weekly pay roll of the con- 
cern is enormous. In order to facilitate the 
trade and make. quicker shipments branch 
offices have been established in New York, 
Chicago, St. Paul, Kansas City, Ottumwa, 
LaCrosse, Wisconsin, and Menominee, Mich- 
igan. At each of these branches a large 
stock of stoves and ranges are constantly 
kept on hand so that orders are filled 
promptly. The rapidly growing trade has 



518 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



necessitated the enlargement of the plant 
from year to year, and recently a new brick 
building, two hundred and seventy-five feet 
and two stories high, was erected. The 
buildings of the company nijw number fifteen 
and, although some are joined together, 
there are different departments in each. The 
entire depth of the buildings is fifteen hun- 
dred and thirty feet. The office building is 
located in front of the plant, and is \'ery con- 
veniently arranged, being handsomely fur- 
nishetl and supplied with everything that is 
required to conduct the extensive business 
which the cnrporation enji)}'s. There are 
large warehouses and mounting departments 
in which many men are constantly engaged 
in setting up stoves and getting them ready 
for shipment; the cleaning shop, where the 
rough edges of the castings are taken off be- 
fore the}' are sent to the mounting depart- 
ment ; the moulding department, in which 
every piece that enters into a stove is cast, 
and in the center of this room is a large 
cupola where the iron is melted ; in another 
building are the core ovens, where the cores 
for the gas ranges and hot plates are made. 
Another interesting building is the wood pat- 
tern department. It is here the designs for 
all of the new stoves are made. E\ery piece 
that enters into the construction of a stove 
is carefuly carved from selected pine, and, 
after being made to fit perfectly, they are 
taken to the moulding department and iron 
patterns made from them. When those have 
served their purpose they -are stored in fire 
proof buildings and are kept fur futue use. 
In this building the concern has every p.ittern 
that has ever been made for a stox'C, no mat- 
ter how large or small, for they are liable to 
be needed at any time. There is also a 
nickel-plating department, and after the 
plating is done the pieces are carefully dried 



and then taken to the polishing room where 
they are brightened. There are storage 
rooms, and gas range, hollow ware, tin shop 
and odd plate departments, each being 
equipped with the latest and most improx'ed 
machinery. The plant is operate! with a large 
two-hundred-horse-power Corliss engine and 
one one-hundred-horse-power Seely engine. 
There is also a dynamo in this room used for 
generating light for the entire plant, save for 
the nickeling department, which has its own 
dynamo. There are machine shops wdiere 
various things are made for the different de- 
l)artments, and a Japanning house, coke and 
sand houses. Thus thoroughly equipped 
the Favorite Stove & Range plant has be- 
come one of the most extensive in the entire 
country, and its output finds its way to every 
state in the Union. 

While thoroughly a man of affairs whose 
competency to control extensive business in- 
terests has been manifested in the success of 
the enterprise with which he is now con- 
nected, Mr. Boal is in private life a genial, 
kindly gentleman wlm has won many friends. 
In 1855 he married Miss Eliza Naomi Van 
Bibber, the only child of Dr. James and 
Naomi Barton ( W'hite) \'au Bibber. Her 
father was a very successful physician and 
the best known citizen of Greenup county, 
Kentucky. He was also a cousin of Daniel 
Boone. His wife \\as a daughter of Naomi 
Barton, who was of English birth, and a 
cousin of Francis Scott Key, to whom, as 
the author of the Star Spangled Banner, the 
countr_\- will e\er owe a debt of gratitude. 
Mr, and Mrs. Boal are the parents of seven 
children, namely: Stella; Nannie: Louise;. 
Eliza \'an Bibber, wife of A. yi. Orr, of 
Piqua ; Naomi, wife of George ^Viedeman,of 
Newport, Kentucky; Ailine, and Stanhope. 
The son is associated with his father in busi- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



519 



ness, and is vice-president of the Favorite 
Stove & Range Compao}', is president of the 
National Stove Manufacturers' Association, 
of the National Gas Stove Works Associa- 
tion and the Western Association of Stove 
jManufacturers. A man of fine physique, of 
affable manner and genial disposition, in 
business life he is highly regarded for his 
marked executive ability and the faithfulness 
with which he discharges the duties that de- 
volve upon him through his connection with 
the various organizations of which he is the 
head. A most pleasant relationship exists 
between him and the employes of the foun- 
dry, and a similar regard is shown his father, 
William K. Bual, who sustains a most envia- 
ble reputation in business circles. He is well 
known as a thorough-going business man 
who conducts his affairs along systematic 
lines and requires absolute faithfulness on the 
part of his employes. At the same time they 
recognize that fidelity to duty is the stepping" 
stone to something higher, and that as op- 
portunity oft'ers he will reward their faith- 
fulness by promotion. The humanitarian 
spirit of jNIr. Boal was shown at the time of 
the great financial panic of 1873, when the 
company retained all their men, paying them 
regularly every Saturday, although the out- 
put the factory was very much diminished. 
Through his effort and those of capable asso- 
ciates he has built up one of the most exten- 
sive industrial pursuits in the country. The 
day of small undertakings, especially _in 
cities, seems to have passed and the era of 
gigantic enterprises is upon us. In control 
of mammoth concerns are men of master 
minds, of almost limitless ability to guide, 
of sound judgment and keen discrimination. 
The:r progressiveness must not onl)- reach 
the bounds that others have gained, but must 
even pass beyond into new and broader, un- 

30 



tried fields of operation; but an unerring 
foresight and sagacity must make no mis- 
take by venturing upon uncertain ground. 
Thus continually growing, a business takes 
leadership in its special line and the men who 
are at the head are deservedly eminent in the 
world of commerce, occupying a position 
which commands the respect while it excites 
the admiration of all. Such a place does 
Mr. Boal now fill. Outside of his office he 
is known to be a man of genial disposition, 
courteous and companionable. He is highly 
esteemed by his brethren of the Masonic fra- 
ternity and the Odd Fellows society, and is 
a leading member of the Episcopal church, 
in \\-hich he is now serving as vestryman. 
His home is one of the most elegant resi- 
dences in Piqua, and stands as a monument 
to a life whose labors have been discerningly 
directed along lines that have brought to him 
handsome prosperity, and at the same time 
have gained for him that good name which 
is rather to be chosen than great riches. 



NELSON SHANCK. 

Nelson Shanck is an enterprising farmer 
of Union township, Miami county. His 
birth occurred in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
three miles southwest of Dayton, on the 3d 
of January, 1850. His father, Phillip 
Shanck, \\-as bOrn in Maryland and during 
his early life emigrated westward with his 
family and settled near what is now the city 
of Dayton, then a small village. The family 
lived on a farm and Phillip Shanck remained 
at home until his marriage, after which he 
removed to Indiana. He spent a year in 
that state and then returned to Ohio, locat- 
ing upon rented farm land in Aliami county. 
\Vhen six years had passed he purchased 



520 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



his father's old homestead and tliereon re- 
mained until his life's labors were ended, at 
the age of seventy-eight. In politics he 
was a Republican but never sought or de- 
sired the honors and emoluments of public 
office. He held membership in the German 
•Baptist church, which was also the faith of 
his parents. His father, John Shanck, was 
a native of Maryland, and died on the old 
homestead in Ohio, when about eighty-five 
years of age. He, too, held membership in 
the German Baptist church and was a man 
of the highest respectability. The mother 
of our subject bore the maiden name of 
Rebecca Shafer and was born in Pennsyl- 
vania. During her girlhod she came vi*^h 
her parents to Ohio and is still living, ar tlie 
age of se\'enty-eight years. She, too, was a 
member of the church and led an earnest 
Christian life. 

Nelson Shanck remained at home until 
about twenty years of age, and the duties 
and pleasures of farm life occupied his time 
and attention. He then left home and for 
a time was employed as a farm hand by the 
day. Subsequently he rented land and en- 
gaged in raising tobacco and potatoes. Dur- 
ing the third year in which he was tlius en- 
gaged he was married, and continued to 
rent a farm of thirty-five acres in the neigh- 
borhood for about four years. On the ex- 
piration of that period he purchased twenty 
acres just across the line in -Darke county, 
living there for twelve or thirteen years, 
'during which time he extended the boundar- 
ies of his land by an additional purchase of 
■.twenty acres. On selling that property he 
purchased the eighty-acre tract upon which 
he now makes his home, and has sir.ce car- 
ried on general farming, his fields being un- 
der a high state of cultivation, while the 
iTiany modern improvements and acces.sories 



seen upon the place indicate his careful su- 
pervision and practical, progressive hiethods. 
As a companion and helpmeet on life's 
journey Mr. Shanck chose Miss Sally Isen- 
berger. of Union township, and they now 
have fi\e children : Edna, wife of Calvin 
Minnich ; Effie, Noah. Jesse, antl Lucy, all 
at home. Mr. Schanck exercises his right 
of franchise in support of the men and meas- 
ures of the Republican party, and he and 
his wife hold membership in the Dunkard 
church. The circle of their friends is al- 
most co-extensi\e with the circle of their ac- 
quaintances and they are widely and favora- 
blv known in Miami countv. 



H. l.\\\t>:exce houser. 

Among the native sons of }kliami cmin- 
ty who are recognized as substantial and re- 
spected citizens is classified H. Lawrence 
Houser, whose birth occurred in Spring 
Creek townshij) on the 13th of December, 
1S55. His grandfather was Henry Houser, 
his father, Aaron Houser, and the latter was 
born on the old homestead farm in Spring- 
Creek township, January 27, 1826. Hav- 
ing arrived at years of maturity he mar- 
ried Eliza A. Inskeep, a native of Staunton 
township, and they became the parents of 
seven children: William S.. now a resident 
of Piqua; James B., who is living in Spring 
Creek township: H. Lawrence; Frank, who 
also resides in Spring Creek township: Jo- 
seph, who is living in Piqua ; Carrie, wife of 
Bland Scudder, of Fletcher; and Albert, 
a resident of Troy. Throughout his active 
business career the father of this family car- 
ried on farming with creditable success in 
his undertakings. He voted with the De- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



521 



mocracy and was a prominent member of tlie 
Methodist Episcopal churcli, in which he 
served as class leader for many years. He 
was one of the fonnders of the Bethel church 
and lal)ored earnestly to promote the cause 
of Christianit}- in his community. He died 
January 26, 1899. his wife having- preceded 
him only a few months, having passed away 
on the 20th of September, 1898. 

H. Lawrence Houser spent his youth 
upon the old family homestead and in the 
common schools acquired his education. At 
the age of twenty he began teaching and fol- 
lowed that profession at intervals for twelve 
years during the winter months, mostly in 
Spring Creek and Brown townships. In 
1897 he removed to his present farm, which 
comprises a tract of land of eighty acres on 
section 9, Spring Creek township, about five 
and a half miles northeast from Piqua, on 
the Snodgrass pike. There he carries on 
general farming, the well-tilled fields giv- 
ing promise of rich harvests. He also 
raises stock of a good grade, and this adds 
materially to his income. 

An important event in his life occurred 
on the i8th of May, 1879, when was cele- 
brated his marriage to Miss Lucinda Snod- 
grass, a daughter of ^^'illiam Snodgrass. 
They now have li\e children : Blanche, 
a student of music ; Harry, who is attending 
a commercial college in Piqua ; Earl and 
Earnest, twins ; and Grace, at home. Wide- 
ly known in their community, Mr. and Mrs. 
Houser have many warm friends. In poli- 
tics H. Lawrence Houser is a Democrat. 
I" or three years be served as justice of the 
peace and his rulings were fair and impartial. 
He belongs to the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, his membership being in 
Orange Lodge, No. 779, of Kirkwood, of 
which he is a charter member. 



JOHN E. ANDERSON. 

John E. Anderson, who is filling the po- 
sition of county commissioner of Miami 
county and resides in Piqua, was born near 
Bethany, in Butler county, Ohio, January 28, ■ 
1844. He represents one of the oldest families 
of the Buckeye state, his grandfather, John 
Anderson, having emigrated from New Jer- 
sey to Ohio about the time the state was ad- 
mitted to the Union. He took up his abode 
in Butler county and was numbered among- 
its pioneer families. He there lived to be 
about eighty years of age. The family is 
probably of Scotch e.xtraction. He married 
Miss Mary Hageman, who was born in this 
country but was of Dutch lineage. She, 
too, lived to be about eighty years of age. 

Adrian Anderson, John's father, was born 
in Butler county, in 1818, and there resided 
until 1847, when he came to Miami county, 
taking up his residence near Piqua, where he 
has since followed agricultural and horticult- 
ural pursuits, conducting a prosperous busi- 
ness. He is a Republican in his political 
views and a United Presbyterian in his re- 
ligious faith. He married Jane Peterson, a 
native of ^^'arren county, Ohio, and a daugh- 
ter of Samuel Peterson, who resided in 
Adams county, Pennsylvania, whence he 
came to the Bueke)'e state at an early period 
in its development. Mrs. Anderson, who 
was a member of the United Presbyterian 
church, is now deceased.- She had three 
children : John, of this re\-iew ; Emma, wife 
of J. A. Robison, of Piqua; and Laura B. 

John E.Anderson of this record was only 
three years old when brought to Piqua b}^ 
his parents. He remained upon the home 
farm, assisting in its culti\-ation and im- 
provement through the summer months, 
while in the ^^•inter season he attended the 



522 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Fiqua schools, pursuing his studies until the 
breaking out of the civil war. On the ist 
of August, 1862. he loyally responded to the 
country's call for aid, enlisting in Company 
B, Fiftieth Ohio Infantry, in which he served 
as a private until July, 1865, when he re- 
ceived an honoraljle discharge and returned 
home. His regiment was with the army 
under Sherman and particii)ated in all the 
battles of the Atlanta campaign and the en- 
gagements of Franklin and Nashville. ^Ir. 
Anderson was always found at the post of 
duty and with true patriotism valiantly aided 
iri the defense of the Union. 

When the war was over, he returned to 
Piqua and completed his course in the high 
school, where he was graduated in 1866. 
Sulisequently he learned the carpenter's trade 
and for se\-eral years was engaged in con- 
tracting and building, during which time he 
erected many of the substantial residences 
of the city. These stand as monuments of 
tlirift and industry and are an excellent indi- 
catiiin of his ability. He, however, aban- 
doned his chosen occupation July i, 1897, 
when he was appointed to fill a vacancy in 
the office of county commissioner. 

Mr. Anderson was married to Mrs. Lu- 
cretia H. Gillespie, a native of ^liami county 
and a daughter of William Patterson, of 
Picjua. They are both members of the Pres- 
byterian church and are people of the high- 
est respectability, enjoying the warm regard 
of many friends. I\Jr. Anderson is a stanch 
Republican in his political affiliations and 
Jias been quite active in the work of his 
party. He served for six years on the 
school board of Piqua, and by appointment 
became a director of the infirmary. In his 
present capacity as county commissioner, he 
has jurisdiction over a territory thirty miles 
in lengtli and thirtv miles in width. This 



includes six hundred miles of turnpike and 
the supervision of all the roads and bridges 
in Miami county. He now devotes his en- 
tire time to his official duties, and their dis- 
charge is characterized by marked prompt- 
ness and fidelity. Socially, he is connected 
with Alexander Mitchell Post, No. 157, 
G. A. R., of Piqua, and served as vice-com- 
mander for a year. As a citizen lie is as 
true to-day as when he loyally followed the 
banners oi the Union on the battlefields 
of the south. 



GERHART TIMMER. 

Much of the civilization of the world 
has come from the Teutonic race. Contin- 
ually moving westward, they ha\e taken 
with them the enterprise and advancement 
of their eastern homes, and have become 
valued and useful citizens of various locali- 
ties. In this country especially have they 
demonstrated their power to adapt them- 
selves to new circumstances, retaining at 
the same time their progressiveness and en- 
ergy, and have become loyal and devoted 
citizens, true to the institutions of "the land 
of the free," and untiring in promotion of 
all that will prove of benefit to their adopted 
country. The German element in America 
forms an importalit part of American citi- 
zenship, and, while they cannot attain to the 
highest civil ofiice in the gift of the people, 
they have given ample evidence of 'their 
power to sustain and uphold the government 
of the repul)lic and to become the factors in 
various communities to whom the locality 
owes its progress and prosperity. 

^Ir. Timmer is a native of the father- 
land, his birth having occurred in Hanover, 
in the village of Bentheim, on the 12th of 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



523 



]\Iarch, 1830. He was reared on a farm, 
early becoming familiar with all the dtities 
and labors that fall to the lot of the agricult- 
urist. He came to America in 1853, hoping 
to benefit his financial condition in the new 
world. Taking up his abode in Miami 
county, he learned the cooper's trade at 
Troy, and for thirty years was engaged in 
that business. In 1855 he removed to Tip- 
pecanoe City, and after working for a year 
in the employ of others, he opened a shop 
of his own, securing two workmen to aid 
him in executing the orders given him. He 
did all kinds of coopering work, and his 
business steadily increased so that he fur- 
nished employment to seven or eight work- 
men. The output of the factory was C|uite 
extensive, the excellent workmanship and 
honorable business methods pursued therein 
winning liberal patronage. During the ex- 
istence of the sugar factory he employed 
from twenty to twenty-five men, and con- 
tinued the conduct of his industry until 1883. 
In the meantime he had spent three years 
in California, going to that state in 1859. 
He engaged in gold mining with satisfactory 
results, and in 1S62 returned to Tippecanoe 
City, where he resumed his business. He 
is a man of resourceful ability, enterprising 
and energetic, and has not confined his ef- 
forts to one line, but has been interested in 
various concerns. He was one of the in- 
corporators of the wheel factory, and was a 
director until he sold his stock, and in con- 
nection with two partners, Fred Huber and 
Morris Huffman, he rebuilt the malt house, 
which was operated with fair success for 
ten years. He also became a stockholder in 
a paper mill, and on its establishment was 
made a member of the board of directors. 
He was thus connected with the enterprise 
. for three years. He was also one of the 



original stockholders in the bank, and main- 
tained his association with the institution 
for a year. He was one of the first to sub- 
scribe to stock when the Glucose Company 
was organized. After disposing of his va- 
rious industrial and commercial connections 
he invested his capital in farming land, and 
is now the owner of three hundred and fifty 
acres, all in ]\Iiami county. This property 
he rents and it brings to him a good income. 

On the 13th of July, 1855, Mr. Timmer 
was united in marriage, in Dayton, Ohio, 
to Miss Wilhelmina Kettlehager, a native of 
Hesse, Germany, who came to America in 
1852 with her parents, Conrad and Justina 
Kettlehager, who located in Tippecanoe 
City. The father was a carpenter, and died 
at the age of seventy-two years. In his 
family are six children who yet survive : 
Charles and Henry, who are residents of 
Tippecanoe City; Frederick, a resident of 
Dayton; Caroline, who is also living in Day- 
ton ; Riga, of Troy ; and Mrs. Timmer. Unto 
our subject and his wife have been born the 
following children : Caroline, a resident of 
Picjua, Ohio; Matilda, wife of \\". H. Myers, 
of Dayton; Wilhelmina, wife of S. E. Mus- 
selman, of Piqua; Bernard, who is con- 
nected with the bent wood manufactory at 
Troy; Fanny, wife of T. S. Conway, of Tip- 
pecanoe City; Ella, at home; Edward, who 
is engaged in the hardware business; Jus- 
tina, at home; and Albert, who is also en- 
gaged in the hardware business. All have 
been confirmed in the Lutheran church. 
While his sons were young Mr. Timmer, in 
order to teach them habits of industry and 
economy, gave them the task of raising to- 
bacco, and thus they made their start in 
life. 

In his political views Mr. Timmer is a 
stalwart Democrat, unswerx'ing in his ad- 



524 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



vocacy of the party and its principles. He 
15 one of the original menihers of the Ger- 
man Lutheran church, which was originated 
about eighteen years ago, and has served on 
the official board. His labors contribute to 
its support and indicate his interest in the 
work. As a citizen he manifests a deep in- 
terest in everything pertaining to the pul)lic 
good, and his efforts along material, social 
and moral lines have been very effective and 
beneficial. Mr. Timmer has won the proud 
American title of a self-made man, for his 
success has come to him entirel}' as a result 
of his own well-directed efforts, his keen 
discernment in business affairs and his re- 
liable dealing. His word is as good as his 
bond, and his reputation in commercial cir- 
cles is indeed enviable. 



CLARK E. STEWART. 

On the 6th of March, 1895, there passed 
away one of the oldest residents in ]\Iiami 
county, for Clark E. Stewart was called to 
his final rest on that day, at the age of ninetj-- 
five years. Like the day with its morning 
of hope, its noontide of activity, its evening 
of completetl and successful eft'ort, ending 
in the grateful rest and quiet of the night, 
so was the life of this honored man, and his 
memory remains as a blessed benediction to 
all who knew him. He was born in Xew 
Jersey, September 5, 1800, his parents being 
David and Sarah (Clark) Stewart, both na- 
tives of the same state. Emigrating west- 
ward in the early part of the century, they 
located in Staunton township, ^liami coun- 
ty, in 1817, and there secured a tract of 
government land, on which the father erected 
a log cabin. He then began clearing his 
land in true pioneer style. But his labors in 
his new home were of short duration, as he 



was attacked by milk sickness, to which so 
many settlers fell victims. He died in 1820, 
about three years after locating here. His 
wife and daughter also died of the same dis- 
ease in three days' time. The only surviv- 
ing child, Clark E. Stewart, was also pros- 
trated with this terrible disease, but eventu- 
ally recovered from his illness, after which 
he made his home with his uncle for about 
three years. He then began learning the 
mason's trade under the direction of Abra- 
ham :\liller, of Piqua. He remained with 
his employer for six years, and became an 
expert workman, taking an active part in 
the building interests in his section of the 
county. 

On the 25th of Xovember, 1834, Mr. 
Stewart was united in marriage to Miss 
Hannah E. Rollins, a daughter of Josiah and 
Nancy (Tucker) Rollins, both natives of 
New Hampshire, whence they came to Ohio 
in 1815. Tiiey were among the pioneer set- 
tlers of the county, and took an active part 
in opening up this region to civilization. 
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were born ten 
children, one of whom died in infancy. The 
others are: Josiah R. ; David C. and Rich- 
ard \\'., now deceased; Sarah A., wife of 
David Rusk, of Troy; Mayhew H., de- 
ceased; Abigal \V., wife of James W'his- 
man, of Piqua ; Elizabeth, deceased ; Phoebe, 
deceased, wife of John Drake, of Piqua ; and 
Mary J. 

After his marriage Mr. Stewart resided 
for twenty-one months on the W'inans farm, 
and then purchased a tract of land adjoining 
the farm where he spent his last days. He 
there remained for a year and a half when 
he came to the place now known as the Stew- 
art homestead. When he started out in life 
for himself he had no capital, but was pos- 
sessed of strong energy and determination. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



525 



and as a result of his resolute purpose and 
capable management he worked his way 
steadily upward, overcoming all the diffi- 
culties and obstacles in his path. He was 
ably assisted by his wife, who proved to 
him an excellent helpmeet, and thus they 
acquired a good farm and home for them- 
selves and their children. He had seventy- 
one acres of rich land on section 19, Staun- 
ton township. The house which he erected 
was built of brick manufactured on the farm, 
and all the improvements upon the place 
stand as monuments to his thrift and enter- 
prise. He reached a very advanced age, 
and his career was certainly a long, useful 
and honorable one, meriting the confidence 
of all with whom he was associated. He 
gave his political support to the Democracy, 
and was a faithful and consistent member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. His 
wife died July 2J, 1889, and he survived 
her for six years, passing away on the 6th 
of March, 1895. He retained his mental 
and physical faculties largely unimpaired 
until the last, and was able to read without 
glasses almost up to the time of his death. 
He possessed a strong constitution, and the 
way in which he husbanded his resources 
undoubtedly led to his long lease on life. 
Miss Mary J. Stewart now resides upon the 
old homestead, and superintends the farm. 
She is a good business woman, and a kind, 
generous lady, who stands high in the com- 
munity where her many good deeds have 
won her the love and esteem of all who 
know her. 



SAMUEL LIXD. 

The beauty of a city depends largel}' upon 
its architecture, and to those who design and 
construct its buildings is due the credit of the 



position it holds in this direction. Among 
those who have executed a large amount of 
the work which adorns the streets and ave- 
nues of Troy is Samuel Lind, who is well 
versed in the details and principles of this 
branch of industry, and who has already es- 
tablished an extensive and lucrative business. 
His success has come as the result of well- 
directed and honorable efifort, and of marked 
fidelity to the interests of his patrons. 

Mr. Lind was born in Cumberland coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, on the 14th of April, 1S36, 
and is a son of Samuel and Catherine 
(Myers) Lind. The father was born in 
Ireland, about the year 1790, and in 1812 
came to the Lnited States, locating first in 
Pennsylvania. In 1849 he came to Ohio, 
taking up his residence in Clark county, 
where he died when about seventy-nine years 
of age. By occupation he was a bookkeeper, 
but in later life engaged in farming. His 
wife was born in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, and died in Clark county, Ohio, in 
the eighty-third year of her age. 

In the common schools Samuel Lind ob- 
tained his education, gaining a good knowl- 
edge of the English branches and thus be- 
came well fitted for the practical duties of 
life. At the age of nineteen years he began 
learning the carpenter's trade at Addison, 
in Champaign county, Ohio, and in 1870 
he took up his abode in Troy, where he has 
since resided. Three years later he began 
contracting and building on his own ac- 
count. He erected many of the barns and 
a large number of the residences in Eliza- 
beth township, and after becoming an active 
factor in the building interests of the city, 
he put up, under contract, many of the fine 
residences of Troy, together with a number 
of business houses and blocks. Among 
manv of the best residences which he has 



526 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



erected are those owned by W. H. Francis, 
Dr. Thomas Wright, P. J. Gates, George 
\\'. Conrad and Mrs. M. Harter. He has 
also erected the Troy Buggy ^^'orks' shops, 
the tobacco warehouses. Brown's l)lock and 
many others of the leading structures of tlie 
town. He ranks among the most promi- 
nent contractors and builders of the county, 
and in business circles is regarded as very 
reliable. 

In 1862 Mr. Lind was united in marriage 
to Miss Susan Xeal, a native of Clark coun- 
ty, Ohio, and they have two sons, Frank 
and Harry. In his political opinions Mr. 
Lind is a Democrat. He has been a Ma- 
son for thirty years, and is now a member of 
F"ranklin Lodge, No. 14, F. & A. M. ; Frank- 
lin Chapter, No. 24, R. A. M.; Franklin 
Council, No. 14, R. & S. M. ; and Coleman 
Commander}', No. 17, K. T. All of those 
organizations are in Troy, and with An- 
tioch Temple of the Mystic Shrine he is 
also identified. ]\Irs. Lind is a member of 
the Christian church, and the family enjoy 
the friendship of a large circle of ac(|uaint- 
ances in Troy. 



WILLIAM H. GILBERT. 

The glory of our reptiblic is in the per- 
petuation of individuality and in the accord- 
ing of the utmost scope for individual ac- 
complishment. Fostered under the most 
auspicious of surroundings that can encom- 
pass one who has the will to dare and to do, 
our nation has almost spontaneously pro- 
duced men of finest mental calibre, of true 
virile strength and vigorous purpose. The 
cradle has not ever been one of pampered 
luxury, but the modest couch of infancy has 
often rocked future greatness. American 



biography thus becomes, perhaps, one of 
more perfect individuality, in the general as 
well as the specific case, than does that of 
an}^ other nation of the globe. Of America 
is the self-made man a product, and the rec- 
ord of accomplishments in this individual 
sense is the record which the true and loyal 
American holds in deepest regard and high- 
est honor. In tracing the career of the sub- 
ject of this review we are enabled to gain a 
recognition of this sort of a record, for he 
is a man of broadest intellectuality and one 
who has attained to distinguished honors. 
For this reason there is a particular interest 
attaching to the points which mark his prog- 
ress in life and this sketch is amply justified. 
Mr. Gilbert is still a' young man. He was 
born on a farm near Gettysburg, in Darke 
county, Ohio, on the 28th of December, 
1863, his parents being Henry and Mary 
(Harry) Gilbert. The father came with his 
parents from Lancaster county. Pennsylva- 
nia, and settled on a farm two miles west 
of Covington, near Croft's Mill. He mar- 
ried Mary E. Harry, who came to Miami 
comity in her early girlhood with her par- 
ents. The wedding was celebrated January 
4, 1863, and they began their domestic life 
near Gettysburg. Darke county, whence they 
afterward removed to Miami county. They 
became the parents of seven children and all 
are yet li\ing, with the exception of the 
youngest, who died in childhood. The par- 
ents are now residents of Pleasant Hill, this 
county. 

William Harry Gilbert is the eldest son 
of the family. He was reared on his fa- 
ther's farm, and acquired his preliminary 
education in the common schools of Ohio. 
He afterward spent a short time as a stu- 
dent in the Normal school at Portland, in 
1884, and was a student in the Normal 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



527 



School at Ada, Ohio, in 1S85. He is now 
a man of scholarly attainments, his knowl- 
edge, however, having been acquired prin- 
cipally through a systematic course of study 
at home. He began reading law in the office 
of Meeker & Bowman, in Greenville, Ohio, 
in the spring of 1886, and there remained 
until November of that year, when he was 
appointed librarian of the Greenville law li- 
brary and special court bailiff. He contin- 
ued his studies in the law library under the 
direction of the firm of Meeker & Bow- 
man until October 4, 1888, when he was ad- 
mitted to practice by the supreme court of 
Ohio. He has 'since devoted his energies to 
the profession, and his large clientage at- 
tests the public's recognition of his ability. 

On the 1.9th of November, 1890, Mr. 
Gilbert was united in marriage to Miss Vir- 
ginia G. Meeker, the accomplished daugh- 
ter of Judge D. C. Meeker, of Greenville, 
Ohio. He practiced law in Greenville with 
fair success until October, 1892, when he 
removed to Troy and entered into partner- 
ship with A. R. Byrkett, then one of the 
leading attorneys of the Miami county bar. 
That connection was continued until July, 
1895, after which Mr. Gilbert was alone 
in practice until April, 1899, when he ad- 
mitted to partnership Leonard H. Ship- 
man, who had formerly been a student in 
his office. He has devoted his attention ex- 
clusively to his law practice. During the 
eight years of his residence in Troy he has 
secured a large clientele and has been very 
successful in winning his cases both before 
the court and jury. One who knew him 
well has said of him, "Mr. Gilbert is a 
hard working, skillful lawyer of sterling 
qualities. In a modern, well-equipped 
office he carefully stai'ts his cases, and de- 
velops and thoroughl}' prepares every case 



step by step, and when he goes into the court 
room it is with confidence and a well pre- 
pared plan of attack and defense. Seldom 
surprised, and never exhibiting surprise or 
feeling, he carefully tries his case with cool- 
ness, ability and adroitness. He has su- 
perior natural abilities, thoroughly believes 
in his cause, stands by his convictions and 
ceases to fight only after there is nothing to 
fight for, and is an aggressive, interminable 
combatant, often turning defeat into vic- 
tory by his unswerving loyalty to his cause. 
One of his best and strongest qualities is his 
faith in what he undertakes and his ceaseless 
fidelity to his client, whether rich or poor, 
or whether for a lucrative fee or merely for 
the love of his work, and his satisfaction 
in aiding some' helpless person to obtain 
justice. In a trial he skillfully develops his 
case in the most favorable light. His ad- 
dresses to juries are earnest, thrilling and 
persuasive, and to the court, clear, logical 
and convincing. Needless to say he is an 
all-round, successful lawyer, enjoying the 
confidence and respect of the bench and bar, 
and is favored with a large portion of the 
best civil business. As a citizen he is an in- 
terested student of politics, and well in- 
formed upon all leading issues. He is an 
earnest Republican, but with no political 
ambitions. His only ambition being to ex- 
cel in the broad field of the law. 



JOHN M. SANDERS. 

A native of Ohio, John M. Sanders was 
born in Spring \'alley, Greene county, on 
the 24th of November, 1861, his parents 
being Jesse P. and Catherine A. (Stoker) 
Sanders. The father, also a native of 
Greene countv, was a son of Hiram San- 



528 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ders, who removed from the Empire state 
to Ohio, in 1812. Jesse P. Sanders was 
for many years proprietor of a hotel at 
Spring Valley, and thus became widely 
known to the traveling public. His later 
years were passed in Montgomery county 
upon a farm, where his death occurred at 
the ripe old age of se\enty-seven years. His 
widow still survives him, and is now living 
with her son in Tippecanoe City. 

John M. Sanders spent his boyhood days 
in his native village, attending the school? 
there and assisting in the work of the ho- 
tel. He was married on the 12th of August, 
1885, in Tippecanoe City, to ]Miss Minnie 
]\lae Favorite, daughter of U. J. Favorite, 
after which he operated the homestead farm 
in ^lontgomery county until 1894. He 
still owns that property, comprising ninety- 
five acres, and its rental adds materially to 
his income. Upon his retirement from the 
fann he became connected with the grain 
traile in Tippecanoe City, purchasing the 
elevator and warehouse, the former having 
been erected soon after the building of the 
railroad. Later a grocery store was con- 
verted into a grain establishment. The 
elevator now has a capacity of three thousand 
bushels of grain, and Mr. Sanders deals 
in all kinds of grain and seed, also grinds 
feed and handles both feed and hay. His 
business has grown to satisfactory propor- 
tions, so that he now furnishes employment 
to from two to four men. His methods are 
I)ractical, systematic and reliable, and his 
nidefatigable energy justly entitles him to 
the prosperity which has crowned his ef- 
forts. 

In his political \iews Air. Sanders is a 
Republican and earnestly advocates the prin- 
ciples of the party, doing all in his power to 
promote its growth, and insure its success. 



He takes an active part in campaign work, 
attends the local conventions, and for one 
year he served as a member of the city coun- 
cil, yet his labors in behalf of Republican- 
ism have not been' performed with the hope 
of reward. Fraternally he is a Mason, and 
with the exception of master has filled all the 
offices in the blue lodge. He has recently 
taken the Royal Arch degrees, and will prob- 
ably in the near future be made a Knight 
Templar, in Coleman Commandery, at Troy. 
In demeanor he is unostentatious in man- 
ner, yet pleasant and genial — an approach- 
able gentleman who enjoys the friendship 
of a large circle of acquaintances. 



GEORGE \V. COXRAD. 

No history of the business life of Troy 
would be complete without mention of this 
gentleman, who is actively associated with 
two of its leading interests, being president 
and manager of the Troy Bending Company 
and the senior member of the firm of George 
\\'. Conrad & Company, coaT dealers. His 
life has been one of honest and earnest en- 
deavor, and due success has not been denied 
him. He is indeed a self-made man. He 
entered upon his business career without the 
aid of wealth or influential friends, depend- 
ing solely upon his own energy and abilit}'. 
Though he has met obstacles and difficulties, 
his unfailing perseverance has enabled him 
to conquer these, and steadily has he ad- 
vanced to the plane of aflluence. He cer- 
tainly deserves great credit for his success. 
It is such men which form the strength of 
state and nation, their enterprise contribu- 
ting not alone to their individual prosperity, 
but also advancing the general welfare and 
progress. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



529 



Mr. Conrad is numbered among tlie na- 
tive sons of Ohio, his birth having occurred 
in the capital city, on tlie 22d of February. 
1851. His parents were Philip and Re- 
becca (Yingling) Conrad, natives of Ger- 
many. The father came to the United 
States in 1841. locating in Columbus, where 
he was engaged in the grocery business for 
a number of years. In 1851 he removed 
to Monroe county, Michigan, where he car- 
ried on farming until 1859, when he went 
to Morgan couniy. Missouri. He was con- 
nected with the Iniilding interests of V^er- 
sailles, in that state, until the spring of 1861, 
when he remo\-ed to a farm in that locality, 
and there he was killed Ijy bushwhackers, 
in August of that year, on account of his 
avowed sympathy with the Union cause. He 
was a man of firm convictions, fearless in 
defense of what he believed to be right, 
and his outspoken utterances in support of 
the national government at Washington led 
to his death. After the death of her hus- 
band, Mrs. Conrad disposed of her house- 
hold goods and property and went to Tipton, 
Missouri, where she remained until Jan- 
uary, 1862, when she returned to Mar3-s- 
ville, Ohio, making her home in Union 
county until her death, which occurred in 
the spring of 1894. She was the mother of 
four children, two sons and two daughtt rs. 

George W. Conrad attended the common 
schools to a limited extent, but his knowl- 
edge has mostly been acquired through read- 
ing, experience and observation. At the age. 
of fifteen he began learning the blacksmith's 
trade at Milford's Center, Ohio, serx'ing a 
four years' apprenticeship, and when he had 
mastered the business he worked at the trade 
on his own account in Marysville until 1884. 

In that year Mr. Conrad arrived in 
Troy, and until 1894 was foreman i^f the 



blacksmith department of the Troy Buggy 
Works. In that year, however, he became 
president and manager of the Troy Bend- 
ing Company, one of the leading enterprises 
of the city, employment Ijeing furnished to 
about one hundred people. This enterprise 
being located in the heart of the wooded 
districts of Ohio and Indiana, they have 
an excellent opportunity to secure superior 
material for use in their shops. The com- 
pany owns its own saw-mill, and can cut 
lumber to anv desired thickness, thus being 
enabled to fill orders promptly for special 
sizes. The plant is splendidly equipped 
with the latest and most improved machin- 
ery for the manufacture of its products, 
and its output is very extensive. They 
manufacture shafts and poles, also hammer 
handles, and the volume of their business is 
constantly increasing. Mr. Conrad is also 
engaged in the retail coal business, as a 
member of the firm of George W. Conrad 
& Company, his connection with this trade 
dating from 1885. 

In 1872 was celebrated the marriage of 
our subject and Miss Lena Magerlein, of 
Columbus, Ohio, wIkj died in 1876, leav- 
ing one daughter, Mary, who is now the wife 
of William Frich, of Piqua, Ohio. In 1882 
Mr. Conrad was again married, his second 
union being with Miss Mary Nicol, of ]Ma- 
rysville, Ohio, by whom he has four sons — 
Herman, Leo, Edward and Albert. The 
parents are both members of the Evangeli- 
cal Lutheran church, and in politics Mr. 
Conrad is a stanch Republican. He is a 
charitable man, has aided in many benevo- 
lent institutions, both of a public and pri- 
vate character, and in manner is pleasing, 
genial and very approachable, not hedging 
himself about with the reserve such as many 
men do who have become wealthv. When 



530 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



we stop to consider that a third of a century 
ago lie entered upon his business career as 
a blacksmith's apprentice, his success seems 
most marvelous, but it is the outcome of 
his own efforts. There is no trace of the 
overbearing taskmaster in him. He has great 
sympathy for those who are striving to im- 
prove their condition, and is always ready 
to help those who are willing to help them- 
selves. A man of unswerving integrity and 
honor, one who has a perfect ajipreciation 
of the higher ethics of life, he has gained 
and retained the confidence and respect of 
his fellow men and is distinctively one of 
the leading citizens of the thriving city of 
Troy, with whose interests he has now been 
identified for sixteen years. 



McPHERSOX CROWN. 

Few men are more prominent or more 
widely known in the enterprising city of 
Piqua than McPherson Brown. Although a 
young man, he has been, and is, an import- 
ant factor in business circles, and his popu- 
larity is well deserved as in him are em- 
braced the characteristics of an unbending in- 
tegrity, unabating energy and industry that 
never flags. He is public-spirited, and 
thoroughly interested in everything that 
tends to promote the moral, intellectual and 
material welfare of Piqua, anil his fitness 
for leadership brought him the honor of 
an election to the state senate of Ohio. 

Mr. Brown was born in Pittsburg, on the 
2 1 St of October, i860, and belongs to one 
of the old families of that state, which tra- 
dition says is of Irish extraction. His grand- 
father, John Brown, was born in that state, 
as was the father, John Brown, Jr. The 
latter was a native of Carlisle, and in early 



life he followed the cooper's trade. When 
a young man, he went to Pittsburg and there 
engaged in coopering throughout his re- 
maining days. He was at one time the pro- 
prietor of a very extensive establishment in 
that line, and his excellent workmanship, 
capable management and honorable deal- 
ing brought to him good financial returns. 
In politics he was a Democrat, but never 
sought or desired ofifice. He died at the 
\ery advanced age of eighty-two years. His 
wife, who bore the maiden. name of Sarah 
Davis, was a native of England, and when a 
maiden of twehe summers came to America 
with her parents. Her father, William Da- 
vis, took up his abode in Pittslnirg and was 
employed as a shingler in a rolling mill. At 
one time he was in very comfortable cir- 
cumstances, but lost considerable in the Pitts- 
burg fire, in 1845. He lived to be eighty- 
three years of age. His daughter, Mrs. 
Brown, spent the greater part of her life 
in Pittsburg, but about 1890 came to Piqua. 
where she is still living, at the age of seventy- 
six years. She is a member of the Presby- 
terian church, and her careful training has 
been an important factor in molding the 
lives of her children. She was the mother 
of ten sons and four daughters, but seven 
of the number are deceased, five having died 
in infancy. Mary Ann and Robert are resi- 
dents of Pittsburg. John, who was a Union 
soldier and was held as a prisoner of war 
for some time, died from the effects of his 
ser\ice. Jane and Martha are also living 
in Pittsburg, ^^'illiam was killed at the 
age of forty-two years. George C. is em- 
ployed as a sheet roller in the rolling mill 
in Piqua. McPherson is the next of the 
family. Charles H. is also a sheet roller of 
Piqua, and the others died in very early 
life. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



531 



McPherson Brown, whose name intro- 
duces this review, spent his boyhood days at 
home, and pursued his early education in tlie 
public schools of Pittsburg, but when only 
eight years of age he began to earn his own 
living by working in a brickyard. In order 
to acqire a better education, he attended 
night school until sixteen years of age. He 
then accepted a clerkship in a grocery store, 
but after a short time secured employment 
in a rolling mill, where his close' applica- 
tion to his duties and his marked ability and 
fidelity won him promotion from time to 
time. He was thus employed for about six 
years, after which he engaged in the manu- 
facture of brick on his own account in Graf- 
ton, Pennsylvania, six miles from Pitts- 
burg. He conducted that enterprise for 
about two years, but it did not prove a pay- 
ing one and in consequence he returned to 
the rolling mill at Pittsburg, where he re- 
mained until the 2ist of November, 1889, 
when he can;e to Piqua. He has since 
served as sheet roller in the extensive rolling 
mill at this place, with the exception of the 
time which he spent in the senate, and in 
the service of the country during the Span- 
ish-American war. He is a young man of 
excellent business ability, and his labors 
have secured a marked advancement in com- 
mercial and industrial circles. He was at 
one time vice-president and general manager 
of the Loyal Mutual Accident Association, 
serving in that capacity from 1893 to 1899. 
He is a stockholder and director in the Hub- 
bard Grocery Gompany, and a director in 
the Merchants' and ^Mechanics' Building & 
Loan Association. He is also a stockholder 
in the King Solomon Mining Gompany, 
having extensive mines in British Golumbia 
which are now extensively developed. He 
has alreadv made monev off of this enter- 



prise by selling some of his stock at an ad- 
vanced price. Formerly he was a stock- 
holder and director of the Dispatch news- 
paper, but has sold his interest in that jour- 
nal. Mr. Brown gave his wages to his 
mother until he was twenty-three years of 
age, at which time he was married and 
started out in life for himself with practi- 
cally no capital. He has steadily worked his 
v.'ay upward, overcoming all the difficulties 
and obstacles in his path, and whatever 
success he has achieved is the merited re- 
ward of his own labors. 

]\lr. Brown was married in Pittsburg, 
January 13^ 1884, to Miss Mary Janet An- 
drews, of Pittsburg, and they now have 
three children: Marguarette Geist; Ethel, 
who died in infancy; and Frederick Geist. 
They have many warm friends in Piqua, 
and enjoy the hospitality of many of the 
best homes in the city. 

Li his political views Mr. Brown is a 
stanch Republican, and has always taken a 
deep interest in political questions, keeping 
well informed on the issues of the day. Even 
before he could vote he was a student of the 
political history of the country. He cast 
his first presidential vote for Blaine in 1884, 
and has ever labored to promote the growth 
and insure the success of his party. His 
fitness for leadership being recognized by 
those prominent in Republican circles, he was 
nominated for state senator in 1893, was 
elected and re-elected in 1895. His dis- 
trict is, as a rule, very strongly^Democratic, 
its normal majority for that party being 
about fifteen hundred. Mr. Brown is the 
second Republican ever sent to the senate 
from the district, and is the only one that 
has ever been re-elected. This fact stands 
in unmistakable evidence of his popularity 
as a man, and the faithfulness and ability 



532 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



with which lie lahored for the county that 
he represents. During both terms he took 
an active part in the work performed by the 
senate, and was instrumental in presenting 
and passing a great many bills which had for 
their object the welfare of the commonweath. 
He opposed the contract system of labor in 
the penitentiary, and was instrumental in se- 
curing the passage of a bill to bring about 
the exchange of commodities between the 
different public institutions of the state and 
which would place the labor of some insti- 
tutions out of competition with the working 
man. He also introduced a bill to change 
the fee system in county offices, paying a 
salary instead to the incumbents. He also 
labored to secure the passage of the vinegar 
bill and the pure food commission, and was 
a member of many of the important commit- 
tees. He has served on the county central 
committee, has often been a delegate to the 
state, congressional, judicial, senatorial and 
county conventions, and is active in organiz- 
ing the local work in Miami county. In 
every respect Senator Brown is a consist- 
ent, energetic and faithful member of the 
Republican party. He was a member of 
the county election board the year in which 
the Australian ballot system came into vogtie. 
Although believing most firmly in the prin- 
ciples of the party, he places his country's 
Avelfare before partisan prejudice and the 
public good before self-aggrandizement. In 
1898 he raised Company K, to fill the quota 
of the Third Regiment for the Spanish- 
American war, and as its captain he went 
to Tampa, Florida, and thence to Fernan- 
dina and Huntsville, where he remained for 
about four months. His regiment was 
ne\-er ordered to Cuba, and was mustered out 
at Columbus, on the 26th of October, 1898. 
Mr. Brown is very prominent in frater- 



nal circles, belonging to Warren Lodge, Xo, 
24, F. & A. M.; Piqua Chapter, No. 31, R. 
A. -M. ; and to Coleman Commandery, Xo, 
17, K. T., of Troy. He has also attained 
the thirty-second degree of the Scottish rite, 
belongs to the Consistory, of Dayton, and 
is a member of the Mystic Shrine, of Cin- 
cinnati. He also belongs to the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows, to the Knights of 
Pythias fraternity, the Benevolent and Pro- 
tective Order of Elks, and is the only mem- 
ber of the Heptasophs in Miami county, his 
membership being in the lodge of that order 
in Pittsburg. Both he and his wife hold 
membership in the Presbyterian church. His 
life has indeed been well spent, and with a 
just appreciation of the duties of citizen- 
ship and of the obligations of man to his 
fellow man and to his Creator, his life has 
been one commanding the respect of all with 
whom he has been brought in contact. 



BYRON T. W^ELDY, 

^Ir. W'eldy has a most creditable record 
and from the study of his life history one may 
learn valuable lessons. The spirit of self- 
help is the source of all genuine worth in the 
individual and is the means of bringing 
to man success when he has no advantages of 
wealth or influence io aid him. It illus- 
trates in no uncertain manner what it is pos- 
sil)le to accomplish when perseverance and 
determination form ilie keynote to a man's 
life. Depending on his own resources, look- 
ing for no outside aid or support, Mr. W'eldy 
has risen from comparative obscurity to a 
place of prominence in the commercial world 
and is now in control of a certain successful 
business interest that is regarded as one of 
the leading enterprises of Miami county. 

Born in West Charlestown, Bethel town- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



533 



ship. Miami county, February 9, 1857, Mr. 
Weldy is a son of Hazel and Frances E. 
(Howe) W'eldy. The fatlier was born in 
West Charlestown, February 21, 1831, and 
his parents were Daniel and I'riscilla 
(Thijnias) Weldy. The grandfather was 
born June 3, 1809, his wife July 3, 181 5, 
and their marriage was celebrated in 1829. 
The family is of Gorman lineage, the great- 
grandparents of our subject having" come 
with their family to America, making a set- 
tlement in Pennsylvania. About 18 iS they 
remmed to Miamisburg, Ohio, where both 
died. Daniel Weldy was a native of the 
Fatherland and by trade was a gunsmith. 
He \\as only fourteen years of age and his 
wife fifteen years of age when their son 
Hazel was born. Soon after their marriage 
they had settled at West Charlestown where 
Daniel Weldy worked at his trade and after- 
wards followed farming, making his home 
there throughout the remainder of life. Fie 
died March 4, 1873, and his widow after- 
wards became a resident of Tippecanoe City, 
where her death occurred August 6, 1892. 
They had a family of four sons and one 
daughter who reached years of maturity, 
namely : Hazel ; Uriah, who is engaged in the 
cultivation of small fruits at Piqua : Xathan, 
who died while serving in the Union army 
during the civil war; Andrew, a farmer and 
small-fruit grower of Piqua, who died near 
Troy, Ohio, at the age of forty-five; and 
Martha, wife of Joseph Benham, a resident 
of Tippecanoe. 

Hazel Weldy was reared on the okl home 
farm, and in company with his brothers 
operated that tract of land until his mar- 
riage. On the 2nd of October, 1853, he 
married Frances Howe, wdio was born near 
West Liberty, Ohio. He continued to 
engage in agricultural pursuits near 



Charlestown until i86t, when, feeling 
that his country needed his services, 
he responded to the call for troops, 
enlisting in Company D, Ninety-fourth 
Ohio Infantry. He filled the position 
of teamster until 1862, wlien he was 
honorably discharged on account of spinal 
trouble. He never fully recovered and was 
afterwards granted a pension. His life was 
a useful and honorable one, consistent with 
his profession as a memljer of the I\lethodist 
Episcopal church, in the work of which he 
took an acti\e interest. In his family were 
five children who grew to years of maturity, 
while two died in early life. The others are 
Byron T. ; Oscar, who was killed November 
2/, 1889, at the age of thirty-one years, 
leaving a w,ife and one child, Clarence; 
Laura Belle, wife of George Helmer of 
Alcou}^, Ohio; Hazel, who is living in West 
Charlestow'u ; and Maggie, wife of James 
Funderburg, of Piqua. 

Byron T. Weldy, whose name introduces 
this record, spent his boyhood days in West 
Cliarlestown until fifteen years of age, after 
which he spent five years in Toledo, Ohio, 
working in a planing mill. His wages were 
given to his parents, and he there remained 
until about the time when he attained his ma- 
jority. He then returned to West Charles- 
town and soon after accepted a clerkship 
in a grocery store in Tippecanoe City. In 
a few months, however, he engaged in gar- 
dening at West Charlestown, meeting with 
excellent success. Fie extended the field of 
his labors by dealing in nursery stock, begin- 
ning the enterprise with six bushels of peach 
seeds. As opportunity afforded he added to 
his stock, his business constantly growing 
in volume and importance. In 1892 he em- 
ployed several men to represent the nursery 
upon the road and has since operated in that 



534 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



manner in addition to the cultivation of nur- 
sery plants for the wholesale trade. 'I he 
business proved quite successful and in 1893 
he purchased his present farm. He now 
owns eighty acres of rich and valuable land 
known as the Benjamin Deitrich farm, one 
of the oldest farms in the locality. It is 
splendidly equipped with an excellent house, 
substantial barns and about sixty acres are 
planted in trees of various kinds. He also 
owns a small farm of thirty-three acres near 
Tippecanoe City, planted in nursery stock. 
He employs from six to thirty men, accord- 
ing to the season, and has a canvassing force 
of fourteen men who sell his goods in Ohio, 
Indiana, ^Missouri and Kansas. His an- 
nual sales amount to about twenty-five 
thousand dollars, the West Charlestown nur- 
sery having become widely known for the 
reliability of the owner, while the excellent 
stock which he carries has secured to the 
business a most en\iable reputation. ]Mr. 
W'eldy has made a close study of horticul- 
ture from the standpoint of the nurseryman 
and thoroughly understands his business 
both in principle and iletail. He is a mem- 
ber of the American Nursery Association, 
and his opinions are regardetl as authority 
in many matters connected with his line of 
business. 

I.n October, 18S5, occurred the marriage 
of Mr. Weldy and Aliss Jennie Lee, a daugh- 
ter of Stephen and Ann (^Shurrum) Lee. 
She was born in Mercer county, where her 
father died, and when two years old she was 
Ijrought back to Brandt by her mother, with 
whom she li\'ed until her marriage. Her 
mother died in Brandt, at the age of seventy- 
one years. ^Irs. A\'eidy has one sister, 
Xancy Ann, wife of Clayton Davis, of 
Brandt, and iiad a brother, Thomas, who 
died at the age of ten vears. 



Mr. W'eldy takes quite an active part 
in political affairs, supporting the Republican 
party, and for some years he served as cen- 
tral committeeman.- He has frequently been 
a delegate to the county, judicial, congres- 
sional and state conventions, and his labors 
have been effecti\e in promoting the wel- 
fare of the party. His efforts have been 
freely offered, for he neither seeks nor desires 
political preferment. A very prominent 
Mason, he belongs to the lodge of Tippe- 
canoe City, to Franklin Chapter, R. A. M., 
of Troy, to Coleman Commandery. also of 
Troy, and to Antioch Temple of the IMystic 
Shrine, at Dayton. He has filled all the 
chairs in both lodge and encampment of the 
Odd Fellows society, and both he and his 
wife are connected with the Order of Re- 
belcah. He is a man of excellent business 
ability and enterprise, of strong force of 
character and of sterling integrity. Through 
his own capability and careful management 
he lias succeeded in building up one of the 
leading industries in this section of Miami 
county. His life has been manly and his 
actions sincere, his manner unaffected and 
his example is well worthy of emulation. 



HEXRY JAY. 

Each calling or occupation of life, if 
honorable, has its place in the ranks of hu- 
man existence. Emerson said, "AH are 
needed by each one ; nothing is fair or good 
alone." It is thus that each honorable work 
becomes an intricate part in the activity and 
prosperity of the nation, but is a recognized 
fact that the noblest lives are those whicli 
are devoted in a large measure to aiding and 
assisting others. "Bear ye one another's bur- 
dens" is the divine command, whose execu- 




/U^^/ C^jLif^:yOlu.i^ /y^ 








^-^i.'i. 



/i'.-..^. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



539 



tiou ennobles and uplifts all who follow the 
mandate. Mr. Jay is devoting his life to a 
most humane work. It is concerned with 
those large, loving interests affecting hu- 
manity, and his broad sympathy and great 
kindliness well qualify him for the important 
task which he is now discharging. He is 
at the head of the Knoop Children's Home, 
at Troy, and under his supervision the in- 
stitution has had a prosperous career. Its 
beneficent influence is like the ever-widen- 
ing circles of the water and cannot be meas- 
ured by any known standard. "Inasmuch 
as ye have done it unto the least of these, 
ye have done it imto me." 

^Ir. Ja.y was born at Pleasant Hill, Mi- 
ami county, on the 20th of November, 1850, 
his parents being Joseph Furnas and ]SIjiry 
(Coate) Jay. His father's birth occurred 
on the farm where Henry first opened his 
eyes to the light of day, the grandparents 
being William and ^lary (Furnas) Jay, 
who entered the land prior to the war of 
1812. There the grandfather resided until 
his death, which occurred at the age of sixty- 
five years. His wife, Mary, had passed 
away many years previous. She was born 
in Montgomery county and at the time of 
her marriage was a resident of Miami coun- 
ty. After her death her husband was twice 
married. Joseph Jay, the father of our sub- 
ject, was born al^out 1814, spent his entire 
life on the homestead farm, and died in 
1874, in his sixtieth year. His wife sur- 
vived him until seventy-three years of age. 
The farm passed into possession of their 
son, Oliver Perry, who sold it about two 
years ago. 

Henry Jay, whose name introduces this 
re\-iew, spent his boyhood days under the 
parental roof and early became familiar 
\\ith the work of the farm in its various 

31 



departments. He pursued his education in 
the common schools of the neighborhood 
and in a high school at Pleasant Hill. He 
manifested exceptional mechanical skill in 
his youth, but was connected with agricult- 
ural interests until his marriage, which oc- 
curred August 2/, 1875, Miss Laura A. 
Gritifith, of Adrian, Michigan, becoming his 
wife. Her father, Rev. George L. Griftith, 
a minister of the Christian church, is now 
living retired near Troy, and is widely 
known in his denomination. He carried on 
farming in Miami county until he assumed 
charge of the Ludlow Falls Saw & Lumber 
Mill, which he operated until chosen super- 
intendent of the Children's Home, at Troy. 
He was well known to the trustees of the 
institution, having had numerous business 
deals with them previous to this, and thus 
gained their confidence and proved his ability 
to superintend the home. On the ist of 
March, 1891, he became its superintendent 
and his wife was appointed matron. Under 
his careful supervision the work has been 
carried forward most successfully. The task 
of securing homes for the children devolves 
almost entirely upon Mr. and ^Irs. Jay, 
and they have been very fortunate in plac- 
ing many of these little ones in families 
where they have received good care and are 
trained in habits of industry, economy and 
honesty, so that they become honorable men 
and women. Such is the confidence that the 
trustees repose in Mr. Jay that "-hty have 
given him great latitude in his work, not 
hampering him with restrictions which 
would limit the field of his usefulness. The 
sanitary condition of the school is most ex- 
cellent, and during the past five years, with 
an attendance of six hundred children, there 
has not been a single death in the home. An 
excellent Sabbath school is conducted in 



540 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



connection with the home, under the cHrec- 
tion of S. G. Harbaugh, of Casstown, who 
is acting as superintendent. The Woman's 
Christian Temperance Union, of Troy, also 
gives an earnest supervision to the work 
of the institution, and annually sends its 
representatives to the home with beautiful 
flowers for each child. Although there have 
been epidemics in the institution, about forty 
per cent, being sick with diphtheria, the 
splendid care and attention which were 
given the children by the superintendent, 
the matron and the attending physician have 
enabled them to report that not a single 
•death has occurred. Mr. Jay is a man of 
excellent business and executive ability, as 
well as of broad sympathy, and thus his 
labors are rendered effective and practical. 
His life is indeed a useful and honorabb 
one. commending itself to the regard of all. 
and winning him high admiration for his 
many excellent qualities. 



THE KXOOP CHILDREN'S HOME. 

Perhaps no institution in Miami county 
reflects more credit upon the citizens of 
the locality than does the Knoop Children's 
Home, at Troy, wherein many little home- 
less boys and girls are each year provided 
with tender care and given not only the 
necessities but also many of the comforts 
of life. Under the able superintendence of 
two men, who have had the place in charge, 
it has indeed been made a home, and the 
kindliness and attention denied children by 
their parents or as the result of an adverse 
fate is here accorded them. The institu- 
tion had its beginning on the 4th of June, 
1877, when John K. Knoop deeded to Isaac 
Clyne. W. H. Xorthcutt and D. E. Branson, 



commissioners of the county, and their suc- 
cessors, the place known as the John Statler 
farm, comprising one hundred and sixty 
acres of valuable land in Elizabeth town- 
ship, the condition attaching thereto being 
that the commissioners erect a building and 
maintain it as a children's home. The ques- | 
tion of accepting the gift and providing 
funds to build and maintain the place was 
voted upon in October of that year, with the 
following result : five thousand eight hun- 
dred and ninety-one votes for and one hun- 
dred and seventy-five against its establish- 
ment. D. ^V. Gibbs, of Toledo, was se- 
lected as the architect, and on the 8th of 
May, 1878, contracts were awarded to \ari- 
ous builders, the home being erected at a cost 
of sixteen thousand two hundred and sev- 
enty dollars and twenty-five cents. The 
total cost of the main building, including 
the gas fixtures, was twenty-four thousand 
one hundred and seventy-one dollars and 
fifty-nine cents and the entire improvements 
up to date have been made at a cost of forty- 
eight thousand dollars. The first trustees 
selected were \\'illiam Scott, of Piqua; 
Jacob Rohrer, of Tippecanoe City, and S. K. 
Harter, of Troy. Mr. Scott, however, de- 
clined to serve and R. P. Spiker was selected 
in his place. \\'. Barnes was chosen super- 
intendent and his wife, Mrs. Martha Barnes, 
was made matron. On the lOth of March, 
1878, he assumed control, and when the in- 
stitution was opened fifty-two children were 
placed in its care. Throughout the inter- 
vening years it has had a prosperous exist- 
ence. The idea was put forth that the- 
home would be overcrowded and that the 
expense would be too heavy for the tax 
payers, but in 1899, twenty-one years after 
the establishment of the home, there were 
onlv fortv-five children therein. Howe\er, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



541 



(luring the intervening years it has afforded 
shelter and secured homes for seven hundred 
and seventy children. Mr. Barnes, the first 
superintendent, remained in charge for 
twelve years, or until i8go, when lie was 
succeeded by Henry Jay. Instructions ecjual 
to the regular ten-months schooling is given 
to the children in the home, who are under 
the care of two competent teachers. The 
terms of admission to the home are very 
liberal, the institution furnishing shelter and 
protection to such children, who by reason 
of abandonment by parents or orphanage or 
neglect or inability of parents to provide 
for them, become dependent on others. 
They must have resided at least one year in 
Miami county, or may be residents of other 
counties if the trustees wish to admit them 
to the school. All kinds of small products 
and fruits and grain are raised in sufficient 
quantities to provide the table and also for 
stock-feeding purposes, and thus the insti- 
tution contributes largely to its own sup- 
port. The majority of the children who 
h.a\'e entered the home have been placed 
with private families, and in a greater num- 
ber cases have received good care and at- 
tention and have grown to be a credit to 
those who have kindly sheltered them. 



JACOB HENNE. 

Jacob Henne, proprietor of the Troy 
brewery, which for many years has been 
operated under the name of Joseph Henne 
&: Son, was born on the loth of July, 1861, 
in the city which is still his home, his par- 
ents being Joseph and Mary (Long) Henne. 
The father was born in Germany, and when 
about eighteen years of age crossed the At- 



lantic to the new world, locating in Troy. 
For a number of years he was engaged in 
the retail shoe business, and in 1874 he pur- 
chased an interest in the Troy Brewer}^ of 
Titus Schwind. The business was con- 
ducted for some time under the firm name 
of Henne & Mayer, after which Mr. Henne 
purchased his partner's interest, carrying 
on the business alone for some time. In 
1884, however, he deeded a half interest to 
his son, Jacob Henne, who was associated 
with him until his death. The father de- 
parted this life December 28, 1890, and since 
1895 Jacob Henne has been sole proprietor 
of the business. He was reared in Troy, 
obtaining his education in the public schools, 
and on putting aside his text-books he en- 
tered the brewery to learn the business, gain- 
ing a practical knowledge of the work in 
every department. His entire life has been 
given to this enterprise, and he is now the 
sole proprietor although operations are still 
conducted under the old firm name. He 
has made many impro\-ements on the prop- 
erty, the plant now having a capacity of five 
thousand barrels per annum, and the sales 
are vei^y extensive, the excellent product se- 
curing a liberal patronage. Since his fa- 
ther's death he has also been a director in 
the Troy National Bank. 

In politics Mr. Henne is a Democrat, 
warmly espousing the principles of that 
part)'. In April, 1891, he was elected a 
member of the city council for two years, 
representing the fourth ward, and in April, 
1899, he was elected as water works trus- 
tee for a term of three years. Socially he 
is connected with the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows. Those who have had busi- 
ness relations with him esteem him for his 
reliable methods, and in his circle of friends 
he is held in high regard. 



542 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



EDWIN R. FARRIXGTOX. 

Edward Ruthven Farrington, a retired 
capitalist of Piqua, belongs to that class of 
enterprising, progressive American citizens 
who owe their advancement entirely to their 
own well-directed efforts. He is a self- 
made man and the record of accomplishments 
in this individual sense is the record which 
the true and loyal American holds in deep- 
est regard and highest honor. In tracing 
the career of the subject of this review we 
are enabled to gain an insight into the 
sources of his success, for he is a man of 
strong mentality, of marked force of char- 
acter and one who has attained splendid suc- 
cess in connection with business affairs. 
For this reason there is particular interest 
attaching to the points which characterize 
his progress in life, and his history cannot 
fail to prove of interest to many of our read- 
ers, showing as it does the plans and methods 
he has followed to gain his present enviable 
position. 

Edwin Ruthven Farrington was born at 
Baldwinsville, near Syracuse, Xew York. 
His father, Philip, was a native of Albany 
county, Xew York, and in the Empire state 
spent his entire life. He resided for some 
years in Oswego county, where he began the 
manufacture of lumber. He died in 1848. 
when only about thirty-five years of age. 
In politics he was a Democrat and took an 
active interest in the growth and success of 
his party. He was recognized as an enter- 
prising business man and thri)ugh his care- 
tully conducted affairs acquired a handsome 
competence for that time. In his religious 
views he was a Methodist. The family from 
which he is descended was of English ex- 
traction and the ancestry 111 America can l^e 
traced back to 1700. His wife, who bore 



ihe maiden name of Alary Haynes, was born 
in Onondaga county, Xew York, the father 
being one of the very prominent citizens of 
that locality. The Haynes are descended 
from an old family that lived near Boston in 
colonial days, but later representatives of the 
name took up their aliode near Syracuse, 
Xew York, and owned a farm where the city 
DOW stands. !Mrs. Farrington, the mother 
of our subject, died in Xew York, in 1878, 
when about seventy years of age. She was 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and had a family of two sons, Origen B., a 
retired fanner and lumljerman, who is now 
living in Oswego county, Xew York, and is 
the possessor of a handsome competence, 
and Edwin R., of this review. 

Rufus Farrington, a bruther of Philip 
Farrington, was a very prominent Mason, 
who died in ]^Iemphis, Tennessee, of cholera. 
He had a contract with the government to 
move the Indians west of the Mississippi 
river and to supply them with blankets and 
provisions for a number of years. He went 
to Washington, District of Columbia, to 
get his money from the government, but l^e- 
fore his claim was allowed his death oc- 
curred. 

Edmond Farrington. another brother, 
was for many years one of the most prom- 
inent and active business men of Piqua. His 
connection with the industrial and commer- 
cial interests of the city co\ered a period ex- 
ceeding that of nearly every other man 
whose labors have proved an important lac- 
tor in the conduct of business affairs. He 
was a native of X'ew York and came to this 
city in 1838. Two years later he married 
Catherine M., daughter of Robert Young 
Her death occurred in 1869. Edmond Far- 
rington became the leading contractor of 
Piqua. Before coming to this city he built 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



543 



the J\Iiami aqueduct and afterward com- 
pleted se\-eral important contracts on the 
canal and other pubhc works. In 1848 he 
engaged. in business in this city, estabhsliing 
many leachng enterprises which have made 
this a thriving commercial and' industrial 
center. His efforts have in very large meas- 
ure promoted the substantial welfare and 
progress of the city, nor have his operations 
been confined to that point, but have been of 
great benefit throughout the Miami valley. 
He was for some years a senior member of 
the firm of Farrington & Slauson. grain 
dealers, who owned their own canal boat 
for transportation. He was also a member 
of the firm of ^\'ood, Farrington & Company, 
]iroprietors of the Piqua Oil ^lill, and of the 
firm of E. Farrington & Company, distill- 
ers. He was also interested in the grain 
business at other points and had loans in this 
part of the state. He was indeed for many 
years recognized as the leading business 
man of Miami county and the strongest cap- 
italist of the valley. He possessed keen 
discrimination and was a man of distinctive 
ability whose strong determination and care- 
ful management enabled him to carr}' for- 
ward to successful completion whatever he 
undertook. His business methods were ever 
honorable and straightforward and his splen- 
did success was the legitimate outcome of his 
labors. 

Edwin Ruthven Farrington, whose 
name introduces this record, remained under 
the parental roof until about twenty years 
of age and obtained his education in the com- 
mon schools and in an academy in ^Mexico, 
New York. He put aside his text-books, 
however, in order to go to Memphis, Ten- 
nessee, and engaged in the dry-goods lousi- 
ness with his uncle Rufus. He had been 
working there for only one year when his 



father died and in consequence he returned 
to his home. He and his brother succeeded 
their father as lumber manufacturers and 
owned two large mills which they operated 
for about ten years, when Edwin sold his 
interest to his brother. That was in No- 
vember, i860. Immediately afterward he 
came to Piqua and engaged in the distilling 
business, in company with his uncle, Edmond 
Farrington. who owned the distillery. This 
connection was maintained with mutual 
pleasure and profit until 1882, when they 
joined the trust and their business was closed 
clown. In the meantime they also carried 
on an extensive business as grain dealers, 
and their interests were profitably conducted 
until the uncle's death in the fall of 1892. 
This severed the partnership which had con- 
tinued for thirty-two years. Mr. Farring- 
ton continued in the grain business alone 
from that time until the summer of 1899, 
when he rented his building and retired from 
active business life. His business had grown 
both in volume and importance until lie was 
a very extensi^-e shipper. His efforts brought 
to him a handsome income and he is now 
numbered among the wealthy men of Miami 
county. He is vice-president of the Piqua 
Electric Company and one of its heaviest 
stockholders. He was one of the pioneers 
in introducing electricity for lighting pur- 
poses into the west. In 1880, he went to 
Pennsylvania and investigating some of the 
best plants, noting the superiority of elec- 
tricity over other methods of illumination, 
and was instrumental in securing a plant 
for Piqua, establishing here the first electric 
light plant west of the Alleghany mpuntains. 
The object at first was simply to light build- 
ings, but later it was used for furnishing 
illuminating power in the streets, and Piqua 
is certainly one of the best lighted towns in 



544 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the state and is now putting in a new plant. 
Mr. Farrington served as president of the 
first electric light company, continuing to 
fill that position until the reorganization of 
the company. He is a stockholder in the 
Piqua Xational Bank and owns considerable 
valualile real estate. 

Socially ]\Ir. Farrington is a Mason, 
having taken the initiatory degree in the 
order in Schriba Lodge of Constantia, New 
York. When he came to Piqua he v.as de- 
mitted to Warren Lodge, this city, also be- 
longs to the chapter here and is a member of 
the commandery at Troy, Xew York. Xo 
investigation into the history of Miami 
county can be carried into the last half of the 
nineteenth century without the student learn- 
ing that the name of Farrington figures con- 
spicuously therein. Edwin R. Farrington, 
as well as his uncle, has left the impress of 
his individuality upon the city in which he 
yet makes his home. He is a brilliant finan- 
cier and a man whose capable business meth- 
ods are indicated by his splendid success. He 
possesses a strong will and steadfast nature 
and has ever persevered in his undertalvings 
with a persistent purpose. To-day he is not 
more honored on account of the enviable 
position which he has acquired in business 
circles than on account of the many kind- 
ly deeds of his life which have been fiuietly 
and unostentatiousl}^ performed. 



GEORGE W. ROUTSOX. 

George W. Routson, who owns and op- 
erates sixty-two acres of land on sections 
21 and 27, Staunton township, and is prom- 
inently connected with the educational inter- 
ests of this community, was born in Xew- 
berry township. Miami county, December 7, 



1 86 1. The family was founded in this 
county by George Routson, the grand- 
father of our subject, who came from 
Maryland in 1832, and located in Xewberry 
township, and there, August 5. 1833, oc- 
curred the birth of Reuben Routson, the 
father, who first opened his eyes to the light 
of day on the farm which was the birthplace 
of our subject. The last named was reared 
upon the old famih- homestead, and in the 
common schools acquired his education, man- 
ifesting special aptitude in his studies. Sub- 
sequently he engaged in teaching and fol- 
lowed that profession until 1886, when he 
became a student in Wittenberg College, 
there remaining until 1888. He then re- 
sumed teaching and was thus connected witli 
the schools of his nati\e township for seven 
years, when he accepted the position of 
superintendent in the schools of Casstown. 
On the expiration of one year he resigned 
that position in order to become- principal of 
the schools of Covington, where he also re- 
mained for one year. He then spent one 
year as a teacher in the school at Xnrth 
Clayton, after which he purchased and lo- 
cated upon his present farm in Staunton 
township. 

On the 2 1st of July, 1892, Mr. Routson 
was married to Miss Angeline Branson, a 
daughter of D. C. Branson, and a native of 
Xewberry township. Since he located on his 
farm, Mr. Routson has servoJ as superin- 
tentlent of the schools of Staunton town- 
ship. He has also filled the ofiice of justice 
of the peace a portion of one year, but re- 
signed his position because the- duties thereof 
interfered with his school work. During the 
summer months he devoted his energies to 
the care and operation of the farm and has 
made it a valuable property, its neat appear- 
ance indicating his sagacious supervision. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



545 



In politics he is a Democrat, and in religious 
belief is a Lutheran. ^Ir. Routson is known 
as a very capable educator who has the abil- 
ity to impart clearly and readily to others the 
knowledge he has acquired. He is a man of 
scholarly attainments and he has given con- 
siderable thought and attention to the (jues- 
tions now occupying the public mind, and his 
life is actuated by broad humanitarian prin- 
ciples. 



JOHN L. BOYER. 

Occupying a conspicuous and influential 
position among the loading business men of 
Piqua stands Mr. Boyer, who is proprietor 
and manager of the Union Underwear Fac- 
tory. He was born in Clermont county, 
Ohio, March 7, 1857. His father, E. A. 
Boyer, is also a native of that county and 
there spent his entire life, following farming 
and also gcaeral merchandising at Mil ford. 
He was a Republican in politics; a member 
of the Universalist church, and his death 
occurred when he had attained the age of 
forty-eight years. 

Mr. Boyer remained on the nld ln:)me 
farm in his vouth and pursued his educa- 
tion in the public schools and in a private 
seminary in Goshen, Ohio. He there ob- 
tained a teacher's certificate when seven- 
teen years of age and for one term had 
charge of a district school in that county. 
In 1874 he went to Cincinnati, where he 
was employed as salesman in a large dry- 
goods store for five years. He was then 
employed as salesman in the carpet depart- 
ment of the large firm of George F. Otto 
& Company, of Cincinnati, until 18S3, when 
ho became manager and bu3"er for the car- 
pet department in the Alms & Drepke Com- 
pany, of the same city, continuing as one 



of the most capable and intlustrious em- 
ployes of that house until 1887, when he 
resigned. 

In that year Mr. Boyer came to Piqua, 
where he established a dry-goods and car- 
pet store, remaining identified with mercan- 
tile interests in that city until 1897. He ex- 
tended the field of his operations, however, 
in 1895, by entering upon the manufacture 
of underwear. He started the new enter- 
prise on a small scale, but his business stead- 
ily increased in volume and importance, and 
in order to give more time and attention to 
manufacturing, he sold his store, after two 
years, and has since devoted his energies en- 
tirely to tlte conduct of the factory, which is 
now the largest in that line in Piqua. He 
caters to the jobbing trade and his goods an; 
bought throughout the United States. The 
output of the factory is now very extensive 
and he receives for his labors most excellent 
financial returns. In the factory employment 
is furnished to from fifty to seventy-five men 
and girls, and the annual sales amount to 
about one hundred and twenty-five thousand 
dollars. 

Mr. Boyer was married, in Mil ford, to 
Miss Ida ]\I. Harvey, of that city, daughter 
of Daniel K. and Hannah H. Harvey. They 
now have two children — Armotte H., who 
is twehe years of age, and Elizabeth, eight 
years of age. Mr. Boyer votes with the 
Republican party; socially he is connected 
with the Benevolent Protective Order of 
Elks, and he and his wife are members of 
the Presbyterian church. Their home is 
one of the finest residences in the city, being 
located at the corner of Downing and Park 
avenues. His business career has indeed 
been a creditable one. He was left father- 
less when only five years of age, and, at the 
age of seventeen, entered upon an independ- 



546 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ent business career. He went to Cincin- 
nati in order to seek employment, having 
neither friends nor influence to aid him, Init 
after he once attained a position it was never 
again difficuh for him to secure work. He 
refused the general management of a large 
firm in that city when he came to Piqua to 
engage in business on his own account. He 
is truly a self-made man and one whose pros- 
perity has been honorably achieved. He is 
verv popular, his social qualities and his 
sterling worth gaining him many warm 
friends. 



GEORGE W. WHITE. 

George W. White was born in Johnson 
township, Champaign county, Ohio, four 
miles east of his present home, on the 22d 
of February, 1834, his parents being George 
and Mary (Anderson) White. The father 
was a native of Trenton, Xew Jersey, and 
was married there. The ancestry of the 
family can be traced back to the earliest 
epoch in the history of Xew England, the 
original American ancestor l^eing Pere- 
grine \\'hite, who was the first white child 
born in ^Massachusetts, his ancestors hav- 
ing crossed the Atlantic in the Mayflower. 
Among the old family relics in possession of 
our subject is a copy of the will of Sarah 
Hollingshead, of Charleston, South Caro- 
lina, his great-grandmother on the mater- 
nal side. George White and his brother, 
Samuel, came to Ohio in 1830, and both 
secured government land in Champaign 
county, where Samuel died when about sixty 
years of age. His son, D. W. \\liite, is 
still residing at St. Paris. Ohio, In 1850, 
George ^\'hite, the father of our subject, 
located on the farm where his son George 
now resides. He had previously developed 



a quarter-section of land in Champaign coun- 
ty, making it a good farm and improving 
it with substantial buildings. It was heavily 
timbered land, but with characteristic energ}' 
he cleared away the trees and planted crops. 
After coming to his present farm he con- 
tinued the work of development and culti- 
vation, and soon abundant harvests reward- 
ed his labors. The barn upon the place had 
been built in 1847, 'ind there was a small 
l)rick house, but in 1861 he replaced it by 
the present brick residence. He burned 
the brick upon his farm and also cut the 
lumber, having in 1850 set up a saw-mill. 
Most of the timber was secured upon his 
own land, for only forty acres had been 
cleai'ed at the time he took up his abode at 
this place. As he cut down the trees he 
converted them into lumber and successfully 
operated his saw-mill for a numlier of years. 
It \\"as conducted by him and later by his 
sons until about 1875. It had been com- 
pleted only a few days when it v\as burned, 
but he immediately rebuilt it and also added 
a flouring mill. The whole plant was af- 
terward again destroyed by fire, but, not 
discouraged by his losses, he again rebuilt the 
saw-mill and continued the manufacture of 
lumber, for which he found a giiod market at 
Piqua and Springfield. He did a large cus- 
tom work for the entire neighborhood, and 
in this way added materially to his income. 
In 1875, however, the mill machinery was 
taken out and the building was used for 
other purposes. Throughout the years of 
his residence here he also superintended the 
operation of his farm, employing hired help 
to do the work in the fields. In politics he 
was a \\ big in early life, voting that ticket 
when there were only si.x ^^ big votes cast 
in his township, in Champaign county. On 
the organization of the new Republican 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



547 



party, he joined its ranl<s and was always 
ready to defend liis views by a1ile argument. 
In religious belief be was a Universalist, al- 
thougb not identified with any society. The 
family lived in true pioneer style in the early 
days. He had learned both the trades of 
shoemaking and weaving in early life, and 
in addition to his other work he made shoes 
for the entire neighborhood. Having con- 
structed a loom, his wife spun the wool 
which he wove into cloth, and thus their 
completed garments were made from the 
raw wool. His early training in Pennsyl- 
vania well fitted him fur this work, for in 
1817 he had been bound out to a cordwainer 
in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, for whom 
he worked until twenty-one years of age, 
receiving in return for his services his cloth- 
ing and the opportunity of working for one 
week each year in the harvest fields. On 
the expiration of his apprenticeship he was 
given two new suits of clothing, and thus 
equipped for life's practical duties he started 
out to make his own way in the world. His 
old papers of indenture are preserved as 
a relic by his son, George \Y. Through 
many years of active effort he constantly 
accumulated his capital until at his death he 
left an estate valued at seventeen thousand 
•dollars, his son, George W;, being named as 
the administrator. He passed away in Oc- 
tober, 1869, at the age of seventy-one years, 
and in his death the community lost one of 
its respected and valued citizens. His wife 
died in 1875, at the age of seventy-six years. 
This worthy couple had a family of 
eleven children, eight sons and three daugh- 
ters. They lived to see all of them married 
and settled in homes of their own. The 
father was the first member of the famih* 
to depart this life, and at his funeral all of 
his children and his widow were present. 



Eight of the number are now living. 
In 1900, G. W. and his sister, Jane 
Duer,, being the only ones now resid- 
ing in Miami county. The others are: 
Joel C., of Montezuma, Mercer county, 
Ohio; S. N., of Holton, Kansas; Benjamin 
H., of Harper, Iowa; James W., of Okla- 
homa ; C. S., who is living in Rockford, 
Mercer county, Ohio; and Y. S., of Shelby 
county, this state. 

George W. \Miite, whose name intro- 
duces this record, remained at home until 
twenty-one years of age. In March, 1855, 
he began working by the day, receiving fifty 
cents per day for splitting rails. Having 
assisted in his father's saw-mill for five 
years, he afterward accepted a position in 
a saw-mill in Champaign county, where he 
worked for three months at a dollar per day. 
Subsequently he worked for George Wil- 
liams, of Champaign county, who gave him 
a dollar per day and his board. Three 
months later he bought a half interest in the 
mill, in company with Jasper Scott, thus in- 
curring an indebtedness of one hundred dol- 
lars. The partnership continued for about 
two years, and Mr. White had full charge of 
the mill. On the expiration of that period 
he sold his interest, but remained as super- 
intendent for four years, receiving a dollar 
and a quarter per day in compensation for 
his services. 

In the meantime Mr. White married, on 
the 4th of September, 1856, the lady of his 
choice being Miss Lucinda McKinley, of 
Champaign county, a distant relative of 
President McKinley. Afterward he pur- 
chased his father-in-law's homestead, con- 
ducting that farm for two years, wdien he 
traded it for a saw-mill at Conover, assum- 
ing the management of the latter industry 
about i860. He operated the mill for eight 



548 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



j'ears, meeting with sat'sfactory success in 
tiie enterprise, and then invested in farming 
land near Conover, hut at his father's death 
he purchased the old White homestead and 
in iS/O returned to the farm upon which 
his sons resided. He has added to it until 
it now comprises two hundred and twenty 
acres, and he also owns another farm of 
sixty-three acres in the same neigliborhood, 
altliough across tiie hue in Champaign 
county. He lias remodeled the barn and 
has erected substantial farm buildings. He 
has laid many rods of tiling, having at least 
thirty acres thus drained, making the tract a 
very rich and fertile portion of the farm, 
when otherwise it would have been unfit for 
use. His farm was entered from the gov- 
ernment in 1824, and the old patent, signed 
by President Monroe, is now in the hands 
of Mr. White. He gives his attention large- 
ly to the growing of grain, and his well- 
directed efforts liave been rewarded by a 
good income. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. White have been 
born the following children: William P., 
a farmer of Champaign county; Samuel H., 
who operates the home farm; Rose F., wife 
of William Miller, of Lena ; Rhoda, wife of 
Daniel Wyland, of Lena; Clara, who be- 
came the wife of William Mathers, and 
died, leaving two children, Lloyd and Vel- 
ma, the latter living with the grandparents; 
Mary, wife of Lewis Dner, of Lena; Nora, 
w^ife of Gerard Wolcott, of Conover; Gen- 
eral Grant, of De Graff, Ohio, who took a 
law course at -Vnn iVrbor, Michigan, and is 
now a member of the law firm of Huston 
& White, of Logan county, Ohio; and 
Myrta and Minta, twins, at home. Mr. 
^\'hite has been a stanch Republican since 
casting his first presidential vote for John 
C. Fremont, in 1856. He has closely ad- 



hered to the principles of his party, has 
never failed to cast his ballot for its men and 
measures, always attends the local public 
conventions and is a recognized leader in 
Republican ranks. His wife is a member 
of the Baptist church, at Lena, and both Mr. 
and ]\Irs. White are held in the highest re- 
gard throughout this section of the state, 
where they have a wide acquaintance and 
many friends. 

JOSEPH A. MARKLEY. 

Joseph A. Alarkley is a farmer and stock- 
raiser of Union township, Miami county. 
He was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, ten 
miles above Cincinnati, on the 29th of Au- 
gust, 1855, a son of Joseph and Elizabeth 
(Bobbs) 2\Iarkley. The paternal grand- 
father, Jacob }vlarkley, was a native of Penn- 
sylvania, and during the pioneer epoch in 
the history of Oliio took up his abode in 
Hamilton county, where he owned a large 
tract of land. He afterward sold some of 
that land to the city of Cincinnati and it is 
now occupied Ijy the water works. As a 
farmer he was very successful, adding yearly 
to his income. He was an active member of 
the United Brethren church, and died at the 
age of seventy-two years. His son, Joseph 
Markley, the father of our subject, was born 
in Hamilton county, Ohio, spent the days 
of his cliildhood and youth in that locality, 
and after the discovery of gold in California 
made his way to the Pacific slope, where he 
remained for two years, meeting with good 
success in his undertakings in that section 
of the country. He died upon his farm in 
Hamilton county, Ohio, when about thirty- 
five years of age. He, too, was a member of 
the United Brethren church, and in his po- 
litical views was a Republican, His wife 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



549 



was a natix-e of Ohio and by Iier marriage 
to Joseph Markley had three cliiidren : Jo- 
seph, of this review : Victoria, wife of John 
C. Henderson, and William, who is deceased. 
The mother afterward became the wife of 
John C. Henderson and her death occurred 
in Miami county. 

Joseph A. Markley was only two years 
old when his father died. He remained 
at home with his mother and stepfather un- 
til he had attained his majority, working on 
the farm and in a sawmill. When he had 
reached man's estate he rented a tract of 
land in Union township, wdiich he operated 
for one year. On the expiration of that 
period he purchased fifteen acres, continuing 
its culti\'ation f(.ir two years, when he sold 
that property and bought seventy-three 
acres, — a part of his present farm. Here 
he has since made his home, and to this 
property he afterward added a tract of twen- 
ty acres. Subsequent to that time he and 
his stepfather purchased one hundred and 
forty-se\'en acres within the corporation 
limits of Laura, and in the spring of 1900 
Mr. Markley bought forty acres just across 
the road from his home. He now owns one 
hundred and twenty-six acres in the home 
place and a half interest in a tract of one 
hundred anil forty-seven acres, which is 
well improved. He raises tobacco and rents 
a part of his land. His systematic business 
methods, his sound judgment and unfailing 
energy have been the salient features of his 
success. 

On the 26th of August, 1877, I\Ir. Mark- 
ley was married to Miss Almira Bonham, of 
Darke county, who died November 5, 1895, 
leaving three children : John O., Bertha 
and Callie, all at home. Suliseijuently he 
wedded Rachel Christian, daughter of 
Aaron Christian, of Union township, and 



they have two children, Lydia and Joseph 
Martin. Their home is noted for its hos- 
pitality, and their circle of friends is \'ery ex- 
tensive in the community. IMr. Markley 
is a member of the United Brethren church, 
his wife of the Christian church. In pol- 
itics he is an active Democrat. He gives 
earnest support to all measures which he 
believes will prove of public good and is a 
valued and respected member of the com- 
munity. 



JOHN HARRY CLARK. 

Prominent among the business men of 
Piqua is Llarry Clark, as he is familiarly 
known. His active connection with the busi- 
ness interests of the city has done much to 
promote its commercial activity and there- 
by advance the general i)rnsperity. He was 
burn in Piqua on the i6th of October, 1852, 
a son of Harvey Clark, whose birth occurred 
in Essex county, New Jersey, in 1823. and 
who came to Piqua in 1845. He has since 
been recognized as one of the leading busi- 
ness men of the city, and his executive 
power, sagacity and untiring energy have 
brought to him a handsome competence, 
which is the merited reward of his labors. 
I'or fifteen years he was a member of the 
firm of Clark & Zollinger, grocers of Piqua, 
and later he became a member of the firm 
of Rouzer, Evans & Clark, founders and 
machinists. He continued in the latter de- 
partment of industrial labor until 1873, 
when he sold his interest and became part 
owner of one of the valuable stone quarries 
south of the city, the same being operated 
by the firm of H. Clark & Son. The father 
still has an interest in this enterprise, which 
i; now being managed by our subject, but 
in i8go he retired from the active cares of 



550 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Ijusiness life and now spends the winter 
months in Redlands, CaHfornia, where he 
has a beautiful home. He was also one of 
the stockholders and directors of the Piqua 
Straw Board & Paper Company, and su- 
perintended the building of one of the large 
plants here. In 1S49 lie married Mar)' J., 
daughter of Henrj' Kitchen, and unto them 
vere born seven children. Mr. Clark was 
one of the representative men of the city and 
has left the impress of his strong individual- 
ity upon public improvement along many 
lines. Not only has he contributed to the 
general prosperity of the city through the 
establishment and conduct of many business 
enterprises, but has also been a leader in 
temperance work, and is a prominent Re- 
publican, who has exerted a strong influence 
politically. He has ser\-ed as mayor of the 
city, but was forced to resign on account of 
the demands which his extensive business 
made upon his time. He is an active mem- 
ber of the Green Street Methodist Epis- 
copal church, contributing liberally to its 
support and doing all in his power to pro- 
mote its growth and insure its success. He 
has been ver}- successful in his business af- 
fairs, and is the owner of valuable property, 
includin"- a fine bearing orchard of ten acre'^ 
in California and much city property in 
Piqua. All that he has is the reward of his 
own efforts, having come to him as the 
result of carefully directed labors, of enter- 
prise, sound judgment and unflagging per- 
severance. 

His son, Harry Clark, has succeeded to 
his place among the prominent business men 
of Piqua. His boyhood days were passed 
in this city and by a liberal education, com- 
pleted by a high school and commercial 
course, he was fitted for life's practical 
duties. \\"hen quite young he Ijecame his fa- 



ther's partner in the ownership and operation 
of the stone quarry- and continued to con- 
duct the same until 1889, when they sold 
out. Eleven years later, however, in 1898, 
they again purchased the quarries, which 
the)' now lease. In the spring of 1890 Mr. 
Clark embarked in the lumber business with 
the Piqua Lumber Company, which was aft- 
erward merged into the Piqua School Fur- 
niture Company, at which time Mr. Clark 
disposed of his share in the enterprise. He 
has since devoted the greater part of his time 
to the management of the interests of the 
Piqua Hosiery Company, with which he is 
officially connected as vice-president and 
manager. He was one of its organizers, 
the company being formed in 1886, with 
an authorized stock of sixteen thousand dol- 
lars. Later the business was reorganized 
and the capital stock increased to twenty- 
five thousand dollars. They manufacture all 
kinds of knit underwear, and the sales 
amount to about seventy-five thousand dol- 
lars annually. Their trade is constantly 
growing and the output of the factory is 
now very large and is shipped to many im- 
portant markets^ Mr. Clark is also a di- 
rector of the Third National Bank, and of 
its directorate his father was also a member 
for many }'ears. He is an excellent finan- 
cier, is far-sighted in his dealings, forms 
his plans readily, is determined in their ex- 
ecution, his judgment is rarely at fault and 
his reputation is above question. 

^\'ith a just appreciation of the privileges , 
and duties of franchise, ^Ir. Clark has given 
close anil earnest investigation to the c[ues- 
tions affecting the weal or woe of the na- 
tion, and his careful study has led him 
to give an unfaltering support to the Re- 
publican party. He is now treasurer of the 
Republican county central committee, and 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



551 



does all in his power to promote the growth 
and secure the success of the party. He, 
too, belongs to the Green Street jNIethodist 
Episcopal church, and is serving as one of 
its trustees. His character is positive, his 
disposition genial, and his circle of warm 
friends is extensive. 



MRS. ASENATH BULL. 

Among the ladies who have long re- 
sided in ;\Iiami county is ]\Irs. Bull, who 
now makes her home in Staunton township. 
No less worthy of mention on the pages of 
history are the noble women who quietly 
perform life's daily duties. Their work in 
its very nature brings them less before the 
public notice, liut it is of no less important 
character than that of the husband and fa- 
ther who controls the veins and arteries of 
trade. Mrs. Bull belongs to one of the old- 
est pioneer families of Ohio, her father hav- 
ing been Jacob A. Riddle, one of the hon- 
ored early settlers, an account of whom is 
given on another page of this work in con- 
nection with the sketch qf George Riddle. 
Upon the home farm ^^Irs. Bull was reared. 
She attended the schools of the neighbor- 
hood and her time was largely occupied by 
her duties in the household, as well as the 
social pleasures of the neighborhood. 

On the 14th of September, 1858, she 
was united in marriage to L. Bull, who was 
a native of Shelby county, Ohio, and who, 
throughout his life carried on agricult- 
ural pursuits. Two children were born of 
their union, but the son, Albert B., died in 
1864. The daughter, Lottie, who was born 
in 1862, became the wife of Frank Houser 
and died May 26, 1896, leaving two children, 
Clyde B. and Forest S. Throughout his 



business career, ]\Ir. Bull engaged in tilling 
the soil and his well-directed labors brought 
to him a comfortable competence. He lived 
a quiet and unostentatious life, but his neigh- 
bors and friends recognized his sterling 
qualities and gave him their regard. He 
died March 18, 1878. Mrs. Bull still re- 
sides on a part of her father's old home- 
stead, where she located soon after her mar- 
riage. She has here one hundred and sixty 
acres of land and the income derived there- 
from supplies her with all the necessaries 
and many of the luxuries of life. She is 
an earnest Christian woman, sympathetic 
and kindly by nature, and her worth has 
gained to her many warm friends. 



\\TLLL\M D. DAVIES. 

William D. Davies is a representative 
of two of the oldest families of Miami coun- 
ty. He was born in Piqua, on the 14th of 
September, 1846, his parents being Samuel 
and Rachel (Johnston) Davies. His mother 
is .still living at the ripe old age of eighty- 
seven years, and in December, 1899, pub- 
lished many reminiscences of early pioneer 
days. They experienced all the hardships, 
trials, privations and pleasures incident to 
the establishment of a home upon the wild 
western frontier. During the early girlhood 
of Mrs. Davies, her father built a large two- 
story log house, in 1818. This was located 
ai Upper Piqua, on the Ashton farm. The 
logs were cut in the woods and drawn to the 
saw-mill, where they were transformed into 
lumber. A board kiln was built and in this 
the lumber was dried. The shingles which 
covered the house were cut by hand in the 
woods, and the brick used in the construc- 
tion of the new home was also made upon 



552 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tlie farm. jNIr. Johnston also erected a 
Inige log barn, which is still standing, and 
set out a large orchard, containing peaches, 
apples, cherries, pears and plums. Upon the 
place was a maple grove, and from the sap 
from the trees they made their own molasses 
and sugar. They raised their cattle and 
sheep, cured their own beef and sold the 
hides to the tanner. ISIuch of their clothing 
was also made upon the farm. They raised 
flax and after spinning it, it was woven into 
cloth by an old woman living near by. The 
wool from the sheep was brought home, 
carded and spun into yarn, which was woven 
into blankets and coverlets, after being dyed 
by the mother. When harvest time came, 
it was a great occasion, often as many as 
sixty men were employed at one time in the 
field cutting wheat with sickles. Later a 
much improved implement was used — the 
cradle, and it in turn was succeeded by the 
modern reaper. Threshing was done with 
a flail, wheat was tramped out by horses 
and afterward cleaned and sent to the mill. 
Mr. Johnston often took wheat to Cincinnati 
to sell, at a time when it took eight days 
to make the round trip. On one occasion 
lie brought back with him a wagon load of 
goods for a merchant, but as the man was 
unable to pay him, he took instead of the 
money a tract of land on Main street, north 
of Ash street, on which now stand five lead- 
ing business houses of the city. One of 
these lots is still in possession of Mrs. Davies, 
mother of our subject. Tiie Indians were 
much more numerous than the white settlers 
at the time James and Mary Johnston ar- 
rived in Miami county. Although the red 
men were of a roving disposition, the beau- 
tiful r^Iiami valley was a favorite resort to 
them and here they celebrated all their feasts. 
performed their dances and odd religious 



rites, fought their battles and engaged in 
many scenes of torture. It was in this val- 
ley that Tecumseh made his home and here 
\\ere found many representatives of the 
tribes of the Shawnees, Pottowatomies, 
Wyandottes, Senecas, Muncies, Miamis and 
Delawares. All were powerful tribes and 
to them Mr. Johnston supplied horses fur- 
nished by the government. \'ery friendly 
relations always existed between the Indians 
and the Johnston family and the daughters, 
now Mrs. Margaret Kirk and Mrs. Rachel 
Davies, spent many an hour in the camp 
of the Shawnees, receiving tlie kindest and 
most de\-oted attention from the scpiaws. 
Mrs. Davies now has in her possession a 
large bowl carved from the knot of a hickory 
tree, which was gi\-en to her by the Indians 
to be used for holding corn-meal. As the 
years passed the family prospered and the 
log cabin in which so many happy hours 
had been spent was at length abandoned for 
a brick house. The Johnstons were active 
ir' promoting the religious development of 
the community, and Mrs. Davies frequently 
rode on horseback behind her mother to at- 
tend the meetings of the Piqua Bible So- 
ciety. With the exception of Mrs. Davies, 
all of the children of the Johnston family 
were born in Cumberland county, Pennsyl- 
vania. The parents were married in Siier- 
man's valley, Pennsylvania. June 7,1798, and 
in the Keystone state five chiklren were born 
to them, namely: Stephen, who was born 
November 24, 1799, and died at Upper 
Piqua, August 2, 1849; Mary Ann, who was 
born December 7, 1801, and died September 
19, 1887; William, who was born May 2, 
1804. and died J^Iarch 24, 1888: Eliza, who 
was born October 10, 1806, and died Au- 
gust 3, 1896. and Margaret, who was born 
]\Iarch 18, 1800, and died August 2, 1894. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



553 



The parents came to .Miami county in 1811, 
and on the 7th of December, 1812, their 
youngest cliild, ]\Irs. Rachel Davies, was 
born. On the 7th of July, 1841, she be- 
came the wife of Samuel Dax'ies, who was 
born December 10, 1810, and died March 



4. i^ 



Their children were : Susan, who 



was born April 11, 1842, in Lockport, Ohio, 
and died September 7, 1843; James Johns- 
ton, who was born November 25, 1844, and 
died July 24, 1863; William D., whose 
name begins this record; John J., who was 
born December 29, 1848, and died July 26, 
1885; Samuel, who was born February 10, 
185 1, and died April 21, 1890; Charles H., 
who was born February 4, 1853, and Frank 
Carter, born December 21, 1855. All were 
born on the family homestead at the corner 
of Greene and Wayne streets, in Picpia. 
Mr. and Mrs. Davies began their domestic 
life in Lockport in a little log cabin situated 
between the canal and the river, where they 
lived for three years, the father at that time 
being employed by the state in constructing 
nine locks on the canal. It took live years 
to complete the contract and the stone used 
was brought from the cpiarries at Dayton, 
Ohio. When that work was completed Mr. 
Davies moved with his family to Pic[ua, 
where he established a grocery store, wdiich 
he conducted from 1843 '•"ftil his death. 
In 1847 I'le erected a pleasant home for the 
family at the corner of Wayne and Greene 
streets, and the old home is still standing, 
being yet occupied by his widow. 

William D. Davies, whose name begins 
this record, spent his boyhood days under 
the parental roof and obtained his education 
in the common and high schools of Picjua. 
In 1869 he went to Chicago, where he was 
engaged in driving hacks until 1873, when 
he was made superintendent of the Flat 



Rock Stock Farm, at Rushville, Indiana, his 
employers being the Wilson Brothers, who 
were the owners of much fine racing stock. 
Mr. Davies acted as superintendent and 
driver for them for three years and then 
began business for himself, having pur- 
chased several fine trotters while in the em- 
ploy of Wilson Brothers. After two years 
he took charge of the Sunset Stock Farm, at 
Van Wert, and raced their stock, together 
with some of his own. Subsequently he had 
some fine racing stock of his own upon the 
leading tracks, making his headquarters in 
Chicago until 1898, but that business kept 
him from home during the greater part of 
the time and he then abandoned it for the 
livery business. He was at one time the 
owner of Joe Hooker, with a record of 
2:i6>4, and Lizzie Dowling, with a record 
of 2:1534. He has owned and trained 
twenty-eight fine racers with a record of 
from 2 :o9 to 2 130. He was very successful 
as a horseman, but on returning to Piqua, 
he sold all of his racing stock, with the ex- 
ception of William Penn, which horse has a 
record of 2:i2J5/2. 

Mr. Davies married Miss Julia Murphy, 
of Dodgeville, Wisconsin, and they had two 
children, but both died in early life. In his 
political views Mr. Davies is a Democrat, but 
has never sought or desired office, prefer- 
ring to give his time and attention to his 
business interests in which he has met with 
excellent success. 



JOHN H. MOORE. 
In the history of Miami county John H. 
Moore well deserves representation, for he 
is numbered among her native sons and has 
ever been a loyal and valued citizen, true 
to every trust reposed in him. He was 



554 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



born in Brown township, ^larch ^3, 1849, 
and is a son of William ]\Ioore, whose birth 
occurred in New Jersey. Reared to man- 
hood in his native state, the father was there 
joined in wedlock to Miss Orr, and on emi- 
grating to Ohio in the early "30s, he took 
up his abode near Addison, whence he re- 
moved to Brown township, Miami county. 
There he purchased a small farm, upon 
which he lived until his death, passing away 
in August, 1881, at the ripe old age of 
eighty-four years. He was twice married 
and by the first union had two children, who 
are now deceased. For his second wife he 
chose Sidney Brooks and they became the 
parents of nine children. The mother of 
this family died, and he afterward married 
Llrs. Rebecca (\\'iley) Belford, and has one 
child, Joseph, now living in Indianapolis, 
Indiana. His children by his second- wife 
were William R., who enlisted, in 1861. in 
Company E, One Hundred and Tenth Ohio 
Volunteer Infantry, with the rank of cap- 
tain, and died of typhoid fever at Brandy- 
wine Station, in 1864; Susan, deceased; 
Thomas B., who has also passed away; 
Catherine, wife of ]\Iiles ^Mathers, of Brown 
township ; James, who is engaged in the real 
estate business in Piqua ; Sidney, deceased ; 
Priscilla, wife of Elias Snodgrass, of Brown 
township; Elizabeth, and John H. 

^Ir. Moore, of this review, was reared 
in Brown township until sixteen years of 
age, at which time he entered the Piqua 
high school, wherein he pursued his studies 
for two years. He then began clerking in 
a store in Fletcher, where he remained for 
five years. He next embarked in the pro- 
duce business on his own account in that 
town. He was for two years a representa- 
tive of its commercial interests and on the 
expiration of that ])eri(i(l took up his abode 



on the farm, which has since been his home. 
He owns seventy-two acres of land on sec- 
tion 2, Spring Creek township, where he 
carries on general fanning, and the neat 
and thrifty appearance of the place indicates 
the careful supervision and progressive 
methods of the owner. The place is im- 
proved with good buildings and well kept 
fences and bountiful harvests add materially 
to his income. 

In 1871 was celebrated the marriage of 
Mr. Moore and ^liss ^lary Sanders, and 
they now have five children : N'iolet J., wife 
of Charles Cox; Forest E., at home; Clinton, 
deceased; Judson J., and Keifer S., who was 
named in honor of General Keifer. 

Mr. Moore has been a school director in 
Spring Creek township for ele\en years and 
the cause of education finds in him a warm 
friend, who is active in the advocacy of 
every mo\-ement that will promote the ad"- 
vancement of the community. He is master 
of the IMiami Grange, which indicates his 
standing in agricultural circles. He belongs 
to the Spring Creek Christian church, of 
which he has been deacon since 1886, and in 
politics he is a Democrat. 



PAUL F. KXIGHT. 

Paul F. Knight, now deceased, was born 
October 3, 1814, in Hamilton county, Ohio, 
and died in Casstown, ^liami county, Feb- 
ruary 6, 1889. His birth occurred near Cin- 
cinnati and when four years of age he was 
brought to this count}'. His parents were 
Jonathan and Catherine (James) Knight. 
The father was a native of Pennsylvania 
and a son of William Knight, who purchased 
the land where the Orphans' Home now 
stands, becoming a resident of this county 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



555 



after the removal of his son to this section 
of the state. Jonathan Knight had pur- 
cliased land near Conover, Aliami county, 
but died before making a permanent loca- 
tion here. Soon after his death the mother, 
with her son, Paul, then four years of age, 
came to Lost Creek township, locating on 
'Lin^i Creek, where the grandfather had set- 
tled. William Knight died in this locality 
when well advanced in years. His wife, 
who bore the maiden name of JSIiss Corbly, 
survived him some time and made her home 
with her son, William, for a number of 
years. She was a sister of Mrs. Martin, 
who was scalped by the Indians in early life. 
Paul Knight was one in a family of seven 
children, of whom Mrs. Isaac Clyne is now 
the only survivor. The four sons of the 
family were William, Stephen, Paul and 
Corbly. Their mother remained upon the 
farm which had been given her by her fa- 
ther-in-law, and there reared her sons and 
daughters. 

Paul Knight remained under the parental 
roof and early became familiar with the 
duties and labors that fall to the lot of the 
agriculturist. He was married, April 6, 
1837, to Miss Charlotte Ensminger, a 
daughter of Philip and JNIary (Parks) Ens- 
minger, who came from Pennsylvania to 
Ohio, making a location in Greene county, 
where their daughter Charlotte was born, 
on the 3d of August, 1819. The father was 
a miller and followed that pursuit on Wolf 
creek. When ]\Irs. Knight was about ten 
years of age he purchased the Burkhalter 
mill on Lost creek, remodeling and rebuild- 
ing portions of it and successfully conduct- 
ing it until after the time of his daughter's 
marriage. Later he sold that property and 
removed to Indiana, where he died at the ad- 
vanced age of ninetv vears. Airs. Knight 

'32 



was the only one of the family to remain in 
Miami county. 

After his marriage Paul Knight located 
on the farm adjoining the old homestead, 
and there successfully carried on agricult- 
ural pursuits for a number of years. To 
his mother, who had carefully cared for him 
in his youth, he gave a good home in her 
tleclining years, her last days being spent 
as a member of his household. She was 
called to her final rest when about seventy- 
five years of age. Mr. Knight succeeded 
to the ownershi^^ of the old homestead, and 
later he became the owner .of the old Ens- 
minger mill, which had been rebuilt by his 
wife's father. After operating it for some 
time he sold that property, and it is still 
used for its original purpose. The first mill 
was built by George Green, grandfather of 
Davis Green, and since that time a mill has 
been continuously in operation at that place. 
In his later years Mr. Knight retired from 
business life. Selling his farm, he removed 
to Casstown, where he made his home for 
seven years. His business career was one 
of activity and industry, guided by sound 
judgment, and his well-directed efforts 
brought to him a \-ery comfortable com- 
petence, which enabled him to spend his de- 
clining years in retirement. Unto ]\Ir. and 
Mrs. Knight were born nine children : 
Stephen, who died in childhood; Catherine, 
wife of Robert Winters, of Brown county, 
Kansas ; Caroline, widow of H. Covault, a 
resident of Lost Creek township; Franklin, 
who is living in Muncie, Indiana; Joseph, 
a resident of St. Paris, Champaign county, 
Ohio ; Mary, wife of J. R. Fuller, now liv- 
ing with her mother ; Charles Luther, whose 
home is in Gallon, Ohio; William, a resi- 
dent of Wapakoneta, Ohio, and Lorenzo, 
who died at the age of thirty-one years. 



556 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Mrs. Knight has also reared two grandchil- 
dren — Lottie, wife of Harry Killian, of Al- 
bany, Indiana, and Allie, wife of Loren 
Coppock, of Tippecanoe City. They were 
daughters of Franklin Knight, and their 
mother died during their early girlhood. 
Mrs. Fuller has three children: James, of 
Columbus, Ohio : Anna and Charley. 

In his political views Mr. Knight was 
a Republican, but never sought or desired 
office, preferring that his attention should be 
given to his business interests, in which he 
met with creditable success. In religious 
faith he was a Baptist, and his life was up- 
right and honorable, consistent with his pro- 
fession. In his death the community lost 
one of its valued citizens, one whose identi- 
fication with the county covered all the 
years from its pioneer development, and who 
had taken an active interest in everything 
pertaining to the welfare and progress of 
the community. He was particularly well 
versed on religious subjects and was fond 
of an argument, but was always just and 
considerate of his opponents. He possessed 
many excellent qualities, which endeared him 
to his friends and neighbors,' and in the 
history of Miami county he well deserves 
representation. His widow still sur\ives 
him, but on account of ill health is now con- 
fined to the house. Soon after her marriage 
she became a member of the Baptist church 
and in her life has ever exemplified her 
Christian faith. 



LEVI E. RECK, M. D. ' 

Successfully engaged in the practice of 
medicine in Piqua, Dr. Reck has worked his 
way upward to a position of prominence in 
the medical fraternity. He was born in 
Greenville, Ohio, July 31, 1864. It is be- 



lieved that the family is of Holland extrac- 
tion and at an early day was founded in 
Pennsylvania. The paternal grandfather of 
the Doctor was David Reck, a native of 
Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, who be- 
came a successful farmer, was a member of 
the Lutheran church and lived to be about 
eighty years of age. He married a Miss 
Lightner, of English extraction. Frank W. 
Reck, the Doctor's father, was born near the 
city of Lancaster, in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and there remained until about 
fourteen years of age, when he accompanied 
his parents on their removal to Darke coun- 
ty, Ohio. They located on a farm near 
Greenville and the father afterward pur- 
chased a farm adjoining the old family 
homestead there. For a number of years, 
in connection with his agricultural jnirsuits, 
he engaged in the manufacture of lumber 
as foreman of a planing mill. During the 
ci\il war he joined the army, loyally serv- 
ing his country from 1863 to 1865. He 
married Miss Elizabeth Gilbert, who was 
born in Darke county, Ohio, a daughter of 
Levi and Mary (Spiece) Gilbert. The 
former was born near Philadelphia, Penn- 
sylvania, was there reared and married, and 
made farming his life work. He lived to 
be eighty-two years of age. His parents 
were natives of England, while his wife's 
people were of German lineage. Mr. and 
Mrs. Reck became the parents of se\en sons : 
Charles L., a druggist of Piqua ; Le\i E. ; 
Louis, a farmer and school teacher in Darke 
county ; Alonzo, a machinist, of Darke coun- 
ty; Homer G. and Daniel Webster, at home, 
and one who died at the age of fourteen 
years. The parents are both consistent and 
faithful members of the United Brethren 
church and are both still living. 

Dr. Reck spent his boyhood days upon 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



557 



the home farm, and tlie duties and labors 
that fall to the lot of the agriculturist early 
became familiar- to him. He pursued his 
education in the public schools of the neigh- 
borhood until about eighteen years of age, 
when he entered the high school at Green- 
ville, and. after completing his course there, 
he continued his studies at the Ada Normal 
School and later began reading medicine in 
the office and under the direction of Dr. 
A. F. Markwith, of Greenville. A year 
later he entered the Ohio Medical College, at 
Cincinnati, in which institution he was 
graduated in March, 1891, after which he 
opened an office and began practice at Piqua. 
His professional career has been attended 
with a gratifying degree of success and he 
now enjoys a large and constantly increas- 
ing patronage. He is a member of the In- 
dependent Order of Odd Fellows, of Piqua, 
aiid in politics is a stanch Republican. He 
does all in his power to promote the growth 
and insure the success of his party. 

As his elder lirother, Charles L. Reck, 
is a well known resident of Piqua, it will be 
interesting in this connection to give a synop- 
sis of his life. He was born and reared on 
the home farm in Darke county in the usual 
manner of farmer lads, and, having acquired 
his preliminary education in the public 
schools, he afterward spent six weeks in the 
Westerville University at Westerville, Ohio, 
and then matriculated in the Ada Normal 
University, where he remained for about 
three years. When his literary course was 
completed he entered the College of Pharma- 
cy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he 
pursued his studies for about three years, 
being graduated in 1888. He afterward en- 
gaged in working in drug stores in Phila- 
delphia, Detroit, Chicago and Dayton, and 
in May, 1892, he came to Piqua, where he 



established his present drug store, which he 
has since successfully conducted. He has 
now a well appointed establishment and the 
public accords him a liberal share of its 
business in his line. 

Charles Reck was married in Piqua, to 
Miss Nina Pierce, of Forest, Ohio, and they 
have two children, Wilbur and Alfred. He 
votes with the Republican party, and, so- 
cially is connected with Gettysburg Lodge, 
No. 477, F. & A. M., of Gettysburg, Ohio. 



REUBEN MOORE. 

Reuben Moore was born in Miami coun- 
ty, on the old family homestead, July 8, 
1852, a son of Rufus and Lydia (Bennett) 
Moore. Gresham Moore was born in Wales 
in 1752, and his wife, Anna, was born in 
1758. They had eight children: Lewis, 
torn in 1778; Reuben, born in 1791 : Elias, 
born in 1792; Phebe, born in 1793: Philip, 
born in 1 794 : Catherine, born in 1 795 ; 
Rachel, born in 1797: and Nancy, born in 
1800. Lewis Moore, the grandfather of 
our subject, was born Aueust 16, 1778, in 
New Jersey, and his wife, Susan Moore, 
was born in that state July 5, 1786. They 
were the parents of twelve children : Anna, 
who was born June 6, 1805, and died June 
8, 1845; Rufus, the father of our subject; 
Eliza, born December 17, 1809; Sarah, born 
October 15, 181 1; Elias, born October 5, 
181 3; Amy, born November 2, 181 5; An- 
thony B., born November 5. 1817, and died 
February 14, 1839; Reuben, born October 
14, 1819, and died October 9, 1849; Sam- 
uel, born January 13, 1822, and died July 
27, 1823; Lydia, born November 29, 1823; 
Stephen G., born November 12, 1825: and 
Alpheus E., born April 5, 1828, and died 
August 17, 1858. The father of this fam- 



558 



GEXEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ily died May 8, 1859. and his wife passed 
away on the 19th of December, 1872. 

The father was born in Butler county, 
Ohio, March 13, 1807, and the mother's 
birth occurred in tliat county Xovemljer 11, 
181 5. Her marriage was celebrated Feb- 
ruary 17, 1833, and was blessed with seven 
children : Nancy Jane, born August 23, 
1836, became the wife of George AlcMillan 
and died July i. 1866, leaving three chil- 
dren, Alva E., Harry W. and Elroy C. 
Mary Ann, who was born July 12, 1839; 
Lewis, \\ho was born April 7, 1843. and 
died on the i6th of April of that year; Elias, 
born July 17. 1845, Theodore, born October 
I, 1847. und Eliza, born August 6. 1850, 
and Reuben were the )'ounger members of 
the family. Eliza is nnw the wife of A, 
Berryman, of Troy. 

William Bennett, the maternal great- 
great-grandfather of our subject, was born 
in England, and came to this country shortly 
after the time William Penn arrived. He 
settled on an island in the Susc]uehanna 
river, and afterward opened copper mines in 
Pennsylvania. He was the father of nine 
children. His son, Thomas Bennett, was the 
father of George Bennett, the maternal 
grandfather of our subject. George Bennett 
was born in ^'irginia March 3. 1783, and 
his wife, Xancy, was born June 10, 1783. 
They were the parents of ten children : 
Henrv, born .Vugust 2^, 1814; Lydia, the 
mother of our subject; Thomas, born Jan- 
uary 7, 1 81 7; John, born April 7, 1818, 
and died on the 29th of September of the 
same year: Susanna, born July 21, 18 19; 
Amelia, born January 2/. 1821, and died 
July 17, 1825; ]SIary Ann, born June 10, 
1823. and died July 5, 1825; George, born 
September 28, 1824, and died August 7, 
1825; George, the second of the name, born 



]ulv 14, 1826; and Elizabeth Ann. born 
April 2T,. 1 83 1, and died in 1874. George 
Bennett, the father, died March 15, 1844, 
and his wife passed away in June, 1836. 

Rufus Moore, the father of our subject, 
made his home in Butler county, Ohio, for 
a sh<irt time after his marriage, and then 
removed to Loramie, Shelljy county, Ohio, 
where he continued to make his abode until 
1840. In that year he located on section 
4, Staunton township. Miami county, and 
cleared the greater part of that farm, mak- 
ing excellent impri:)vements thereon, trans- 
forming the wild land into a very \-aluable 
property. He died March 9, 1876, and his 
wife passed .away April 14, 1885. 

Mr. ]\Ioore remained on the farm with 
his father until the latter"s death, v.hen he 
t(X)k charge of the old homestead and cul- 
tivated the land until 1879. when he re- 
moved to his present place of residence, con- 
stituting a part of the old homestead. He 
has here eighty acres of rich and arable 
land. All of the improvements upon the 
place stand as monuments to his thrift and 
enterprise. He has eight acres planted in 
an orchard, mostly of apple trees; his build- 
ings and fences are kept in good repair and 
everything about the place is neat and thrifty 
ill appearance. 

^Ir. Moore was united in marriage, 
March 2T^. 1876, to Miss Florence E. 
Brandenburg, a daughter of Ct^rnelius and 
Elizabeth Brandenburg, both of whom 
were natives of Maryland and came to 
Miami county in 1852. Six children have 
been born to ]\Ir. and Mrs. IMoore : Nettie 
and Mamie, who died in infancy; Cornelius 
Allen, born August 6, 1880; Lewis E., Au- 
gust 5, 1882; Frank B.. September 4, 1884: 
and Charlie H., September i. 1886. Mr. 
Moore is a member of the !Miami Grange 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



559 



and the Knig-hts of Pythias fraternity. His 
wife is a member of the Pythian sisterhood 
and botli are members of the Methodist 
Episcopal church of Bethel. For many 
years he has been connected with the agri- 
cultural societies of the county and during 
the entire time he has so conducted h'is 
affairs as to merit the confidence and es- 
teem of the entire community. His wife 
also takes an active interest in all things 
pertaining to agriculture and horticulture. 
She is the efficient secretary of the Spring 
Creek and Staunton Towi.ship Farmers 
Clul). and has lieen for over eiglit }-ears. 
Siie has also served for several years as 
secretarv of the jMiami Horticultural So- 
ciet\-. Mr. ■Nloore is an up-to-date farmer, 
and he and his wife belie\-e that honest, in- 
telligent farmers are among the best class 
of citizens in this nation of free men. 



SOLOMON FUXDERBURGH. 

Solomon Funderburgh is the village 
blacksmith at Ragti iwn. and is a man of in- 
dustry in lousiness affairs and reliable in all 
life's relations, thus winning the respect of 
his fellow men. He was born in Clark coun- 
ty, Ohio, on the loth of May, 1844. his 
parents being ^^'illiam and Almira ( Hel- 
mer) Funderburgh. His father was born in 
Madison county, Ohio, near Summersford, 
in 181 1, and was a son of Daniel Funder- 
burgh, a native of Germany, who came to 
the Buckeye state in early manhood. In 
]\Iadison county he wedded Mary Wilson, 
whose father, H. Wilson, resided near 
Xenia, Ohio. Daniel Funderburgh took up 
his residence in Madison county, where his 
wife died. ^^'illiam Funderburgh, their 
eldest child, was reared to manhood there 
and afterward went to Clark countv, Ohio, 



learning the blacksmith's trade at Midway. 
After his marriage, however, he engaged in 
farming. In 1850 he removed to Adams 
county, Indiana, where he continued until 
1856, vi'hen he returned to the Buckeye 
state, locating in Brandt, ^liami county, 
where he spent his remaining days, his death 
occurring at the age of seventy-nine years 
and ten months. His wife died in her sev- 
enty-fifth }-ear. William and Ahr.ira Fun- 
derburgh became the parents of ten chil- 
dren, of whom five died in infancy, the 
others being Arthur, who is now engaged in 
the grocerv business in Westfield, Indiana ; 
Peter, who is li\ing in Brandt; Isaac, a 
carpenter in Springfield, Ohio; Minerva 
Ellen, now the widow of Steven C. Hughs 
and a resident of Springfield, Ohi(i: and 
Solomon, of this rex'iew. 

\\'hen a youth of twelve years Solomon 
Funderburgh became a resident of Brandt, 
]\Iiami county, and at the age of seventeen 
he entered upon a three-years apprenticeship 
t(; Bovd Gowdy, a l)lacksmith of Brandt, 
from whom he received three dollars and 
a half per month and his board. From that 
amount he purchased his clothing and all 
that he had remaining went to liis parents. 
When his apprenticeship was completed he 
began working for himself, his wages going 
for his own support. During the cix'il war, 
howeser, he put aside his personal desires,, 
enlisting on the 2d of INIay. 1864. when 
twenty years of age, as a member of Com- 
panv B, One Hundred and Forty-seventh 
Ohio \'olunteer Infantry. The command 
was enrolled in the National Guard and was 
drilled ready for active work at the front. 
His ser\-ice with the One Hundred and 
Forty-se\-enth was at Arlington Heights, 
the regiment being called out on the 3d of 
July, 1S64, to supixirt tiie New York Bat- 



560 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



terv. wliose purpose it was to check the ad- 
vance of Early, who tlireatened Washington. 
Mr. Funderlnirgli was (hscharged with his 
regiment at Camp Dennisun. 

On tlie 22(1 of Septenil)er. 1S64. just 
after his return from the seat of war. lie 
married Miss Electa Dunlap. of Piqua. Ohio, 
a daughter of James Dunlap. a painter of 
that city. ]\Ir. Funderburgh \\()rked as a 
journeyman for jMark Gantz. and also spent 
two years in the employ of Arthur Helmer. 
He then opened a shop at Tadmor. where he 
continued for four years, after which he 
went to West Charleston, where he con- 
ducted a hlacksmithing business for eleven 
years. He has carried on business at his 
present location for eighteen years, building 
here his smithy and enjoying a prosperous 
trade, his patronage steadily and constantly 
increasing as he has demonstrated his ability 
to perform the work entrusted to him. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Funderlnirgli ha\-e 
been Ijnm ten children, two of whom died 
in infancy. The others are Thomas, who is 
now driver of an engine in the fire depart- 
ment at Springfield, Ohio ; Clara, wife of 
Andy Bridges, of Troy; James, a machinist 
emjiloyed in the woolen mill at Pi(|ua ; Rosa, 
wife of Pierce ]\Iagoret, of Hufforchille, 
Ohio; Blanche, at home; A!\-ira. wife of 
Harly Davidson, of Grayson, Ohio; Gracie. 
wife of Elmer Zerkel. of Tippecanoe City ; 
and Effie. who completes the family. Both 
boys learned the blacksmith's business in 
their father's shop, but preferred to engage 
in other work. 

Mr. Funderburgh. his \v\ie and daugh- 
ters are all members of the Christian church 
at Co\e Springs. Since casting his first 
presidential \ote for Abraham Lincoln in 
1864. he has supported the Republican party, 
and has taken a deep interest in its growth 



and upbuilding. His life has been (|uietly 
passed, unmarked by any events that were 
oi a \ery exciting nature, yet characterized 
l)y the faithful performance of his (lut\' to 
his country, his neighbors and to himself. 
Such reliable citizens form the bulwark of 
the nation, and among the representative 
men of his town he well deserves mention. 



J.VMES W. HARDESTY. 

James W. Hardesty is numbered among 
the i)ioiieer settlers of Miami county and 
through many years has been connected with 
the upbuilding of Pif|ua. He is now a re- 
tired contractor, enjoying the well earned 
rest which has come to him as the merited 
compensation for years of earnest toil. A 
native of the C)\d Dominion, he was born in 
Loudoun county. \'irginia. March 6. 1824. 
His father. John Thomas Hardesty, was also 
a nati\e of \'irginia, and acted as overseer 
on extensi\e jilantations. He died when 
about sixty years of age. His wife, who 
l)ore the maiden name of Hannah A. Pal- 
mer, was also a nati\e of X'irginia. and 
li\'ed to an advanced age. dviiig in Pi(|ua, 
where she tocjk up her aljode in 1837. 

Mr. Hardesty, of this re\iew, was a 
lad of onl}' seven }-ears when his father died, 
and in the fall of 1835 he accompanied liis 
elder brother, John, to Pi(|ua. They made 
the journey with the family of Ezekiel 
Trenary. Mr. Hardesty was then only 
eleven years of age. The next spring he 
began carrying the mail between Piqua and 
Fort W ayne. Indiana, a distance of about 
one hundred miles. He made the journey 
on horseback, his way being through the 
dense wilderness, and about one week was 
reciuired to make the round trip. He also 
carried the mail for the towns of Defiance, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



561 



Sidney and Dayton for four years, and the 
last year he drove the stage to Dayton. Dur- 
ing: a pai't of the time he eagerly ax'ailed him- 
self of the opportunity to gain a more ad- 
vanced education by attending school. He 
there pursued his studies for about one year. 
After being in the mail service for four 
years, he determined to fit himself for other 
work by learning the carpenter's trade, and 
when he had completed a year's apprentice- 
ship he entered the employ of a Mr. Walkup, 
who was to pay him five dollars per month 
for his services during a year. On the ex- 
piration of that period he entered into part- 
nership with Mr. Nolan, his first employer, 
the connection being continued for two 
years. v> hen he formed a partnership with 
a Mr. Parks, and their relationship was 
maintained for a year, at the end of which 
time Mr. Hardesty began contracting and 
building alone. He was not associated with 
any one again until 1861, when he entered 
into partnership with David Spellman, and 
for twenty years the firm of Hardesty & 
Spellman engaged in general carpentering 
and contract work. They conducted a shop 
and also took contracts for the erection of 
buildings throughout this section of the 
county. Mr. Hardesty was then actively 
associated with the material development and 
improvement of the county through his 
building interests until two years ago, when 
he put aside business cares and has since 
lived retired. He has probably assisted in 
building or has taken contracts for the erec- 
tion of more houses than any other man in 
Piqua, a fact which indicates his excellent 
workmanship and his fidelity to the terms 
of contracts. He has also purchased land, 
improved and sold many properties in the 
city. 

On the 23d of November, 1847, ^^i'- 



Hardesty was married to Miss Lidia Nigh, 
who was born in Spring Creek township, 
Miami county, a daughter of Jacob and 
Orcia Ann (McCann) Nigh. Her father 
was born in Maryland, in 1800. and during 
hiis early boyhood days came to Ohio with 
his parents. He worked in a sawmill for 
many years and made his home in Pitiua 
until his death, which occurred at the age 
of eighty-one years. His wife, who was 
born in Ohio, in 1807, came with her par- 
ents to this state from. New Jersey. She 
was a consistent member of the Christian 
church and lived to 1)e about seventy-three 
years of age. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hardesty 
have been born six children, who are yet liv- 
ing: Laura, wife of John Davis, of Piqua; 
Frances, widow of Marcus Atattler; Anna, 
at home; Osborn, who is engaged in' the 
coal business in Piqua ; Jennie, wife of Will- 
iam Anderson, of the same city ; and Ger- 
trude, who is employed in a drygoods store 
in Piqua. They also lost four children. 

Mr. Hardesty votes independently at lo- 
cal elections, but at national elections sup- 
ports the principles and measures of the Re- 
publican party. He served as township 
trustee for twehe or fourteen years, proving 
a capable officer. He and his wife have 
long been members of the Baptist church, 
and he has also been a member of the Odd 
Fellows lodge of Piqua for forty-fi\'e years, 
this record being ecnialed by only one other 
member of the lodg^e. 



CHARLES O. HARDESTY. 

Charles O. Hardesty, proprietor of the 
coal and wood yard of Piqua, was born in 
the city which is still his home November 21, 
1858. He is a son of James W., whose 
sketch appears above. His boyhood days 



562 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



^\■ere spent under the parental ruof, amid 
the refining influences of a good liome and 
iri tiie puhlic schools of his nati\e city ac- 
quired his literary education. He has. how- 
e\er, added to his knowledge hy experience 
and o!)servation and is now a well in- 
formed man. As soon as he was old enough 
to work he hegan learning the carpenter's 
trade under the direction of his father, and 
<\-as employed in connection with tlie build- 
ing interests of the city until about 1890. 
when he accepted a position as salesman for 
a lumber company, with which lie pjmained 
for four years. On the expiration of that 
period, with a capital which he had acquired 
through his own well directed efforts, he 
embarked in business for himself, establish- 
ing a coal and wood yard in Piqua. He 
has since secured an excellent trade, which 
is constantly increasing, and his sales are 
now very large and bring to him a good 
financial return. 

Mr. Hardesty was married to Miss Ida 
M. Licklader. and they have two sons. Tames 
D. and Charles K. Socially ;Mr. Hardestv 
is connected with tlie Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows and with the Knights of 
Pythias fraternity. In politics he is a Re- 
publican on national questions, but at local 
elections, where no issue is involved, he votes 
for the man whom he believes to be best 
fitted for the office. He belongs to the Bap- 
tist church and is deeply and acti\ely in- 
terested in e\erything pertaining to the wel- 
fare and prosperity of the communitv. 



JAMES S. MARK. 

It is interesting in this connection to note 
the \arious nationalities represented in this 
commonwealth, and the ciiaracteristics there 
portrayed show forth in the elemental 



strength that has been found in each nation. 
Mr. Marr was born in Edinburgh. Scotland, 
December 25. 1833. and in his life has ex- 
emplified the sturtly perseverance and deter- 
mination so well known as belonging to the 
Scotch race. His parents were George and 
Mary Marr. His privileges in youth wore 
somewhat limited, for. at the age of eleven 
years, he began an apprenticeship on a 
merchant vessel and made a trip to tho West 
Indies and Nova Scotia. After a trip of 
two years and nine months he landed at Xcw 
York on the way to Charleston. South 
Carolina. There he and three others left 
the vessel at Jersey City. and. as their ap- 
prenticeship was to cover a jjeriod of four 
months and had not expired, thev hid in a 
canal boat until tho \essel on which they 
sailed had weighed anchor for the southern 
port. Mr. Marr afterward worked on the 
Delaware canal for about a year. He then 
secured employment as a farm hand in 
Bucks county, Pennsylvania, receiving for 
his services fifty dollars per year. Tlie sec- 
ond year he received one hundred and forty- 
four dollars, and continued to work as a 
farm hand in that locality until 1859, when 
he came to Lost Cro^k township. Miami 
County. There he worked by the month for 
two years, after which he spent one year in 
Elizabeth township, and then came to Staun- 
ton township, where he operated rented land 
until 1878. In that year he purchased the 
farm upon which he now resides. 

Mr. Marr was married, on the 4th of 
November, 1858, to Miss Mary J. Lacey, 
who was born in Bucks county. Pennsylva- 
nia, September 24. 1848. Her parents, 
Ckorge and Deborah (Caffey) Lacey. came 
to Casstown in 1858 and both died in that 
city. The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Marr 
has been blessed with twelve children: 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



563 



Laura, who was born October jo, 1859, died 
in infancy ; William, who was born Janu- 
ary 9. 1S60, resides in Indiana; Ellsworth, 
whi> was born August 10, 1863, and is now 
deceased ; Xora, who was born May 28, 
1865, is the wife of Lewis \'an Bargen; 
Susanna, who was born November 9, 1866, 
is the wife of George Walters; Minnie, who 
was born October 19, 1869. and is now de- 
ceased; Xellie, born February 28, 1871 ; 
David, who was born April 8. 1873, and is 
a farmer in Staunton township ; Harry, who 
was bcjrn June 6, 1876. and is a farmer of 
Staunt()n township: Bertha, who was born 
June 4, 1878. and is now deceased; Ida. 
born April 14, 1880; and one who died in 
infancy. 

The home of the family is a well-de- 
veliiped farm of eighty-seven acres on sec- 
tion 2, Staunton township. It is four and 
a half miles from Troy, and thus the city 
is of easy access. Although only a few acres 
had been cleared when Mr. Marr took pos- 
session, it is all n(jw under culti\-ation, and, 
in addition to the well-tilled fields, there is 
a good orchard which yields its fruit in se;i- 
son. He has also erected a good residence 
and substantial outbuildings. He carries 
on general farming and, since 1861, has suc- 
cessfully engaged in the growing of tobacco. 
He was one of the first to attend the Troy 
market and twice each week \isited it, kill- 
ing from six to ten hogs for sale there. He 
is very energetic and enterprising and his 
business affairs have been crowned with suc- 
cess. 

Mr. Alarr casts his ballot for the Democ- 
racy and has served as road super\-isor and 
school director, discharging his duties with 
promptness and fidelity. He and his wife are 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and are widely and favorably known in their 



community. Their circle of friends is ex- 
tensive and their home is justly celebrated 
for its gracious hospitality. Mr. Marr is 
certainly a self-made man, as his educational 
privileges were very limited and he had 
neither wealth nor influence to aid him as 
he started out in life. He has worked his 
way upward by sheer pluck and persever- 
ance, has overcome obstacles by determined 
effort, and to-day he stands among the sub- 
stantial and highly-respected citizens of the 
community, his life serving as an example 
of what may be accomplished in America 
where great opportunities lie before those 
who reallv desire advancement. 



:\I.VTTHEW E. McAIANES, M. D. 

Matthew E. J^IcManes. a worthy medical 
practitioner of Piqua, is one of the younger 
representati\es of the profession, but his 
years have been no bar to his success. He 
was born in Gabon, Crawford county, Ohio, 
and is a son of Matthew R. and Louisa 
( Haas ) McManes. His father was a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania and is now living a 
retired life in Galion, Ohio, at the age of 
seventy-five years. His mother passed away 
in 1884. The Doctor reniained under the 
parental roof during the period of his minor- 
ity and attended the common schools of 
Galion, gaining a practical English educa- 
tion, which served as a good foundation 
upon which to rear the superstructure of 
professional knowledge. Wishing to become 
a member of the medical fraternity, he began 
reading in the office and under the direc- 
tion of Dr. H. W. Todd, of GalicMi, who 
carefully guided his studies for a year. He 
then entered the Starling Medical College 
of Ohio, where he remained for two years, 
when he matriculated in the College of 



564 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Physicians and Surgeons, of Chicago. Ijeing 
graduated in that institution on the 19th of 
April. 1898. He also gained practical ex- 
perience through more than a year's service 
iii the Cook county hospital. In May, 1898, 
ho came to Pit|ua, where he has since been 
engaged in continuous practice, his business 
constantly increasing botli in volume and im- 
portance, as he has demonstrated his ability 
to handle complicated cases. The profession 
accords him a leading place in its ranks and 
his success is assured. Socially he is con- 
nected with In\incible Lodge. Xo. 176, K. 
of P., and is a popular young man, hav- 
ing many warm friends in Piqua. 



JAMES MORROW. 

James Morrow is a retired farmer of 
Washington township and one. of the most 
highly respected citizens of the community. 
He was born December 20, 1822, in the 
township so long his home, his parents being 
Richard and Frances (Clark) Morrow. The 
father was born upon the banks of the blue 
Juniata, in Perry county, Pennsyhania, and, 
with his brother, he emigrated to Ohio in 
1814, thus becoming one of the pioneer set- 
tlers of the state. ' He entered land in A\'ash- 
ington township, Miami county, and for 
fifty years was connected with its agricult- 
ural pursuits, spending the entire half cen- 
tury upon that farm, where his death oc- 
curred in ]\Iay, 1864. Their children were 
Robert Alexander and Hugh C, both de- 
ceased ; James, of this review ; IMilton and 
AMlliam, who liave passed away; and An- 
drew -Mitchell, of Washington township. 
In the common schools he obtained a good 
education and in youth he learned the black- 
smith's trade. l)ut never followed it. He made 
farming his life work, and by his careful 



management and untiring industry he se- 
cured a comfortable competence that now 
enables him to rest in the enjoyment of the 
fruits of his former toil. 

Mr. Morrow was married. March 16, 
1847, to Miss Xancy \'an Emon. and for 
almost a half century they traveled life's 
journey together, but in 1895 were separa- 
ted by death, his wife being called to the 
home beyond. In their family were five chil- 
dren : John William; Charles Anderson; 
Richard Edwin: Frances Jane, wife of 
Charles Munger; and Mary Belle, wife of 
Emanuel Dagenhart. The father of this 
family is a devout member of the Presby- 
terian church, of Piqua, with which he has 
long been connected, taking an active jjart 
i:i its work. In }-ears past he serxed as 
choir leader. In politics he has long been 
a stanch Republican, gi\ing his indexible 
support to the measures of the party. His 
life has been quietly and honorably passed, 
and he is highly esteemed by all who know 
him for his sterling worth. 



JACOB A. DAVY. 

It is always pleasant to write of men who 
have been successful in life by \irtue <if then" 
own industry, energy and perseverance, who 
started poor and comparatively frientUess, 
and have won for themselves a competent 
and honorable standing among their fellow 
men. Jacob A. Da\y was born on the 26th 
day of October, 1854. in Delaware county, 
Ohio. In 1 86 1 his parents moved to Mt. 
\^ernon, Knox county, where they remained 
seven years. In 1868 they came to ^liami 
county and located on a farm in Elizabeth 
township. The father, Henry D. Davy, was 
born in Tuscarawas county, Ohio, in 181 1, 
and died in September, 1895, at the ripe t)ld 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



565 



age of eighty-four years. He was of Eng- 
lish ancestry. His father emigrated to Phil- 
adelphia in 1806. Henry D. Da\y was a 
prominent minister of the German Baptist 
church, and chairman of the executive com- 
mittee and moderator of the annual confer- 
ence for twenty years. His wife, the mother 
of our suhject, was Catharine Bosteter, who 
was born near Frederick City, Maryland, 
in 1 82 1. She was married to Henry D. 
Davy on November 17, 1850, and died in 
February, 1896. They reared ten children, 
all living; four of tlieir sons were in the 
army of the Uni(.)n in the late reljellion. 

W'liile li\ing in ]Mt. Vernon, Jacol) A. 
Davy attended the public schools in that 
city, and when he remo\-ed to Miami county 
he attended the country scIukjIs in the win- 
ter and worked on the farm in the spring, 
summer and autumn. After attaining his 
majority he followed farming as an occu- 
pation until he commenced the study of law, 
in Troy, on the 19th day of August, 1879, 
in the office of Theodore Sullivan, at pres- 
ent circuit judge, and M. B. Earnhart, who 
is now police judge in the city of Columbus. 
He arterward attended the Cincinnati Law 
School and was graduated there in the class 
of 1881. 

In March, 1882, Mr. Davy opened a 
law office in Troy, has devoted himself to 
the profession of law up to the present date, 
and now has a lucrative and growing prac- 
tice. In the early years of his practice, be- 
ing conscious of the defects of his early edu- 
cation, he took a literary and scientific course 
of reading, during which he regularly re- 
cited to a gentleman noted for his attain- 
ments as a scholar. It is needless to say 
that such a course added to his qualifications 
as a lawyer, and to his reputation as a cul- 
tured, educated gentleman, and he now has 



in his home a fine selected librar\- of law 
books, also a good library of literary books. 
As a practitioner he is devoted to the cause 
of his clients, watchful of their interests, and 
always prepares his cases well for the court 
and jurv. 

He is an earnest Republican, but nexer 
an office-seeker. In 1892 he was chairman 
of the Republican central committee, and 
largely as a result of his energy and good 
judgment, Miami county gave a majority 
of eight hundred and thirty-nine for Benja- 
min Harrison, notwithstanding the strange 
and remarkable pdlitical change that made 
1892 noted in the political history of this 
republic. One of the leading papers of 
Troy paid him this handsome compliment : 
"Harrison's majority over Clexeland is 
eight huntlred and thirty-nine. Under the 
circumstances this is a handsome majority 
for old Miami, and in itself .is an eulogy for 
the faithful and able work of the central 
committee and its efficient chairman. When 
we consider the failure, the signal and dis- 
astrous failure, of almost every county of 
the state to bring out the Repulslican 
strength, it must be conceded that Miami is 
second to none in the ability, vim and vigor 
of her Republican hustlers." 

J. A. Davy was married, in Picjua, Ohio, 
on the 4th day of February, 1886, to Miss 
Gertrude Edith Mitchell, who was born near 
Fletcher, this county, in 1864. Her father, 
John Mitchell, is a retired farmer and capi- 
talist, who was born December 25, 1822, in 
Greene county, Pennsylvania, and liy his in- 
dustry has accumulated a handsome compe- 
tency. He has three hundred and twenty- 
nine acres of land in this county, and a large 
amount of personal property. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Henrietta Simmons, in Fletch- 
er, in 1855. She was a daughter of William 



560 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



T. and Margaret Simmons. Mr. Jolm 
Mitchell and wife have but two children 
living: Mrs. Mary E. Spencer, of Piqua. 
Ohio, and Mrs. Gertrude E. Daw. 

Mrs. Davy is an accomplished lady and 
a prominent and cultured musician. She 
has a clear, sweet, soprano voice, trained 
under the able instruction of Professor 
Blume.ischine. Dayton. Ohio, and other 
promincat teachers of music. ]\Ir. Davy is 
now in the prime of manhood, and has be- 
fore him a pleasant and prosperous future. 
Tiie past has had its dark days, but with his 
energy and perseverance he has outridden 
the storm and is now living in the sunshine 
of prosperity. He is professionally and 
financially responsible for all that he under- 
takes. E. s. \v. 



WILLIAM COOK ROGERS. 

The name of few families have been 
longer or more honorably identified with the 
history of the nation than that of Rogers. 
Since an early epoch in colonial days its 
representatives have resided in America and 
have been prominent factors in public affairs 
which have contributed to the welfare and 
progress of the communities which they hax'e 
represented. "The proper studv of man- 
kind is man." said Pope, and aside from this, 
in its broader sense, what base of study and 
information have we? Genealogical re- 
search, then, has its value, and we of this 
end-of-the-century democratic type cannot 
afford to hold in light esteem the bearing up 
of a scutcheon upon whose fair face appears 
no sign of blot: and he should thus be the 
more honored who honors a noble name. 

The lineage of the subject of this re\iew 
is one of the most distinguished and inter- 
esting order, and no apology need be made 



in re\-erting in this connection to the in- 
dividual accomplishments of the subject 
himself. 

When the Mayflower brought its little 
band of Puritans to the rock-bound coast of 
New England the original American ances- 
tors of the Rogers family were among the 
number. 

In England, the ancestry can be traced 
back to Bishop John Rogecs. who was the 
first martyr of Queen Marv's reign, being 
burned at the stake in London, February 14, 
1554, on account of his adherence to the 
Protestant faith. The Rev. Ammi Rogers 
was of this family, as was James Rogers, 
the great-grandfather of Mrs. Grover Cleve- 
land, who was a brother of Major ^^'illiam 
Rogers, the grandfather of the subject of 
this sketch. General Th?mas Rogers, and 
the late Mrs. John M. Francis, of Albany, 
Xew York, wife of our former Russian 
minister, were also near of kin. 

Judge \\'illiam Rogers, the great-grand- 
father of I\Ir. •WilKai,. Cook Rogers, was 
a pioneer of Wayne county, Xew York, tlien 
Ontario, locating there in 1792, on his re- 
moval from Richmond, Rhode Island. For 
many years he was judp;e of the court of 
Ontario county, and was a prominent mem- 
ber of the state assembly. He was twice 
married, his first union being with Ruth 
Hayward, and his second with Mrs. Cyn- 
thia Dennison Rogers, widow of James 
Rogers. Major \\'illiam Rogers, his son 
and the grandfather of our subject, was born 
at Richmond, Rhode Island, Mav 16, 1779, 
and died at Williamson, X'ew York, on the 
10th of January, 1865, at the ripe age of 
eighty-six years. He married Hannah Sel- 
bv, t)f East Haddam. Connecticut. During 
the war of 181 2 he held the rank of major, 
and as such commanded a battalion in de- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



567 



feiise of northern New York, his special 
(kity heing to protect Puhneyville and Sodus 
against in\asi(in liy th5 British. He was a 
strong and influential citizen, prominent in 
all puhlic matters, and in its prosperous days 
he was ciM:necto:l with the packet Enterprise 
in the Erie canal. Of strong convictions 
and fearless character, he was ever zealous 
in hehall of the right and labored constantly 
to,ad\-ance the moral and material develop- 
ment of that part nf the Empire state^ An 
earnest Christian, of unfailing integritv, 
throughiuit his long life he enjoyed the high 
esteem and unhounded confidence of all, and 
his life illustrated the character of a stead- 
fast Christian gentleman. 

Hon. William Ha_\\vard Rogers, the 
father of the gentleman wb.ose namo heads 
this review, was horn at Williamson, New 
York, Nox-ember 5. 1813. and died July 8, 
1895, '^^^ '^'is ^S^ 'jf eighty-tw(j years. He 
was an old-line Whig in his early political- 
affiliations, and aftorwarcl became a stanch 
Republican. He was recognized as a prom- 
inent citizen of Wa\-ne countx* and northern 
Xew York, ])eing a leader in public thought 
and opinion. In 1865-6 he represented his 
district in the stato legislature. His wife 
was Mary Canjline Cook. She was born in 
Sodus, \\'ayne county. New York. Alay 12, 
1839. and was a daughter of Dr. William 
Darby Cook, a resident of Scdi:s and a 
native of Genesee county. Her mother, 
Caroline M. Cook, was a daughter of Gen- 
eral Jaspor anil Ann (Egbert) Ward, and a 
granddaughter of General Stephen and Ruth 
( Gedney ) ^^'ard. Stephen Ward was born 
February 21. 1730. and was a prominent and 
influential worker in the public affairs of the 
statQ. He served as a member of the New 
York provincial congress, of 1775-6, of the 
provincial convention, April 20, 1775, of the 



New York assembly in 1778-9, and of the 
state .senate from 1779 to 1787. He was 
also a member of the council of appoint- 
ments, in 1780, and was one of the com- 
mittee of safety of Westchester county. His 
great-grandfather, Andrew Ward, was a 
magistrate of the Connecticut colonv, in 
1636, and was ijue of the six who ordered 
the Pequod war, lieing an active assistant 
of the governor at the time of hostilities 
with the Indians. 

\Villiani Cook Rogers, whose ancestors 
we ha\e been thus briefly rex'iewing, was 
born in Williamson,- Wayne county. New 
York. April 4, iS()7. He obtained his edu- 
cation in the high school of tiiat city, and 
after his graduation pursued a commercial 
course in Philadelphia, where he began his 
business career in connection with a large 
hardware and manufacturing firm. Here 
he remained until 1892, when he came to 
Pitjua, where he became a director and, 
later, vice-]5resident of the Piqua Handle & 
Manufacturing Company, manufactures of 
wooden wares, and has been an acti\'e factor 
in the successful promotion of this business, 
and is also interested in other enterprises of 
this cit\'. He is a representati\'e American 
business man, possessed of great energy, 
industry, of keen discrimination and sound 
judgment. Intelligent and enterprising, he 
is quick to note and utilize opportunities, 
and his well-merited success is due to these 
qualities. With strict regard for the ethics 
of commercial life he has commanded the 
respect and confidence of his fellow men, 
and has been able to attain a commanding 
positio.- in commercial circles. In politics 
he is a stanch Republican, unswerving in 
his advocacy of the principles of the partv, 
yet he has never sought nor desired political 
preferment. His attention is largely taken 



568 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



up with liis extensi\e business interests, and 
his leisure liours are devoted to the enjoy- 
ment of tlie pleasures of his own fireside-. 
He and his wife are active and zealous mem- 
bers of the Episcopal church, and their homo 
is the center of a cultured society circle. 
Thev have one child. Eleanor Margaret. 

He was married on the 25th of January, 
1893, in Philadelphia, to Margaret Doug- 
las, a daughter of Robert L. and Margaret 
(Drake) Douglas, then of that city. l)ut 
formerly residents of Cincinnati. Ohio, her 
father being a prominent insurance man of 
that state, the founder, and for many years 
president, of the National Life Underwrit- 
ers' Assiiciation, organized in that city. In 
1887 he removed to Philadelphia to become 
manager of the Provident Sa\-ings Life As- 
surance Society, and in 1899 to Lidianapo- 
Hs, Indiana, where he was made a vice-pres- 
ident of the Interstate Life Assurance Com- 
pany. His early home was at Trenton, 
New York, and he is a descendant of a \ery 
ancient Scotch family, whose long line of 
earls include the famous James, earl of 
Douglas, or the "Black Douglas," as he is 
best known in history. Royal blood was in- 
troduced into this family by the marriage 
of one of the line with the Princess Mar- 
garet, daughter of King Robert III, of Scot- 
land. Mrs. Rogers comes of Revolutionary 
stock on both her father's and mother's side, 
her mother, w ho was Margaret Drake, being 
the daughter of Daniel S. Drake, a promi- 
nent and wealthy resident of ]\Iarion county, 
Ohio, and one of the family of which Ad- 
miral Sir Francis Drake was an ancestor. 
Mrs. Rogers was educated in Cincinnati and 
Philadelphia, completing her education in 
the I'hiladelphia Seminary, and is a lady of 
scholarly attainments, recognized as a leader 
in the literary circles of Piqua. That city 



is famed as one of the foremost in the state 
along the line of women's club organization, 
and Mrs. Rogers has been prominent and 
active in the work, having organized the 
Town and Coimtry Club, one of the first of 
its kind in this country. In 1893 she pub- 
lished a volume of her own poems, indicating 
high talent, and which met with most flat- 
tering reviews. She has put in poetic form 
some of the many Indian legends which 
have been handed down through generations 
from the red race that once lived in this 
section of the country. It is with pleasure 
that we present one of these poems to the 
readers of this volume, as' indicative of the 
literary accomplishments of the county, as 
well as the talent possessed by Mrs. Rogers. 
The following is called "Talawanda — -A 
Legend of the Miami." The part of the 
river chosen by Talawanda for her fatal 
plunge is in the town of Piqua. 

TALAWANDA. 

A legend of the Miami. 

On a bank of the Miami 

(Gently flowing, lovely water), 
Lived there once an Indian maiden, 

Of a chief the cherished daughter; 
Like she was unto her father, 

Far-famed chieftain of the Shawnees, 
Famed for mighty deeds of valor 

In his conquest with the Maumees. 

Lovely was the Indian maiden, 

Noted for her grace and beauty, 
And her skill in basket weaving. 

And her deeds of loving duty; 
And when swift she flew to meet him. 

Glad the chief was in his daughter, 
And he called her Talawanda, — 

Talawanda — Windmg Water. 

And her eyes like mighty arrows 

Smote each young brave's heart and wounded. 
And with one accord they loved her; 

Far and near her praises sounded; 



GENEALOGICAL AMD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



569 



But the heart of Talawanda 
Was as stone was to their arrows — 

All their love thrusts darted backward, 
Tortured them like toothed harrows. 

Then there came imto the waters, 

All their mystic charm beholding, 
Soldiers skilled in mighty warfare, 

Peacefully their tents unfolding. 
And they traded with the Indians, 

Traded for their skins and horses. 
And the red men met them kindly — 

Welcomed all the neighboring forces. 

But among the pale-faced warriors. 

One there was of kingly graces. 
Noble brow, and eyes like sunshine, — 

Handsomest of all pale faces; 
And the heart of Talawanda 

Melted 'neath those eyes of sunshine, 
And the brave pale face to her was 

As the tree is to the woodbine, 

As the clay is to the potter, 

So her heart was to her lover. 
When he vowed his faith eternal 

By the sun and moon above her; 
And the eyes of Talawanda 

Shone like stars as to his pleading 
She gave ear, and promised truly 

She would follow at his leading. 

But one morning Talawanda 

Woke to find their camp forsaken; 
All the neighboring pale-faced warriors 

In the night their flight had taken. 
And the heart of Talawanda 

Broke, and knew no more consoling; 
Ne'er was heard her merry laughter, 

.And her grief knew no controlling. 

Then uprose the tribe of Shawnees, 

By her chieftain father headed, 
Vowing vengeance on the soldiers 

For the maiden left unwedded; 
And they massacred the white men, 

Left not one of all their number. 
Left them lying where they'd fallen. 

Wrapped in Death's long, heavy slumber. 

But ere they the deed accomplished, 

Talawanda, Winding Water, 
Loveliest of all the maidens. 

Still the chieftain's cherished daughter. 
Rose and sought the smooth Miami, 

Paddled o'er its surface shining, 
And she plunged into its bosom, 

Buried there her grief and pining. 



Then arose her chieftain father. 

When, returning on the morrow, 
Gathered many squaws around him 

Wailing forth the tale of sorrow; 
And with hand out-stretched in warning. 

And with eyes and nostrils swelling, 
" Cursed," he cried, " be every pale-face 

Who shall on these banks find dwelling!" 

Thus the legend of Miami — 

Gently flowing, lovely river — 
Thus the tale its bosom carries, 

Where the sun and moonbeams quiver; 
Thus the old chief called for vengeance 

For the death of his loved daughter. 
Thus the tale of Talawanda, 

Talawanda — Winding Water. 



PHILIP A. KUHXLE. 

The stiifdy German element in our na- 
tional commonwealth has been one of the 
most important in furthering the substantial 
and normal advancement of the country, 
and the perseverance and determination so 
characteristic of the race have brought to 
many of its citizens creditable success in the 
affairs of life. Mr. Kuhnle is numbered 
among the nati\e sons of the Fatherland, 
his liirth having occurred in W'urtemburg, 
Germany, on the i8th of .\pril, 1854. He 
is a son of Philip A. and Margaret (Sches- 
ter) Kuhnle, and in 1855 he was brought 
to America by his parents, the voyage of 
forty-two days being ended when anchor 
was dropped in the harbor of New Orleans. 
The father and his family made their way 
up the Mississippi river and on to Ohio, and, 
after a few months spent in Cincinnati, took 
up their abode on a farm in Montgomery 
county, where the parents spent their remain- 
ing days. 

Mr. Kuhnle was there reared on a farm 
and at the age of twelve years he began earn- 
ing his own livelihood, being employed as 
a farm hand by the month. He A\as thus 



570 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



engaged until lie liad attained his majority. 
On the 15th of March, 1879, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Eiizaheth Simons, 
and til them have heen born eiglit children: 
Calvin I, Dora, Harry, Clara. Ruth. Mar- 
garet, Hazel and Mabel. 

In 1885 Mr. Kuhnle came to Miami 
county, locating in Monrtje township, where 
iio followed farming for five years. On the 
expiration of that period he took up his 
abode in Elizabeth township, where he lived 
for six years, after which he located upon 
a farm which is now his home. It consists 
of a tract of sixty acres on section i, Staun- 
ton township, and here ho carries on general 
farming, also raises garden vegetables for 
the citv markets. His marked industry in 
the active affairs of life ha\e been the means 
of bringing to him a comfortablo compe- 
tence. He certainly deser\"es the proud 
American title of the self-made man and 
merits the credit of those who are forced 
depend entirely upon their own efforts in 
early youth, and who wrest fortune from 
the hands of an adverse fate. He gives his 
political support to the Democracy, and in 
1896 he served as road supervisor. He is 
a member of the Lutheran church and is a 
man whose well known probity and integrity 
of charactC'r commands the respect and con- 
fidence of those with whom he comes in 
contact. 



CLAR.V BELLE BRUM P. 

The schools of Tippecanoe Citv are cer- 
tainly greatly indebted to Miss Brump for 
their marked advancement and the thorough- 
noss and efficiency of the work done therein. 
She has spent her entire life here and has 
long been identified with the educational in- 
terests. Her parents were Joseph and 



Susan (Weaver) Brump. The father was 
born in I'ennsylvania and in early life 
learned the tailor's trade. He removed to 
\\'ost Charleston, Ohio, and was there mar- 
ried to Miss Susan Weaver, daughter of 
Peter and Jane Weaver. Susan Weaver, 
the druighter, was married at an early age 
and afterward resided in West Charleston 
for many \-ears. She later became a resi- 
dent of Tippecanoe City and is still living, 
in her eightieth year. During- the last six- 
teen years of his life Mr. Brump held the 
office of street commissioner in Ti|)pecanoe 
Citv. and died in JS94, in his eightv-first 
year. In the family were se\en children, 
all of whom are living. 

Clara Belle Brump. \\hose name intro- 
duces this re\'iew, was educated in the 
schools of Tippecanoe City and at an early 
age began teaching, to which work she has 
devoted her energies for nearly thirty years. 
Diu-ing the periods of vacation she has fre- 
quently attended normal schools, county in- 
stitutes and state associations, thtis further 
pre])aring herself for her chosen wi.irk. I'ky 
twenty-se\en years she has been connected 
with the schools of Tippecanoe Cit%-, and has 
contributed in a very large measure to their 
efficiencv. She has annuallv visited other 
schools and has not, as so many do. Ijecomo 
content to follow certain plans and methods 
of work, but is ci>ntinually alive to the in- 
fluences of progress and makes a close study 
of the Ijest methods for improving her work. 
She is a member of both local and state 
teachers" associations and is wideb" recog- 
nized as a most successful educator, having 
the ability to impart clearly and readily to 
others the knowledge she has acquired, and 
also of maintaining discipline. She is a 
member of the Progress Club, a literary 
society. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



571 



For many years Miss Bruinp has tauglit 
tlie primary dC'partment of the Lutheran 
Sunday-school, and it is a pleasing sight to 
watch the intense interest with which the 
litlle ones listen to her interpretation of the 
great truths and lessons of Christianity. 
Sho is also actix'e in the various church 
societies, in mission work, and in fact is the 
advocate of progress, reform and improve- 
ment along all social, intellectual and moral 
lines. Since the organization of the Orien- 
tal Rehekah Lodge of the Independent Or- 
der of Odd Fellows, in Tippecanoe City, 
she has served as its financial secretary. 
Her true womanly qualities, courteous and 
kindly manner, combined with unfailing 
sympathy, have won for her the marked 
regard of all with whom she has been 
brought in contact, and many of her pupils 
entertain for her the warmest friendship 
and resi)ect. 



JUDGE ARTHUR L. McKLXNEY. 

Eighty years of life is a brief span in 
all the years of time; yet, as measured by 
human existence and the march of events, 
it is a long life. It has been truly said that 
the past one hundred years have witnessed 
more triumphs of the human mind, more 
progress of human de\'elopment, than one 
thousand years preceding the dawn of the 
century that will pass at the close of 1900. 

Arthur L. AIcKinney was born in Mad 
River township, Clark county, September 
16, 1819, in a log house. Here he lived 
until ten years of age, when his father moved 
to Montgomery county, Indiana. By hard 
work his father had accumulated enough to 
purchase a farm of forty acres near Enon, 
Clark county, which he sold at seven dol- 
lars an acre in 1829. The same land is now 
33 



worth eighty dollars an acre. In Indiana 
he purchased from the government one hun- 
dred and twenty acres thirteen miles north- 
west of Crawfordsville. That countrv was 
then the "far west," and it was there that 
our subject received his knowledge of early 
pioneer life. His father, in addition to 
being a backwoods farmer, was also a "back- 
woods" preacher, said to be one of the ablest 
in the Western Indiana conference. 

He was married. March 7, 1841, to 
]\Iaria AIcFall, daughter of John and Eliza- 
beth (^McGregor) AIcFall, of Wilmington, 
Ohio. They were the parents of eight chil- 
dren, four of wdiom are living: Laurena, 
widow of \\'illiam H. Northcutt, wdio was 
the patentee of the Northcutt system of 
street and sidewalk paving; John AT; Lillie, 
wife of Z. T. Dorman, of Greenville, Ohio; 
and Margaret, wife of Hiram Tulian, of In- 
dianapolis, Indiana. 

In 1843 A. L. AIcKinney was ordained 
a minister of the Christian church of the 
Western Indiana conference. Feeling the 
need of education, as a student he bravely 
entered Wabash College, w'here he remained 
for fi\j years, maintaining himself and fam- 
ily by preaching and teaching, neither of 
■which afforded much of an income. In 
1853 he was elected by the trustees of An- 
tioch College a member of the faculty, and 
removed to Yellow Springs, Ohio, the seat 
of that institution of learning, the same }xar, 
and was a teacher there for two years. In 
1856 he wrote the memoirs of Elder Isaac 
N. Walter, one of the ablest and most elo- 
quent ministers in the Christian denomina- 
tion at the time of his death. In 1857 he 
moved to Troy and organized the Troy 
Christian church, which now numbers over 
four hundred members. He remained pas- 
tor of that church until he was commissioned 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



captain and chaplain in the Seventy-first 
Ohio Vokmteer Infantry. March 22, 1862. 
P"or three years he remained with the regi- 
ment, \vhe>n he was mustered out. at New 
^Market, east Tennessee, on tlie 22d day of 
March, 1865. by reason of the expiration 
of his term of service. 

He returned to Troy and tlie following 
year was elected treasurer of the county, 
and in 1868 was re-elected, thus serving 
four years. In 1871 ho was chosen the pub- 
lishing agent of the Christian Publishing 
House, in Dayton, in which position he re- 
mained one year, at Dayton. In 1872 he 
was elected tho i)robate judge of Miami 
ciiunty, and in, 1875 was re-elected, and thus 
he served the people six years. On the ex- 
piration of his last term in tliis capacity he 
engageil in the jjractice of law. although of 
an age whon other men most generally re- 
tire. In April. 1894, he was elected the 
mayor of Troy, and is now serving his third 
term in this office. 

This sketch would not be complete with- 
out referring to the Masonic history of our 
subject. He was made a Mason in Decem- 
1)er. 1846. at Thorntown, Indiana. In 1852 
he receiveil the degrees of the Royal Arch 
chapter at Attica, Indiana; the council de- 
grees he received in Troy, Ohio, in 1857. 
and the commandery degrees of Knights 
Templar in Reed Commandery, at Dayton, 
Ohio, in 1866. In 1891 he received the 
Scottisli-rite degrees, in the Cincinnati Con- 
sistory. He has filled all the offices in Mas- 
ter Masonry, chapter, council and com- 
mandery, serving as principal sojourner for 
twenty-eight years. He is regarded as one 
of the brightest Masons in southern Ohio. 

This short sketch shows that Judge Mc- 
Kinney has been one of life's toilers, and 
that for him there has been no cessation in 



life's battle. Born and reared amid the 
hardships of pioneer life, he has from earlv 
boyhood to a ripe old age been a constant 
worker. Under difficulties that would dis- 
may the stoutest heart he ac(|uire;l a good 
classical education, and amid all his work he 
found time to write several books for the 
people and the church. In the prime of his 
manhood he was a skilled debater and met 
the rough but forcible Denton on his own 
platform in 1856 and gave the cham])ion of 
infidelity a complete drubbing. He has been 
honored by the citizens of Miami county; 
he lias been honored by his church ; he has 
been honored by the "brethren of the mystic 
tie," and he has been honored in his old age 
by the citizens of Troy. 

In this sketch we have nrit tiiuchcd ujjon 
his characteristics as a man, nor analyzed his 
ability as a speaker or a writer, nor have 
we portrayed the trials or sorrows of his life. 
Thousands of interesting points in his career 
could be related, but we ha\'e not iiere the 
space even to begin such a pleasant task. 
In general, however, we can say with em- 
phasis that he nears the farther shore of 
life with a conscience at peace and with re- 
lations of peace with all the workl. 



ABRA^I G. LICKLIDER. 

Among the leading and successful farm- 
ers of Washington township none stand 
higher in public esteem than the gentleman 
whose name introduces this sketch. He is 
of German descent and traces his ancestry 
back to Conrad Licklider, who was born in 
the Fatherland, and on his emigration to the 
new world settled near Fredericksburg, 
Maryland, where he married. Subsequently 
he removed to Virginia, and owned a planta- 
tion near Shepherdstown and also had many 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



573 



slaves. He died there in tlie '40s, at the 
zgt of eighty-four years. Of his children, 
Jacob was a resident of Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, and died three miles south of Day- 
ton ; Adam was a saddler and harnessmaker 
of Shepherdstown, Virginia, where he died; 
Susan died in the same place ; Daniel was the 
grandfather of our subject ; George died in 
]\lissouri ; Barbara died in Shepherdstown, 
\'irginia; Lewis died in Missouri, and 
Thomas li\-ed for a time in Logan county, 
Ohio, later in Piqua, and finally removed 
to Missouri, where it is supposed he still re- 
sides. 

Daniel Licklider, grandfather of our 
suljject, was born in Maryland, but mostly 
reared in Virginia. In 1812 or 181 3 he and 
his bnjther, Jacob, came to Montgomery 
county, Ohio, their father having purchased 
each of them a farm in Dayton township. 
Later he paid a visit to relatives in Ken- 
tucky, and while there met the young lady 
who afterward became his wife. She was 
Miss Elizabeth Giltner, daughter of Abra- 
ham Giltner, and a native of Bourbon coun- 
ty, born between Lexington and Paris. In 
1833 Daniel Licklider removed to Washing- 
ton township, Miami county, where he and 
the father of our subject bought a quarter- 
section of land, and he located upon the 
eighty acres now owned by our subject. 
He died there in January, 1867, and his wife 
departed this life in January, 1868. They 
had three children : Abraham, who was 
killed by a falling hickory limb at the age 
of four years; Margaret, who died at the age 
of nine, and Conrad, father of our subject. 

Conrad Licklider was born on the old 
homestead in Dayton township, Montgom- 
ery county, November 22, 1821, and was 
twelve years of age when he came to this 
countv with his father. On the nth of 



February, 1841, he married Christophene 
Eckert, who was born in Pittsburg, Penn- 
sylvania, June 6, 1822, a daughter of Chris- 
topher and Jane (Boles) Eckert. Her fa- 
ther was a native of Germany and was a 
young man wheai he came to the United 
States. He was married in Chambersburg, 
Pennsylvania, and soon afterward started 
for one of the southern states. They took 
a boat at Pittsburg, but it became fastened in 
the ice. Mr. Eckert and two other pas- 
sengers decided to return to land on the sled 
which was sent to the boat with provisions, 
but the ice broke and all were drowned, "his 
being the only body recovered. Mrs. Eckert 
returned to Pittsburg, where she remained 
for a short time and while there gave birth 
to a daughter, who afterward became Mrs. 
Licklider. Later she married Daniel Lazier 
and came to Whitewater, Ohio, where her 
second husband died. Subsequently she re- 
mo\-ed to Piqua. and there married a Mr. 
Wagoneck. For many years Conrad Lick- 
lider engaged in farming, but 'since 1893 
has lived a retired life in Piqua. He held 
the office of assessor for twenty years, and 
is widely and favorably known. Our sub- 
ject, Abram G., is the eldest of his three 
children. Daniel Franklin, the second son, 
married Callie Drake, and they ha\e two 
children : Daniel S. and Robert D. The 
former is a farmer by occupation and mar- 
ried Dora Rush, by whom he has three chil- 
dren : Mabel, Roy and Ralph. Robert D. 
is studying for the ministry. George W., 
the youngest son of Conrad, married Louisa 
Cathcart, and they ha\-e one child, John C, 
who is a farmer. 

Abram G. Licklider, our subject, was 
born in Piqua, Ohio, November 3, 1841, 
and laid the foundation of a good, practical 
education in the public schools. At the age 



574 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of eleven years he removed with his parents 
to the old home farm in Washington town- 
ship, and later attended the Brown school 
and also the Piqna high school, graduating 
from the latter at the age of twenty-one. 
On the 20th of October, 1864, he was united 
in marriage with Miss Rachel Irvin, who 
was born in Shelby county, Ohio, July 18, 
1844, antl they have become the parents of 
four children: A. Lincoln, who was born 
July 26, 1865, and married Osa B. Rollin; 
Retta May, born May 10, 1868; Lillie B., 
born November 3, 1870, and Asa Ashton, 
born November 30, 1876. 

After his marriage Mr. Licklider lo- 
cated upon his present farm of eighty acres 
in Washington township, and has since suc- 
cessfully engaged in general farming and 
stock raising. He is a thorough business 
man, practical, progressive and enterprising, 
and has made many improvements upon his 
farm, including the erection of good build- 
ings. He is one of the highly esteemed citi- 
zens of his community, is courteous, hos- 
pitable, upright and honorable, and a sup- 
porter of higher education. He and his 
family are members of Grace Alethodist 
Episcopal church, of Picjua, of which he is 
a trustee, and is the only living charter mem- 
ber of that church. Although he has never 
practiced law, he possesses considerable 
knowledge along that line, and has been 
called upon to settle as many, if not more, 
estates than any other man in Ohio. Po- 
litically he is a strong Republican. 



LEVI S\\"ITZER. 

Levi Switzer is a retired farmer whose 
well-directed efforts in former years now en- 
able him to put asitle the more arduous du- 
ties of business life. He was born in York 



county, Pennsylvania, October 22, 1837, his 
parents being William and Elizabeth 
(Cunkle) Switzer, both of whom were na- 
tives of the Kej'stone state, the former of 
York county and the latter of Cumberland 
count}'. The Switzer family is of German 
lineage and the paternal grandfather of our 
subject was a pensioner of the war of 1812. 
He died at the home of his son, William, 
at the advanced age of eighty-eight years. 
Tlie latter was married in his native county 
and in the spring of 1853 removed with 
his family to Clark county, Ohio, where he 
lived for more than a year, when he came 
to Miami count)', locating on a farm near 
Pleasant Hill, in Newton township. There 
both he and his wife died, the latter at the 
age of sixty-eight and the former at the 
age of eighty-seven. They had a family of 
eight children, of whom six are living. 
The}' were named as follows : Samuel, ]\lary, 
Catherine, Le\i, Eliza, Jacob, Caroline and 
Sarah. Those now deceased are Samuel, 
Eliza and Caroline. The others all reside 
in Miami county. 

^Ir. Switzer, whose name begins this 
record, obtained his education in the public 
schools of the Keystone state and of Ohio. 
When twenty years of age he started out 
upon an independent business career, op- 
erating a rented farm. He continued to en- 
gage in the cultivation of rented land until 
1885, although in the meantime he had 
previously bought and sold two farms. In 
the year mentioned he purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty-six acres of land in Concord 
township and still has that property, which 
is now being cultivated by his youngest son. 
It is a highly improved and valuable farm. 
Mr. Switzer was an enterprising and pro- 
gressive agriculturist, who followed sys- 
tematic business methods, and bv his marked 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



575 



industry, careful management and honorable 
dealing secure<l a handsome competence. 

During the civil war Mr. Switzer mani- 
fested his loyalty to the government and 
his fidelity to the Union cause by enlisting 
in the One Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio 
Infantry, for one hundred days' service. 
The regiment was stationed at Arlington 
Heights in order to defend the city of Wash- 
ington. After his return he resumed farm- 
ing. On the 2 1st of January, 1869, he 
ch.ose as a companion and helpmeet on life's 
journey, Miss Sallie Ziegler, who was born 
in 1840, in Cumberland county, Pennsyl- 
vania, where the marriage was celebrated. 
They now ha\e two sons, Jesse Montgomery 
and Edward L. The former occupies a 
lucrative position in the office of the National 
Cash Registry Company, at Dayton. He 
married Miss Margaret W'hyte, of that city, 
and has twins, Reed and Ruth, who are 
about two years of age. Edward L. Switzer 
married Bertha Wilson and they have a little 
son, named Wilson Lee. Edward Switzer 
lives on the home farm in Concord township. 
Mr. Switzer and his wife occupy a very 
pleasant residence in Troy. The family are 
all church members, Mr. and Mrs. Switzer 
belonging to the Lutheran church, in which 
he has served as an elder, while Jesse M. is a 
member of the Presbyterian church, and Ed- 
ward L. is a member of the Christian church. 
In his political views our subject is a Republi- 
can, but has never been an aspirant for 
office. The cause of education finds in him 
a warm friend, and through many years' 
service on the school board he has done ef- 
fective work in its interest. For about 
thirty-five years he has been connected with 
the Masonic fraternity, holding membership 
in Pleasant Hill Lodge, Xo. 361, F. & A. 
M. Such in brief is the life history of one 



of the most reliable and substantial citizens 
of Miami county, a man whose upright 
career has gained him the confidence of all 
with whom he has been associated in busi- 
ness or private life. 



H. H. COPPOCK. 

The student of history in learning of the 
early development of Ohio soon finds that 
the Coppock family has long been prominent 
in connection with the improvement and 
progress of this section of the state. Jona- 
than C. the grandfather of our subject, was 
a nati\e of South Carolina and after his mar- 
riage sought a home upon the wild western 
frontier. ^^laking his way to this state he 
located in L'nion township, Miami county, 
and made a claim of go\-ernment land, com- 
prising one hundred and sixty acres, includ- 
ing the present site of Ludlow Falls. There 
he erected a log cabin and began life in true 
pioneer stvle. improving his farm year by 
year and securing- good harvests as the re- 
ward of his lalior. He was a member of the 
Society of Friends and died in that faith in 
1815. His son, Joseph Coppock, was born 
in L'nion township, in 1812, and was one of 
two children, his sister being Sarah Cop- 
pock. After the death of the father, how- 
ever, the widow became the wife of Henry 
Coates and had other children. When Jo- 
seph Coppock had reached man's estate he 
was united in marriage to Miss Sally Jay, 
and they became the parents of three chil- 
dren : William, an attorney-at-law in Cin- 
cinnati; Allen, and H. H.. of this review. 
The mother died and Joseph Coppock chose 
for his second wife Mrs. Sarah ( Conway) 
Aldredee, by whom he had three children : 
Amanda, widow of Jefferson Snyder ; Al- 
bert, her twin brother, now deceased, and 



576 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Frank, an attorney-at-la\v engaged in prac- 
tice in Cincinnati. For his tliird wife Mr. 
Coppock cliose Miss B. Barrett, who is now 
]i\ing in Troy. In tiie year 1833 Joseph 
Coppock removed to the farm on which the 
birth of our subject occurred. Throughout 
his active business career he carried on ag- 
ricultural pursuits and also operated a grist 
and saw-mill. .\t the time of his death he 
owned five hundred and twenty acres of land 
in Newton township, besides considerable 
town property. He began life a poor boy, 
but steadily worked his way upward, over- 
coming all difficulties and obstacles in his 
path by determined purpose and eventually 
winning a handsome competence. He, too, 
was a member of the Society of Friends, 
having been reared in that faith by his par- 
ents. He died July 12, 1897, and in his 
death the community lost one of its valued 
citizens. 

H. H. Coppock remained with his fa- 
tiier until twenty-one years of age, at which 
time he began farming on his own account, 
IJurchasing a tract of land of one hundred 
and twenty acres, on which he remained until 
February, 1864. At that date he responded 
to the country's call for aid and joined the 
boys in blue as a private of Company I, 
First Ohio Cavalry. He was mustered in 
at Urbana, Ohio, and went south to Nash- 
^•ille. He participated in the engagements 
at Decatur and Courtland, Alabama, after 
which his regiment joined General Sher- 
man's forces and he participated in the bat- 
tles of Kenesaw Mountain. Peach Tree 
Creek and those around Atlanta, Jonesboro 
and Lovejoy station. He then went to 
Georgia, afterward to Luuisville and with 
General Wilson gn his raid to Tennessee. 
Subsequently he was with the army which 
Avaylaid Forrest, in Alabama, and thence pro- 



ceeded to Columbus, Georgia. His regi- 
ment was stationed at -Macon at the time that 
the news of General Lee's surrender was re- 
ceived, and at Columbus, Ohio, in Septem- 
ber, 1865, he received an honorable dis- 
charge. Upon many a southern battle- 
field he manifested his loyalty by his reso- 
lute bra\ery and well may be proud of his 
military record. 

On resuming the pursuits of civil life 
Mr. Coppock returned to Xewton township, 
where he resided upon his farm until 1868, 
when he traded that land for a farm west 
of Pleasant Hill, comprising one hundred 
and ten acres. On the exi)iration of two 
years. howe\'er, he sold the latter property 
and in 1870 removed to Lyon county, Kan- 
sas, where he purchased two hundred and 
twenty acres of land, making his home there- 
on until 1879. in that year he returned to 
Xewton township, Miami county, where he 
engaged in farming for one year, after 
which he operated a grist and saw-mill until 
1896. He then transformetl it into a plaster 
factory and has since carried on business 
along that line, the enterprise pro\'ing to 
him a profitable one, which brings to him a 
good income. 

Mr. Coppock has been twice married. 
In 1S61 he was joined in wedlock to Miss 
Isabella Williams and they became the par- 
ents of six children, namely: Daniel W., 
Cora, Clara, Charley. Sally and Frank. On 
the 22d of January, 1883, Mr. Coppock 
wedded Miss .\da McCarter. of Montgom- 
ery county, and their union has been blessed . 
with four children : Xellie, Eunice, \'ora and 
Etta, but the last named is now deceased. 
Mr. Coppock is a member of Daniel Will- 
iams Post, G. A. R., of Pleasant Hill. He 
votes with the Repulilican party and keeps 
well infiirmed (.m the issues of the dav, giv- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



577 



ing his intelligent support to its principles. 
His .business affairs have been capably con- 
ducted and in his own industry lies the secret 
of his success. 



JEFFERSOX D. IDDIXGS. 

On the farm where he now lives, Jeffer- 
son D. Iddings was born, September 20, 
1846. His father, Davis Iddings, was a 
native of Newton township and a son of 
Joseph Iddings, who came from South 
Carolina to Ohio at an early day, establish- 
ing a home in Newton township, Miami 
county, where his son, Benjamin, now re- 
sides. He entered one hundred and sixty 
acres of land from the government, began 
the development of a good farm there and 
transformed the wild tract into richly culti- 
vated fields. On the old homestead, amid 
the scenes of pioneer life, Davis Iddings was 
reared, and when he had arri\ed at years 
of maturity he wedded Sarah Hill, by whom 
he had four children: Alfred, who is now a 
practicing physician of Dayton; Nathan, of 
Bradford ; Maria, wife of John Jay, of Pleas- 
ant Hill, and Jefferson D. 

The last named was born and reared 
upon the farm where he now lives. He was 
one of the brave soldier boys whose patriot- 
ism and valor far exceeded his years, for he 
was not quite sixteen when he enlisted. 
While returning from school he met a re- 
cruiting officer, Joshua Deeter, and as a 
private joined Company G, One Hundred 
and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This 
was in September, 1862. and he was mus- 
tered in at Columbus, whence he proceeded 
to Virginia, and participated in the battle 
of Winchester — the first engagement in 
which he took part. He later faced the 
enemy in the battles of Brandywine Station, 



Mine Run, the Wilderness, Cold Harbor 
and Petersburg, when the regiment was 
withdrawn to Washington City. This move 
was followed by the battle of Monocacy and 
subsequently the One Hundred and Tenth 
went to Baltimore. Mr. Iddings was dis- 
charged at Petersburg on the exi)iration of 
his term. He was wounded in the battle of 
the \\'ilderness by a minie ball, which struck 
hiiu in the left hand, but otherwise he es- 
cai)ed uninjured. The l:)ra\'ery which he dis- 
played on many a field of carnage equaled 
that of many a time-tried veteran of twice 
his years. 

After his return he resumed work on 
the home farm, where he remained for seven 
years, when he went to the Black Hills and 
was there engaged in mining for nine 
months. He next went to New Mexico with 
an old trapper and hunter, with whom he 
continued for six months, after which he 
spent two years in the mines at Joplin. Mis- 
souri. He then returned to the old home- 
stead, where he has since lived, his time and 
energies being devoted to the work of the 
farm. Here he owns forty-two acres of 
land and annually plants from twelve to 
fifteen acres to tobacco, which is a profitable 
crop, adding largely to his income. He also 
raises corn and wheat. His farm, though 
small, is a highly cultivated one and yields 
to him a good financial return. 

In 1869 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Iddings and Miss Frances Ca\-ender. In 
1879 he was again married, his second union 
being with Ellen Terry, by whom he has three 
children : Harry, Nellie and Ethel. They 
have a pleasant home and enjoy the warm 
regard of many friends in the community. 
In his political associations Mr. Iddings is 
a Democrat, and, socially, he is connected 
with Daniel \\^ Williams Post, No. 369, 



578 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



G. A. R.. of whicli he is ex-chaplain and 
officer of the day. The brave soldier who 
fought for the preservation of the Union 
during the civil war has become a loyal citi- 
zen in times of peace, advocating all meas- 
ures which he believes will prove of general 
good. His worth as an individual is widely 
known, and he is regarded as a reliable busi- 
ness man. 



.\lt;ust bartel. 

August Bartel is the owner of the Miami 
Post, a German paper pul)lished at Piqua. 
He was liorn June 15, 1862, in the city which 
is .still his home and is one of the ten chil- 
dren of Adam and Mary ( Hergenham ) Bar- 
tel. The father was born in Bavaria, Ger- 
many, learned the shoemaker's trade in earl_\- 
Hfe. and when a young man sought a home 
in America, believing that better opportmi- 
ities were here afforded. He took up his 
abode in Buffalo. Xew York, where he was 
married and followed his trade. When the 
canal was being built through Miami coun- 
ty, he came to Piqua and worked nn that 
artificial waterway for a time. Later he 
engaged in shoemaking in partnership with 
his brother, Joseph, and subsecpiently opened 
a shop of his own. He built up an immense 
business, furnishing employment to twenty- 
five operatives. He carried on shoemaking 
until his death, which occurred when he was 
sixty-three years of age. In pulitics he was 
a Democrat, but took no active part in pol- 
itical work. In his business affairs he met 
with creditable success, acquiring a com- 
fortable competence. He was one of the 
first members of St. Mary"s parish Catholic 
church, and became a leading member of 
St. lioniface church. His wife. Avlm was a 
nati\e of Ba\aria. (ierman\-. died on the 



17th of September, 1896. She, too, was a 
member of St. Boniface church at the time 
of her death. In the family of this worthy 
coui)le were ten children, of whom four died 
in early life. The others are Anna, who 
lie ame the wife of A. F. Thoma, and died, 
in 1899, at the age of fifty-six years: Ce- 
celia, wife of Gregory Strolimenger, of 
Piqua : John, baggage master at Picjua ; 
Mary, wife of John Stelzer, of the same 
city; A. A., who is living in Piqua: and 
August. 

Mr. Bartel, of this review, spent his 
boyhood days in Picjua, obtaining his educa- 
tion in the Catholic schools. When about 
seventeen years of age he entered the office 
which he now owns, and was employed there 
for seventeen years, after which he purchased 
the plant. The paper had formerly been 
known as the Picpia Correspondent, but 
when it came into the possession of Mr. 
Bartel he changed its name to the Miami 
Post, the first issue under that title appear- 
ing on the 2d of August, 1894. Under his 
management the circulation of the ])a|>er 
has increased one-third. It is the only 
German paper in Miami county and has a 
large circulation among the German speak- 
ing people of this locality and their de- 
scendants. He alsii does a good joliliing 
business. Ixith in l*lnglish and German. 

On the 27th of September. 1897. Mr. 
Bartel was united in marriage with Miss 
}ilarv Murphy, of Picpia, who was Imrn in 
Cincinnati. She died Alay 7, 1900, when 
about thirty-five years of age. She was 
the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel 
Murphy, and. though born in Cinciiuiati, 
spent almost her entire life in Piqua. She 
was a member of the Catholic church and an 
earnest ClnHstian woman, whose many 
excellent (pialities gained for her the re- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



579 



gard and esteem of all with whom she was 
associated. ^Ir. Bartel also holds member- 
ship in St. Mary's Catholic church and has 
a large circle of friends in Piqua, where he 
is known as a relialile and enterprising busi- 
ness man and capable journalist. 



^IILES W. MATHERS. 

Miles W. >.Iathers was Imrn mi the farm 
which is now his hume. his natal day being 
jNIarch 8, 183-'. This land, located in Brown 
township. ]\Iiami county, was entered from 
the go\-ernment liv his granil father. John 
Mathers, in 1819. and the old patent, signed 
by James ^Monroe, then president of the 
United States, is still in possession of our 
subject. In 1826 David and James Mathers, 
brothers, came to the county. The latter 
afterward settled in Shelby county, where 
his father had also entered land, and there 
he married and made his home for some 
time. Subsequently, however, he went to 
Hamilton ciiuntv. where his last davs were 
passed. The other brother. Da\-id INIathers. 
was the father of our subject. He was born 
in Hamilton county. Ohio, in 1797, his par- 
ents being John and Jane ( McNight ) 
Mathers. Both the Mathers and the Mc- 
Night families were of Scotch-Irish lineage 
and resided in the northern part of the Em- 
erald Isle, whence John Mathers, the grand- 
father, came to America. Reared in Hamil- 
ton C(.)unty, David IMathers became familiar 
with the experiences of pioneer life in the 
Bucke}'e state, and upon coming to Miami 
county lie made the first clearing upon the 
land which his father had pre^•iously en- 
tered. He also built a log cabin and con- 
tinued his work after the primitive style of 
the times, owning two horses, a plow and 
wagon. He was not only a good farmer 



but possessed considerable niechanical 
genius, did creditable work as a blacksmith 
and cabinetmaker, in fact could do almost 
anything with tools. He manufactured 
many of the coffins used by the pioneers. 
His deaths occurred September 11, 1850, 
when he was fifty-two years of age. His 
wife afterward went to Illinois, where she 
died when more than seventy years of age. 
In their family were seven children, one of 
whom died at the age of fourteen. Two 
others ha\e also departed tliis life : Eliza- 
beth, who liecame the wife of Dr. Joe Brels- 
ford, died in La Porte, Indiana, at the age 
of thirty-four years, and Abigail, who be- 
came the wife of Isaac Dukemineer, died in 
Indianapolis when more than fifty years of 
age. The four who still survive are : John 
H.. a resident of Mason City, Illinois; Jane, 
wife of John Van Horn, also of Mason City ; 
Mary Ann. who is living near Denver, Colo- 
rado ; and Miles Williams, the subject of this 
review. 

The last named was reared under the 
])arental roof and was eighteen years of age 
at the time of his father's death. The man- 
agement and operation of the farm then de- 
\-olved upon him. At that time about sixty 
acres of the land had been placed under 
cultivation, but he now has nearly the entire 
tract of one hundred and sixty acres cleared 
and improA'ed. About twenty years ago he 
erected a substantial residence and the barn 
was built by his father just a short time 
before his death. However, it has been en- 
larged and remodeled l)y the present owner. 
The farm is well drained, and some swampy, 
flat land has thus become very valuable, in 
fact is the most productive portion of the 
farm. In addition to this property Mr. 
Mathers has another eightv-acre farm ad- 
joining the homestead and supplied with 



580 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



good impro\-ements. He has made a spe- 
cialty of botli grain and stock farming and 
annnaliy sells considerable stock, thns ma- 
terially increasing his income. He became 
the owner of the old homestead by purchas- 
ing: the interest of the other heirs, and 
throughout his entire life he has resided 
upon this place, which is therefore endeared 
to him by the associations of his hoyhooil. 
as well as tlmse of his mature years. 

On the 6th of January. 1859, Mr. 
Mathers was united in marriage to Cath- 
erine A. Moore, a daughter of William and 
Cinderella (Brooks) Moore, of Brown 
townshi]). She \vas born in Champaign 
county and came to Miami county when 
eight years of age. Their union has been 
blessed with the following children : T'rank 
Jerome, the eldest, died in childhood ; Lu- 
ella is the wife of William B. Moon, who 
operates one of the farms and is serx'ing as 
township trustee, and they have three chil- 
dren. Joel Oscar, Albert Foster and Elsie 
H. : William C. who operates the home 
farm with bis father, married Clara, daugh- 
ter of George W. White, and they have two 
children. Lloyd and \'elma : and John H., 
^\■ho graduated at the Ohio State University 
with the class of 1S97. ^^"'is ^ teacher in 
Brown county, Ohio, and is now residing 
in Kankakee, Illinois. 

In his political \iews Mr. Alathers was 
a Democrat and has served as township 
trustee. He was also school director for 
eighteen years, and the cause of education 
lias found in him a warm friend. The 
cause of temperance has ever found in him 
a stanch advocate, and of recent years he has 
voted the Prohibition ticket. Both he and 
his wife ha\e been members of the Charity 
Chapel Christian church for twenty years, 
are very prominent in its work and are 



leading citizens of the community, whose 
well spent lives have gained for them the 
high regard of all with whrmi they have 
been lirought in contact. 



THOMPSON COX. 

Thompson Cox was for many years an 
enterprising farmer of Miami county, and 
through the period of his active connect^jn 
with agricultural pursuits he acquired a 
handsome comi>etence that now enables him 
to live retired. His home at the present 
time is in Piqua. He was liorn in Hamilton 
countv. Ohio, Xo\ember 22. 1822, and 
through several generations traces his an- 
cestr}^ back to Holland. His great-grand- 
father. Gresham Cox. was a natixe of the 
land of dikes, whence he crossed the .At- 
lantic to the new world, taking up his abode 
in New Jersey. William G. Co.x. the grand- 
father of our subject, was born in New Jer- 
sey about 1778. and located in Hamilton 
county. Ohio, in 181 1. making a settlement 
in the midst of the hea\y forest. In 1812 
he was drafted for service in the second 
war with England, being assigned to 
Wayne's army. He passed through Miami 
county i>n his way to join his command and 
for six weeks loyally aided his country. In 
politics he was a Democrat. He lived to be 
eight\-two years of age and was accounted 
one of the honored pioneers of the Buckeye 
state. 

Tunis Cox. father of our subject, was 
a native of New Jersey and came to Hamil- 
ton county, Ohio, with his parents when 
nine years of age. There he spent his re- 
maining days upon a farm, dying at the age 
of sixtv-one. He was quite successful in 
his business aiTairs, accumulating a com- 
fortable property. He, too, was a Democrat 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



581 



in liis political affiliations. He wedded 
Nancy Sparks, who was born in Ohio, in 
1800. and for two years they resided at 
North Bend fort before removing to their 
home in the midst of the forest. Her fa- 
ther, Isaac Sparks, was a native of Penn- 
sylvania and became one of the pioneers of 
the Bnckeye state. He swam the Ohio river 
on one occasion in order to escape from the 
Indians. He serx'ed for sex'eral years as 
magistrate and lived to an advanced age. 
The mother of our subject died at the age 
of forty-one years. She had a family of 
tweK'e children, all of wliom attained ma- 
jority, while five are still hving. 

Mr. Cox, of this review, spent his youth 
on the old home farm witii his parents. He 
was seventeen years of age at tlie time his 
father built a hotel on the pike, and for 
seven vears he assisted in its conduct. He 
afterward engaged in agricultural pursuits 
for two years and then erected the hotel 
which was known as "The Eleven Mile 
Hotel" (in the Cincinnati and Hamilton turn- 
pike. He conducted it for three years, after 
which he came to Miami county, in 185.2, 
and purchased a farm of one hundred and 
fifty acres, two and a half miles southeast 
of Piqua. There he lived until 1883. since 
which time he has rented his farm, making 
his home in the city. He followed pro- 
gressive agricultural methods and his energy 
and capable management enabletl him to 
steadily work his way u])ward to a position 
of affluence. 

On the 1 8th of August, 1844, ]\lr. Cox 
was united in marriage to Miss Susan Pat- 
terson, who was born in Hamilton county, 
on a farm eight miles from Cincinnati. Oc- 
tober 22, 1822. Her father. Alexander Pat- 
terson, was probably a native of Ohio, and 
throughout his active business career fol- 



lowed farming in this state. His parents 
were natives of Pennsylvania and came to 
Piqua at an early day. Alexander Patter- 
son gave his political support to the Democ- 
racy and died in 1858. when about fifty years 
of age. His wife bore the maiden name of 
Elizabeth Long. She was a native of Ham- 
ilton county, Ohio, and reached the very 
advanced age of eighty-eight years. Unto 
Mr. and Mrs. Cox ha\-e been born four chil- 
dren: Nancy, wife of Howard Deweese, 
a farmer of Miami county residing in Piqua ; 
Memrey, a farmer of Fort Scott, Kansas ; 
Edward, who is living in Piqua; antl Alice, 
who died at the age of fourteen years. 

Mr. Cox has ser\ed as school director 
for a short time, but has never sought or 
desired the honors or emoluments of public 
office. He votes with the Democracy and, 
keeping well informed on the issues of the 
day, has ever been enabled to support his 
political position by intelligent argument. 
He and his wife are members of the Chris- 
tian church and are people of the highest 
respectabilit}-. wh<ise friends in Piipia and 
Miami countv are manv. 



THOMAS C. HARBAUGH. 

Thomas Chalmers Harliaugh, of Cass- 
town, Miami county, was born in Middle- 
town, Frederick county. Maryland, January 
13, 1849. He is the son of Morgan M. and 
Caroline (Rautzahn) Harbaugh. The fa- 
ther was born at Harper's Ferry, Virginia, 
and the mother in Maryland. The}- m(n-ed 
to Ohio in 1851, lived in Piqua for several 
years, and in 1856 came to Casstown, where 
they lived until they were called home, at a 
ripe old age. T. C. Harbaugh received his 
education in the common schools in the vil- 
lage of Casstown. While a youth, yet in 



582 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



his 'teens, he served for several years as as- 
sistant postmaster. 

W'lien eighteen years of age he com- 
menced writing for tlie county newspapers 
and magazines. His articles were so well 
received that he adopted literature "as a 
profession." and from 1867 to the present 
he has followed no other occujjation. He 
has heen a prolific writer of short stories 
for periodicals, such as the Youth's Com- 
panion, Ohio Farmer, Chicago Inter Ocean. 
Dayton Journal, the Cincinnati papers and 
other prominent papers in Ohio and the 
United States. He has written over three 
hundred novels and historic stories. Per- 
haps the hest of his novels are The \Miite 
S(|uadron, The Condor Killers and The 
King's Spy. He has written many serial 
stories for the Chicago Ledger and is a 
regular contrihutor to many magazines. He 
has an easy, readable style in his works of 
fiction that is very attractive. He is adept 
in situations and scenes of thrilling interest, 
and his works are always in demand, and 
he receives from them not only a good living- 
hut he has been able to lay by a nice little 
sum for old age. He has a s])lendid library 
of about one thousand \'olumes. and be- 
sides his natural genius for writing he is a 
constant reader and keeps posted on all the 
cjuestions of the day. 

Mr. Harbaugh is not a politician, yet 
he is an earnest Republican and always takes 
an active interest in the political battles of 
the county and state. Almost every year 
he is a delegate to the county and state con- 
ventions. He is a pungent, shrewd political 
writer, and during a hot campaign his arti- 
cles are gladly welcomed, and often copied 
in the leading. Republican newspapers of 
Ohio. In the county he is a regular con- 
tributor to some of the Piqua newspapers. 



and his articles are full of humor, sarcasm, 
and often predictions of the future of the 
politics of the county, so close to the mark 
that he must either l)e a close observer or 
has a seat very near to the council chambers 
of the political leaders of the county, and vet 
his letters appear to be written more in the 
spirit of recreation from his literarv labors 
than that of being the result of serious 
thought upon political c|uestions. There are 
those who believe, if he had devoted his at- 
tention entirely to political subjects, he 
would have commanded a national reputa- 
tion as a poHtical writer. 

Whatever may be the verdict of the 
future upon the prose writings of T. C. 
Harbaugh there will be no dissent from the 
statement that within his heart and brain he 
has the genius of a poet. He does not as- 
pire to nor even try the grand and gloomy 
realms of thought that have made the fame 
of some great poets of the day, but the realm 
of true patriotism, or in the sweeter, gentler 
])lane of home and love, he has won .his 
fame, and is enshrined in the hearts of every 
lover of poetry in Miami county and the 
Miami vallex'. He stands among the first 
of song writers in Ohio, and manv of his 
poems have been set to nnisic and sung upon 
the stage, and are popular in the parlor as 
well as in the concert halls. He is the 
author of the verses inscribed on the silver 
\ase presented to Admiral Dewey as the 
gift of a grateful people for the na\al vic- 
tory of ]\Ianila. Many of his historical 
poems have been recited by the leading elo- 
cutionists of the nation. 

He has ne\er published but two volumes 
of |)oems. Maple Leaves, published in 
1884, gave him the title of the "poet of the 
blue Miami." It is full of sweet gems. Xo 
C)ne can read For Disturl)in' the Choir 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



588 



without a feeling of sympathy for tlie ok! 
man wlio sang tlie "psahns of David for 
nearly eighty years." and no mother or 
soldier's wife can read the story of The 
Two Sleeves with eyes undimmeil hy tears, 
while the sad tenderness and manly senti- 
ment in The Soldier's Lot could only he 
Avritten by the hand of genius. The \oI- 
ume entitled Ballads of the Blue is full of 
patriotic verse and heart-felt ti-'dnites io 
the gallant soldiers of the Union army. 
Space will not permit a re\-iew of the little 
vijlume, hut the writer will mention a few 
of the sweetest and purest: h\ Memoriam, 
a favorite poem that is recited every year 
all over this repulilic on Memorial day; 
Columbia's Soldier Dead, which is another 
faxorite with the veterans of the Grand 
Army : The Last Veteran. Midnight at An- 
derson\ille. Grant Dying, and the Rose of 
\\'aterl(jo each ha\e man\- admirers. Grant 
Dying is published in full in volume XI of 
Stedman's Cxxlopedia of American Litera- 
ture. 

There are a number of good writers in 
]\Iiami county, but known only to local fame, 
because the hard grind of other occupations 
than literature ha\e monopolized their time 
and crushed out all ambition to excel in 
prose or poetry ; but this good old county 
is proud of T. C. Harbaugh's reputation as 
an author and poet. 

Mr. Har])augli is a baciielor. notwith- 
standing out of his heart and brain he has 
coined so many tributes to lo\-e and affec- 
tion. He is as modest as a girl, and un- 
assuming in e\-ery respect; He is a small 
man with light hair and blue eyes, and if 
ever he had a love affair it has been kept 
a profound secret. He spends the greater 
part of his time in his library : sometimes 
he will be found along the banks of Lost 



creek or the Miami river with rod and min- 
now bucket, l)ut he fishes more for quiet 
thought than for bass or perch. 

The writer feels that he has not done 
justice to the literary merits of Mr. Har- 
baugh. although he writes with the partial 
hand of a personal friend. Indeed, a poet 
is never appreciated while living. The pen 
of envy and the tongue of malice is alwav-- 
present to detract from the few who dream 
and write of higher, purer aspirations than 
belong to the practical aft'airs of the com- 
mon route of life. e. s. w. 



W ILLL\M DILBONE. 

The name of Dilbone figures conspicu- 
ously on the pages of Miami county's his- 
tory from the time of .the earliest settlement 
of this section of the state. The grandfa- 
ther of William Dilbone came to the county 
when it was a wild western district, situated 
on the very border of civilization. At that 
time the Lidians in motley garb stalked 
through the forests, which were immarked 
by road or habitation of the ^xhite man. 
The hostile, spirit which has ever existed 
between the white race and the native in- 
habitants of America was manifested in a 
most deplorable act of violence, which re- 
sulted in the death of the grandparents of 
our subject — Henry and Barbara (Mill- 
house) Dilbone. In 1807 this worthy couple 
came to i\Iiami county, bringing with them 
their little family. Their eldest child was 
John Dilbone. who was born November 25, 
1806. Their other children were Margaret, 
PrisciUa and William, and the last named 
was only seven months old when, on the 
i8th of August, 1813. his parents were 
massacred by the Indians. After the noon 
meal on the day mentioned, Mr. Dilbone 



584 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



went to the spring some distance nortlieast 
of the house to get water to take to the flax 
patch southeast of the cabin, where his wife 
and cliildren were to meet him. The eld- 
est child. John, took care of the other chil- 
dren while the parents were engaged in pull- 
ing flax in the southeast corner of the corn- 
field. Toward evening their attention was 
attracted by the sharp bark of a dog, and 
just as they looked up a shot was fired from 
the corn by an Indian, who dropped his gun 
and rushed forward to the father and mother 
to complete with knife and tomahawk the 
\-illanous deed which he had liegun. The 
father, although he had been struck by the 
bullet, managed to make his escape to the 
woods on the south. The mother ran into 
the corn on the west, but started back to- 
ward her children and here was struck with 
the tomahawk which ended her life. The 
Indian then came near the children, who 
were sitting in the shade of a walnut tree, 
but just at this juncture the report of a gun 
was heard at a short distance to the south- 
east and the red man fled, leaving his gun 
behind him. The second child, Margaret, 
had been sent home on an errand and was 
just returning when she met her brothers 
and sister on the way to the house. On 
reaching home they met a neighbor won?an 
and soon the settlers of the community were 
aroused and, accompanied by John Dilbone. 
they started out to learn the fate of the father 
and mother. They found tiie dead body of 
the latter lying in the corn, and the next 
clay Mr. Dilbone was found. He was .still 
li\ing, Ijut died on the 20tli of August. He 
was discovered lying between two small 
oaks, on which his name was afterward 
carved and which stood for many decades 
afterward. After the death of the parents 
the children were taken to a lilock house 



near where their maternal grandfather lived, 
and in that neighborhood John Dilbone re- 
mained until 1826. In that year he married 
Pamelia Denman arid removed to the farm 
entered by his 'father. He carried on agri- 
cultural pursuits throughout the remainder 
of his life and continued to reside in Spring 
Creek township, where he died Januarv 18, 
1891. 

On the old family homestead there, Will- 
iam Dilbone, of this review, was born, on 
the 1st day of February, 1837, and was there 
reared, experiencing many of the trials and 
hardships which fall t<j the lot of the pioneer 
settlers. His educational advantages were 
somewhat meagre, but his training at farm 
labor was not limited. He still owns one 
hundred and thirty-six acres of the land 
which was entered by his grandfather from 
the government and is also the owner of 
another tract of seventy acres. Farming 
has claimed his attention throughout his 
business career and his eflr'orts have been 
crowned with a high degree of success. 

On the 24th of January, 1858, Mr. Dil- 
bone was united in marriage to Al\ira Bal- 
zell. who was born in Mercer county, in 
1840. and was left an orphan when quite 
young. She was then Ijrought to Miami 
county and for some years prior to her 
marriage sui)ported herself by weeks' work. 
She was an exemplary and happy wife until 
April. 1875. ^vhen she was taken ill. that 
sickness terminating her life. She suffered 
greatly, but bore her pain with Christian 
fortitude and patience, and on the 21st of 
December. 1875. .she ]iassed to the land 
where there is neither pain nor sorrow. 
She was a consistent member of the Chris- 
tian church, respected by all who knew her. 
The children of this marriage were seven 
in number, but three passed away prior to 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



585 



the mother's death. Those who survived her 
were: }ilrs. Mary E. Leckey, who was horn 
August 30, 1858, and died September 12, 
189 1 ; Emma J., wlio was born September 
8, 1863, and (bed June 30. 1880, and Ehner 
\\'., born May 17, 1870. One son, Joseph 
F., was born April 14, 1861, and met death 
by the accidental discharge of a gun while 
hunting on his sister's wedding day, January 
16, 1878. Mr. Dilbone was again married. 
February 17, 1885, his second union being 
with Miss Mary E. Brelsford. who was born 
in Brown township, Miami county, a daugh- 
ter of Daniel and Xancy Brelsford. Three 
children graced this union, but Edward and 
Edith are both now deceased. The living 
daughter is Effie M., who is now elexen years 
of age. Mr. Dilbone has been a witness of 
much of the growth and development of Mi- 
ami county, and great have been the changes 
which have occurred since he became a resi- 
dent of this section of the state. Wild land 
has been transformed into beautiful homes 
and farms and the country has been dotted 
with churches and school houses, indicating 
the onward march of civilization; towns 
and \illages have sprung up, railroads have 
been built and the telegraph and tele- 
phone introduced. Miami county has taken 
her place in the lead among the counties of 
his commonwealth, and Mr. Dilbone feels 
just pride in its progress. He has ever been 
a progressive and public-spirited citizen, 
loyal to its best interests, and in the history 
of the county he well deserves representa- 
tion. 

GEORGE M. SHEETS. 

George M. Sheets belongs to one of the 
oldest families of Miami county, and for many 
j'ears he has been identified with its agri- 
cultural interests. He was born on the farm 



where he now lives, August 19, 1840. His 
father. Isaac Sheets, located there about 
1827 and erected what is known as the old 
Sheets mill. His first home was a small 
log cabin, and living in that pioneer home he 
began the improvement of the farm and the 
operation of the mill. On two different oc- 
casions he sold the mill and rented the farm, 
but there resided at the time of his death, 
which occurred Septemlier 23, 1876. He 
was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania, Jan- 
uary 10, 1799, and had become a resident 
of Miami count}- when about tweh-e or four- 
teen years of age, having in the meantime 
spent four years in Tennessee. It was soon 
after his marriage that he took up his abode 
on what is now known as the old Sheets 
homestead. He manifested a deep interest 
in everything pertaining to the welfare and 
progress of the community and was a lead- 
ing and influential citizen of his neighbor- 
hood. His wife passed away about fifteen 
years previous to his death. 

George M. Sheets spent his boyh(.)od days 
on the farm and learned the miller's trade 
during his youth. In connection with his 
brother, John K., he purchased the old mill, 
which he operated until about ten years ago. 
He and his sister, Mary, became the owners 
of the old homestead and he tilled the fields 
and harvested the crops, making the farm 
a valuable source of income. He also en- 
gaged in the business of manufacturing 
lumber and was a director of the First Na- 
tional Bank of Troy, for some years. He 
likewise owned stock in the carriage works 
and was thus connected with various enter- 
prises which contrilnited not alone to the in- 
dividual welfare of the stockholders but 
proved a source of prosperity to the com- 
munity by advancing commercial activity. 
Mr. Sheets is a man of resourceful ability. 



586 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and his well-directed efforts, resolute pur- 
pose and sound judgment have been im- 
portant factors in the successful conduct of 
various industries. 

After his mother's death his sisters, Mary 
and Lizzie, were in charge of the home and 
thus remained until after the father's death, 
when Lizzie removed to a farm of her own. 
Mary remained as housekeeper for her 
brother, George, until his marriage. Her 
interest has always centered in her home 
and she has supervised it wit'h the greatest 
care and precision. The present residence 
was erected about 1841, since which time it 
has been greatly remodeled and enlarged. 
It stands on an attractive eminence, com- 
manding an excellent view of the surround- 
ing country. 

On the 13th of Islay, 1885, George ^l. 
Sheets was united in marriage to ^liss Nan- 
nie W'hitaker, of Troy, a daughter of Xathan 
II. and Louisa (Leeds) Whitaker. Nathan 
H. W'hitaker was born in Buncombe county, 
North Carolina, in 1808, and was a son of 
Israel and Elizabeth (Hollifeldt) Whitaker, 
of Irish and German extraction. ]Mr. Sheets 
continued his farming operations until May, 
i8()9. when he was stricken with paralysis, 
which incapacitated him for further effort 
in the business world. He has always been 
a Democrat, but has never sought or desired 
political honors and emoluments, preferring 
to de\-ote his time and energy to his busi- 
ness interests. He and his sister ISIary have 
always resided upon the old homestead, and 
in the community they enjoy the esteem of 
a large circle of friends. ]\Ir. Sheets has so 
ordered his Inisiness aft'airs as to win a com- 
fortable competence, and l)y his honorable 
dealing has ever commanded the respect of 
those with whom he has been lirought in 
contact. 



JACOB G. WAGNER. 

Faithfulness to duty and a strict adher- 
ence to a fixed purpose in life would do 
more to advance a man's interests than 
wealth or advantageous circumstances. 
The successful men nf the da}' are those who 
have planned their own advancement and 
accom])lished it in spite of many obstacles 
and with a certainty that could have been 
attained only by their own efforts. This 
class of men has a worthy representative in 
Jacob G. Wagner, who began life amid un- 
favi>ring circumstances on a Pennsylvania 
farm and has risen to distinction in connec- 
tion with the industrial interests of Miami 
county. 

He was born in Tulpehocken township, 
Berks county, Pennsyhania. September 28, 
1843. '^"'^ 'ost his father when only three 
munths old. The home farm was then sold 
and the family liecame scattered. At the age 
of seven years Jacob was bound out to an 
uncle. He was a precocious boy, fond of 
study, and his uncle sent him to school for 
three months in the winter season until he 
was sixteen years of age, when he became 
a teacher and in this way earned, through 
the winter months, a portion of the money 
which enabled him to continue his studies 
in summer. By nature he was brave and 
chi\alrous and when the civil war broke out 
his ])atriniic spirit was aroused and upon 
the 26th of October. 1862. when only nine- 
teen years of age, . he enlisted in Company 
F, One Hundred and Sixty-seventh Pennsyl- 
vania Infantry, under Captain Groh and 
Colonel Knoderer. The latter was killed 
at the battle of Deserted Farms. Mr. Wag- 
ner ])articipated in a number of hard skir- 
mishes, was in the siege of Suft'olk and was 
' discharged at Reading. Pennsylvania, on the 




i 





J./^C^Ji). 





^lisM 



/^O-.A^'-^ /^^^^/^^>^^ 



^ 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



591 



expiration of his term, having served until 
August 12, 1863. 

Returning t<j his home lie engaged in 
teaching, hoth in Pennsylvania and Ohio, 
through the succeeding thirteen years. In 
July, 1865, he came to Miami county, where 
he taught successfully in Bradford, Pleas- 
ant Hill, De Graff, Logan county, and Tip- 
pecanoe City, Miami county. At the latter 
])lace he suhsequently accepted a position as 
superintendent of the Wheel Works, the 
business being conducted under the name of 
Ford & Company. He served in that ca- 
pacity for two years and was also one of 
the stockholders of the company. In 1877 
he came to Covington, where he purchased 
tlie S. M. ]\[ohler Tile Works, which were 
at that time operated by horse power. Mr. 
^^'ag•ner remodeled and refitted the works, 
putting in a large steam engine and adding 
a brick plant, and it is now the largest of 
the kind in western Ohio, the output being- 
very extensive. He also owns another tile 
factor}- at Licura, and a stone quarry at 
Ludlow Falls. Ohio, and is a very promi- 
nent and prLisperous business man. 

Ah". Wagner was married to Miss Har- 
riet, daughter of William and Susanna Pear- 
son, of Miami county, and to them were born 
two children, Sarah and Mary. Sarah, the 
elder, is a graduate of Oxford College, of 
Oxfcjrd, Ohio, and Mary is a graduate of 
Wittenberg College, of Springfield, Ohio. 
In 1S97, howe\er, Mr. ^^'agner was called 
iT[)on to mourn the loss of his "wife and his 
sorrow was shared by many friends in the 
town and community. Li politics he has 
always taken an active interest and is a 
stalwart and honored supporter of the Re- 
publican party. He is a conscientious and 
indefatigable worker in its behalf and for 

thirteen vears he has served as a member 
34 



of the Republican central committee, doing 
all in his power to promote the growth 
and secure the success of the part3\ He 
was reared in the faith of the German Re- 
formed church, but is not a member of any 
religious organization. He is a member of 
the Masonic lodge, and .is the oldest rank- 
ing commander of Langston Post, No. 299, 
G. A. R. His career has been indeed credit- 
able and worthy of emulation, show-ing what 
may be accomplished through determined 
purpose and laudable ambition when guided 
by sound judgment. 



ISAAC BUTTERWORTH. 

Isaac Butterworth, a retired engineer, 
now following agricultural ixirsuits in New- 
berry township, was born in the silk-manu- 
facturing town of Macclesfield, England, 
July 9, 1838. His father, William Butter- 
worth, was a native of ^Manchester, Eng- 
land, born in December, 1803. At an early 
day he was left an orphan and thus thrown 
; upon his own resources he made his way 
I unaided, and whatever success he achieved 
was due to his own well-directed efforts. 
He became a silk-weaver, following that pur- 
suit in his native land. There he wedded 
Mary Kelford, a daughter of James Kel- 
ford. She was born on the Thames river, 
in England, in 1810. and Ijy her marriage 
she became the mother of six children : 
Mary, who was drowned in the Mississippi; 
Charles W., who died in Alabama, in Au- 
gust, 1893: James, who died in infancy; 
Isaac; Helen E., who died in infancy; and 
Maria C, wife of William Lazure, of Silver 
Cit_\', New [Mexico. In 1840. when oiu- sub- 
ject was only two years old, the parents 
brous'ht him with their other two children 
to the United States, making the passage 



59i 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



from Liverpool to Xew Orleans. The ves- 
sel was; engaged in the cotton trade and 
reached the harbor of the Crescent city after 
a voyage of seven weeks. The Butterworth 
family then proceeded up the Mississipjji 
river to St. Louis and on their way thither 
thev met with a sad misfortune, their little 
daughter falling overboard into the river. 
Their tlestination was Xauvoo, Illinois, 
where they intended to join the band of ^lor- 
mons. A missionary of that faith had met 
Air. Butterworth in England and had pur- 
suaded him to come to the United States, 
picturing in glowing terms the opixirtunilies 
he would have by joining the ISIormons in 
.Vmerica. Nothing was said of their polyg- 
amous practices. Of this ^Nlr. Butterworth 
was ignorant until he reached their settle- 
ment. On learning of this deplorable state 
of affairs he denounced them vigorously and 
was set upon and nearly killed liv those \vhom 
he talked against. However, he escaped and 
took his family to Alount Pleasant, Ohio, 
soon afterward locating in Jeffersonville, in 
that state. Later he remo\ed to W'ellsburg, 
West \'irginia, where he secured work in a 
woolen mill, and. on severing his business 
connection at that place, he took up his 
abode in Steuben\-ille, Ohio. In 1885 he 
went to Silver City. Xew Mexico, where his 
death occurred in October. 1S89. his wife 
sur\i\ing him until 1896, when she died in 
the same place. 

Isaac Butterworth, of this review, pur- 
sued his studies in the public schools until 
thirteen years of age, after which. he served 
an api)renticeship at the shoe-making trade, 
becoming a journeyman before he was sev- 
enteen years old. In 1861 he attempted to 
enlist in the L'nion army, but was rejected 
on account of his delicate appearance. In | 
1862. however, he made a more successful I 



attempt and was mustered into the service 
on the 13th of June, as a private in Com- 
pany G, Second Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
for three years, being honorably discharged 
at Chattanooga. Tennessee, on the loth of 
June. 1865. He participated in the battles 
of Perryville, Stone River, Hoover's Gap, 
Lookout Mountain. Mission Ridge. Resaca 
and the engagements before Atlanta, and at 
the liattle of Mission Ridge he was wounded 
in the thigh, almost bleeding to death be- 
fore being taken to the hospital, but his 
wounds were eventually dressed, and for 
t\\ enty days he remained in the First Baptist 
church of Chattanooga, which was then used 
for hospital purposes. At Chickamauga 
one hundred and ninety of his comrades were 
taken prisoners, but he managed to escape. 
They were some distance from the main 
army, which they attempted to rejoin. Mr. 
Butterworth and one or two companions 
chose one direction, while the majority of 
the others chose another route and were cap- 
tured. 

At the close of the war our subject re- 
turned to his home and acceptetl a position 
as fireman on the Panhandle Railroad, in 
which capacity he served for two years and a 
half. He was then promoted to engineer 
on the Indianapolis di\ision of the Pennsyl 
vania Railroad, acting in that capacity unt 

December 29, 1897, when he resignei 

returned to his farm in Xewberry township. 
He purchased that in the summer of 1894 
and became the owner of sixty acres which 
is now under a high state of cultivation and 
is improved with good buildings. Prior to 
his removal to the farm he made his home in 
Columbus, Ohio, for twenty-eight years. 

Mr. Butterworth was married in Bridge- 
port, Ohio, on the 12th of October, 1865, 
to Miss Anna I\I. Guthrie, a daughter of 



isyl- 
nntil I 
and I 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



593 



Jainefs \\'. and Elizabeth (Albright ) Guthrie. 
She was born in Hanoverton. Culumloiana 
ciiunty, Ohio, August 28, 1839. and by the 
marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Butterworth fi\'e 
<:hildren ha\e been born, namely : Mary E., 
wife of Elmer Smith, of Columbus; Lilian, 
L.. \\ife of the Rev. John I. Wear, who is 
now li\ing in Ada, Ohio ; Elmer J., who mar- 
ried Etta Stump, of Columbus, Ohio ; and 
Anna Maud, at home. The family is one of 
prominence in the ccimmunity and the mem- 
bers of tlie household occupy a high position 
in socic'ty circles. ]\[r. Butterworth is a val- 
ualjle member of J. M. Wells Post, G. A. R., 
■of Columbus, and in his political affiliations 
is a Republican. He. is today as true to his 
duties of citizenship as when he followed the 
starry 1 tanner on the Ijattlefields of the south. 
His success in business is creditable, having 
been acquired along" legitimate lines, and as 
the result of his own industry he is now 
numbered among the substantial farmers of 
Miami county well worthy of representation 
in this volume. 



LEVI R. SniMONS. 

Levi Rollins Simmons was born in 
Ilriiwn township. Miami county, January 
25, 1825, and died November 21, 1898, 
after a long, active, useful and honorable 
career. The family is of German lineage 
and the ancestry can be traced back 'to 
I'hilip Simmuns. the great-grandfather of 
iiur subject, who was born in Germany and 
came to America in 1763. Jacob Simmons, 
the father of our subject, was born in Penn- 
sylvania about the close of the eighteenth 
century, and in 1801 was taken by his par- 
er.ts to Dayton, Ohio, and six years later to 
Miami county, where both the father and the 
mother died. Jacob Simmons married 



Mehitable Rollins, a native of Vermont, and 
five years his junior. During a long period 
they were residents of Brown township, 
Miami county, where the father died at the 
age of sixty-one years,- the mother at the 
age of eighty-two years. Their children 
were : Mrs. Catherine Snyder, who had 
three sons, John, Levi and William ; Le\i 
R. ; Peter, who resided in Brown township 
and had two sons, Frank and John : Sarah 
became Mrs. Biggers and had a son, Jnhn; 
and Philip, who was killed in the war and 
left three children, two now in Nebraska and 
one in California. 

Levi R. Simmons siient his boyhood 
days on his father's farm in Brown town- 
ship, pursuing his education in the common 
schools through the winter season. He aft- 
erward engaged in teaching, following that 
profession through the winter months, or 
from 1843 "'itil 1863. During the re- 
mainder of the year he followed farming, 
and it was probably his principal occupa- 
tion in life, although he was highly suc- 
cessful as an educator. He was marrietl, 
October 27, 1848, to Sarah Eyers, who 
was born in Pennsylvania in 1824, li^r par- 
ents being natives of the same state. She 
died in October, 1885, leaving no children, 
and on the 21st of April, 1895, ^^^'- Sim- 
mons was again married, his second union 
being with Mrs. Ninetta R. Rozell. iicc 
Strain. The lad}- was born in (jreene coun- 
ty, Ohio, and was there married to CJark 
Rozell, who was also a native of Greene 
county and died in Miami county in 1889. 
She lost a daughter in infancy, but has one 
son yet living, John B. Rozell, who was born 
in Montgomery county, Ohio, January 12, 
1877, and was married October 11. 1898, 
to Miss Pearl jNIcSherry, a daughter (;f 
James and Elizalieth (Pottorf) McSherr_\-. 



594 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



They liave one child. Leonard C. Rozell, who 
was born May lo. 1899. 

i\Ir. Simmons' death occurred \ery un- 
expectedly, although he had been ill for a 
3-ear jjrevious. He was a Democrat in his 
political faith and served as assessor and 
township clerk, filling the latter position for 
twenty-fi\-e years, a fact which well indi- 
cates the alile manner in which he discharged 
his duties. He was true to every trust re- 
jjciseil in him and in business affairs was 
thori::)Ughly reliable, enjoying the confidence 
and respect of his fellow men. Mrs. Sim- 
mons still resides upon the old homestead 
farm and is an estimable lady, having many 
friends in the community. 



\MLLI.\M L. GRAHAM. 

In America, wliere the hampering in- 
fluences of caste and class are not felt, true 
worth wins recognition and earnest labor 
finds its just reward. . As a result of close 
application and untiring diligence Mr. Gra- 
ham has become one of the well-to-do farm- 
ers and highly respected citizens of Bro\\n 
township. Miami county. He was born in 
this township, July 19, 1834, on the farm 
which is now' owned and occupied by Solo- 
mon Frazier. His parents were William 
and Clementina ( Middleton ) Graham, the 
former a native of Bucks county, Penn- 
.sylvania. and a son of Archibald Graham, 
a farmer x>f Scotch-Irish lineage. His 
grandfatlier was the founder of the family 
in America, and his father was one of the 
lieroes of the Revolutionary war. William 
Graham worked at the blacksmith's trade in 
Mercer county, Xew Jersey, and was there 
rrarried February 17, 1825, to Clementina 
Middleton. In 1832 he came with his fam- 



ily to Ohio and established a blacksmith's 
shop in Lena. In 1840 he removed to a 
farm on section i, Brown township, al- 
though in the meantime he had returned to 
Xew Jersey, in 1834. His old customers, 
howexer, had taken their patronage to either 
shops and he soon returned to Lena, where 
he remained until 1840, when he established 
his home upon the farm which continued 
to be- his place of residence until his death. 
The land had been entered from the gov- 
ernment by Edward Yates, who sold it to 
]\Ir. Graham, and after the death of the lat- 



ter's widow it was aeain soK 



Mr. Cira- 



ham left an estate comprising three hundred 
acres of valuable land, and, jirior to his 
death, he had assisted "all his children in ob- 
taining homes of their own. Reared in the 
Presbyterian church, in later life he became 
an acti\'e member of the Methodist church 
in Lena and dietl in that faith. In politics 
he was an old-line Democrat, but never 
sought or desired public ofifice. He had 
one brother and four sisters who came to 
Ohio. His death occurred January 21, 
1875. when he was about seventy-three 
years of age, his birth having occurred on 
the 7th uf ^lay, 1802. His wife, who was 
born March 20. 1804, passed away August 
18, 1883. They were the parents of seven 
children, and with the exception of Deborah, 
who died at the age of si.x years, all reachetl 
mature years. Charles was drowned when 
twenty-two years of age; Hannah, the widow 
of John Sargent, resides at Palestine, Shel- 
by county, Ohio; William L. is the next of 
the family; Emma Ijecame the wife of Frank 
D. Jones, of Lena, ;ind died at the age of 
sixty-two years; Elmira became the wife of 
Elmer Brecount. who was killed at Perr\-- 
ville. Kentucky, after which she was mar- 
ried again, making her home in Lena until 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



595 



lier death, at the age of forty-five years; 
and Mary is also a resident of Lena. 

William L. Graham, whose name intro- 
duces this re\ie\v, spent his childhood days 
under the parental roof, obtaining his edu- 
cation in the common schools, and in 1870 
received from his father twenty-nine acres 
of land, constituting a part of the old home- 
stead. And in addition to this he owns fifty- 
three acres, forming the site of his present 
home. He has made all of the improve- 
ments u|)i m his property, and has one of the 
neatest and most attractive homes in the 
township. It was erected in 1856, but has 
since ]:)een remodeled antl enlarged. He 
makes a specialty of the raising of grain, and 
has laid about two hundred and fifty rods of 
tiling upon his farm, thus reclaiming much 
of the wet land which liitlierto was unfit for 
cultivation. He certainly has one of the 
most arable and valuable small farms in his 
township. 

On the iJth of April, 1855, occurred 
the marriage of Mr. Graham and IMiss Lu- 
cinda M. Merritt, a daughter of Joseph and 
Kancy (Carter ) Merritt. The wedding 
took place at Lena, Miami county. The 
lady was born in W'arren county, Novem- 
ber 28, 1 83 1, and when about two years of 
age she came with her parents to Miami 
county, the family locating at Conover, 
whence they removed to Lena, where the 
father conducted a store for several years, 
and also held the office of postmaster. Sub- 
sequently he conducted a tavern, and both 
he and his wife became popular with the 
traveling public on account of the excellent 
entertainment which thev furnished their 
guests. Mr. Merritt continued in that busi- 
ness until his death, which occurred when he 
was fifty-fi\'e years of age. During the 
war of 1812 he served his countrv as a sol- 



dier. Llis wife, long surviving him, spent 
her last days in the home of. her daughter, 
Mrs. Graham, and died in 1870. Li the 
family of this worth)' couple were five chil- 
dren : Isaac, who was killed by a falling 
tree when twenty-one years of age; Mary, 
who became the wife of J. H. Kelly and died 
at the age of se\'enty-tw() years; Abraham, 
who died at his home in Columbus, Ohio, 
in 1893, when more than seventy years of 
age; Clarissa, who became the wife of 
George Ross and removed to Illinois, where 
she died at the age of thirty years; and Lu- 
cinda, who is tiie only survivor of the fam- 
ily. Unto ]Mr. and ^Irs. Graham were 
Ijorn three children, but mie, .Vrtliur Elwood, 
died at the age of two and a half years. The 
daughters, Clara Elma and Ella May, are 
twins. The former is the wife of Forest 
A. Colvin, an overall manufacturer of Green- 
ville, Ohio, and Ella May is at home. Both 
have received musical training, and the par- 
ents and their daughters are members of the 
Methodist Episcopal church, in which he 
has served as trustee. In politics he is a 
stalwart Democrat, and for six years prior 
to 1899 he held the office of township trus- 
tee. For six years Mr. Graham also served 
on the agricultural board of Miami county, 
and there made an en\ial)le rejiutation as a 
careful and painstaking official. Socially he 
is a very prominent IMason, having become a 
member of Social Lodge, No. 217, F. & A. 
M., at Lena, more than thirty years ago. 
He has taken a very active interest in the 
work of the lodge, was master for three 
years, and has been a representative to the 
grand lodge. He also belongs to St. Paris 
Chapter, No. 132, R. A. M.. is an active 
companion in Capitular Masonry, has served 
as high priest of the chapter and has also 
sat in the grand chapter. ^Ir. Ciraham is a 



596 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



most liighly esteemed resident of ]\Iiami 
county, and withholds his support from no 
measure or movement which he beheves will 
prove of public good along social, moral, 
material and educational lines. 



JOHN WATKIXS MOORE. 

Among the practical and enterprising 
farmers of Brown township. Miami county, 
none is more worthy of high regard than 
]\Ir. ^h:)ore, antl it is therefore with pleasure 
that we present the record of his life to our 
readers as that of a representative citizen of 
the community. He was born in Dearborn 
countv, Indiana, ten miles north of the Ohio 
river, on the i8th of February. 1830, his 
parents being Isaac and ]\Iary (W'atkins) 
Moore. Their marriage was celelirated ten 
miles south of Dayton, Ohio, and later they 
removed to the Hoosier state. The father 
was a native of Maryland and when a young- 
man came with his parents to the west, driv- 
ing a team from ^Maryland to Dearliorn 
county, Indiana. Taking up his abode in 
this state, he was employed on the locks at 
P'ranklin. and there he met his wife while 
boarding with the W'atkins family in Center- 
ville. Tlie lady was a tlaughter of William 
Watkins. who came to Ohio from Kentucky, 
and her birth occurred in the Buckeye state, 
in ]8ii. After their marriage Mr. and 
Mrs. Moore returned to Indiana, and when 
their son John was three months old they 
took up their abode at Centerville, Ohio, and 
the father operated the W'atkins farm until 
the fall of 1831, when he came to Miami 
County, establishing a home in the north- 
eastern corner of Brown township, adjoin- 
ir.g the boundary line between Miami and 
Champaign counties and a mile south of tlie 
Shelby county line, .\boul fifteen acres of 



the land had been cleared and a two-room 
log house had been built. Several fam- 
ilies from Centerville came to the county 
about the same time, and the Moore family 
made a pernianent location here. The father 
developed a good farm of one hundred and 
si.Nteen acres and thus aided in reclaiming 
the w ild land for the purpose of civilization. 
He died in 1879. at the age of seventy-five 
years, his l)irth having occurred in 1804. 
His wife had passed away some vears ])re- 
\-ious, being about si.xty years old at the 
time of her death. In the family were nine 
children, five of whom were li\-ing at the 
time of the father's death, while three vet ■ 
survive. These were: J. W'., of this re- 
view: Thomas S., who is li\-ing in Brown 
township: Martha Jane, wife of Thomjison 
Counts, also of Brown township: losepli M.. 
who died at the age of forty-five, leaving a 
widow, who is living in Conover: and .\lex- 
ander. who died at the age of si.xtv vears. 
leax'ing a w idow, who resides in Lena. These 
were the only members of the familv who 
reached years of maturity. The father was 
one of the original class of Methodists in 
Lena and contributed to the building of a 
li.'g house of worship known as the ^It. Ver- 
non church. In politics he was a Demo- 
crat, but never took an active ])art in polit- 
ical affairs. His wife was a laily of domestic 
tastes, her interests centering in her family, 
and for many years prior to her tleath she 
was an invalid. 

John W'atkins .Moore spent the first 
eighteen years of his life upon the old home- 
stead and then learned the wagonmaker's 
trade with Israel Roberts, of Lena, serving 
a three-years apprenticeship, during which 
time be received thirty dollars per year and 
liis boaixl. On the expiration of that period 
he bought the business of his cmi)li;\er. in 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



597 



connection witli the latter's son, \Villiam 
Roberts, liis wages being applied as part of 
the purchase price. The shop was located 
on the stage route between Columbus and 
Piqua, and-as that was then a greatly traveled 
road he did a good business, their partner- 
ship continuing lor ele\en years. They had 
learnetl the trade together and the most 
pleasant relationship existed between them. 
On the expiration of that period Mr. Moore 
sold his interests to JNIr. Roberts, who still 
conducts the shop. 

Turning his attention to agricultural 
pursuits, our subject operated a rented farm 
for six years, and in 1861 he purchased his | 
present farm of eighty acres for which he 
paid f(.irty-three dollars per acre. The greater 
part of it was covered with hea\'y timljcr 
ar.d l)ut few imi)rovements had been made, 
but through his enterprising efforts Mr. 
Moore has nearly the entire tract untler cul- 
tixation. He realizeil a fair income from his 
timber, which was used both for wood and 
conversion into lumber in a saAvmill in the 
neighborhood. Since coming to the farm 
he has devoted his attention exclusively to 
its development and improvement, has in- 
creased its Ijoundaries Iiy the purchase of an 
additional forty acres, and has made a spe- 
c'alt}- of the raising of grain. The place is 
well drained, for he has placed about four 
hundred rods of tiling upon it, thus reclaim- 
ing a swampy tract and making it \-ery profit- 
able. His improvements include a comfort- 
able residence and first-class outbuildings, 
together with all the accessories and con- 
\eniences of a model farm of the twentieth 
century . 

Mr. Moore was married October 26, 
i<S54, to Hannah Howland, a daughter of 
Albert and Caroline (Throckmorton) How- 
Ir.nd. Se\'eral families came from Xew Jer- 



sey, by wagon, to Warren county, Ohio, and 
with the party were Albert Howland and 
Caroline Throckmorton, the former then 
eighteen and the latter fourteen years of age. 
Not long after this they were married and 
two cliildren were born to them in \\'arren 
count}-. In 1825 they came to Brown tnwn- 
ship, establishing a home in the southeni 
part of that section of the county. It was 
here that Mrs. Moore was born, August 4, 
1833. ^'^'^ upon the old family homestead 
the parents spent their remaining clays, the 
father dying at the age of seventy-five, the 
mother when fifty-three ^^ears of age. They 
had a family of ten children, sex'en of wlmm 
reached years of maturity: Deborah, wife 
of Edmond Lewis, of Casstown; Lydia, 
wife of ]\lichael Duncan, of Fletcher; Jane, 
wife of John Weatherhead, of Troy ; George, 
a resident of Girard, Illinois : John, who was 
engaged in the livery business in Troy at the 
time of his death : Alliert, who resided near 
Decatur, Illinois, at the time of his death ; 
and Hannah. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Moore 
have been born two sons — Albert Howland 
and Faren Isaac. The former married Sarah 
J Fl<iwers and operates one of his father's 
farms. By his union he has three children, 
— Hattie. wife of Jason Bair; Horace and 
Clifford. Faren I. Moore married Dema 
Moon, a daughter of James and Harriet 
(Dorsey) Moon, whose farm lies l.ioth in 
Shelby and Champaign counties. Charity- 
chapel stands upon a portion of the tract. 
Mr. Moon is a son' of Mahlon Moon, of 
Bucks county, Pennsylvavn'a, who came to 
Ohio when four years nid. at which time his 
parents located in Greene county. At the 
age of eighteen he came to the farm upon 
which his son James resided and there died 
at the age of eighty-four years. James 
M(ii)nl)ec,amethe owner uf the old homestead 



598 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and operated that farm througlmiit liis re- 
maining days, extending' its boundaries by 
additional purchases. He died May 3. 1897, 
at tlie age of seventy-fi\e years, and iiis 
widow still occupies t!ie old farm. .\t h"s 
death he left six children, tliree of whom are 
in Jliami county, namely: \\'illiam. who is 
a trustee of Brown township; Mrs. Moore: 
and Sarah Ellen, wife of Alex Mahan. of 
Lest Creek township. IMrs. Moore was 
born on the old family homestead. June 1 1. 
1871. and was married January 29. 1891. to 
Faren I. ]^Ioore. They have had two chil- 
dren. — Irena Dale, who died at the age of 
two and a half years: and Clara ^larie. 
Faren I. Moore operates his father's farm. 
Both sons were at home until their marriage 
and were provided with good educational 
pri\-ileges. Mr. Moore and his wife, his sons 
and their wives, are members of the Charity 
Chapel Christian church, of which lie is 
a deacon and trustee. In politics he is a 
Democrat, but has never sought or desired 
political ])referment. his time and attention 
being closely gi\-en to his business affairs, 
in which he has met with creditable success. 



JCDGE \\'.\LTER D. JOXES. 

In the last half-century the lawyer has 
been a pre-eminent factor in all affairs of 
private concern and national importance. 
He has been depended u[)on to conserve the 
best and permanent interests of the whole 
people, and is a recognizd power in all the 
avenues of life. He stands as the protector 
of the rights and liberties of his fellow men. 
and is the representative of a profession 
whose followers, if they would gain honor, 
fame and success, must l)e men of merit and 
abilitv. Such a one is Walter D. Jones, of 



Piqua, Ohio, judge of the common ])leas 
court. 

He was born in that city. June 21. 1857, 
and is a son of Hon. ]vl. H. and Jane 
( Wood) Jones. The father is a prominent 
lawyer of Miami county, who has l)een suc- 
cessfully engaged in practice for a ])eriod 
of fifty-two years. He was born in the Dis- 
trict of Columbia, in 1825. and his wife was 
born in New Hampshire, ill 1828, a daugh- 
ter of Timothy Davis Wood, an old resident 
of ]\Iiami county. 

Judge Tones was reared and educated in 
riijua, graduating at the high school of 
that city in 1872. He then learned the 
printer's trade, and subsec^uently entered the 
office of the Miami Helmet, of Pi(jua, and 
he continued his connection with newspaper 
work in \arious cai)acities for several years. 
He read law in the meantime under his fa- 
ther's direction, and in 1878 was admitted to ' 
the bar before the sui)reme court of the 
state, at Columbus, Ohio. He commenced 
practice at Piqua in partnership with his 
• father under the firm name of M. H. & \\ . 
D. Jones, a connection which continued until 
he was appointed by Governor Bushnell com- 
mon pleas judge of the second ju<licial dis- 
trict of Ohio, to fill the \acancy occasioned 
by the election of Judge Theodore Sullivan 
as circuit court judge. Judge Jones was 
elected by the people, in the Xo\-eniber elec- 
tion, 1899, to fill the unexpired term of 
Judge Sullivan. As a lawyer Judge Jones 
was careful, methodical and industrious. He 
always came into court with his cases well 
prepared, both on tiie law and the evidence, 
and was \ery successful as a practitioner. He 
and his father had for years enjoyed the lead- 
ing practice in the city of Piqua. He was 
elected for six terms city solicitor of Pic|ua, 
and served for twelve vears in that othce 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



599 



to tlie satisfaction of the people, he estab- 
lishing the repntation of being an able and 
excellent mnnicipal lawyer. 

In politics Judge Jones is an uncom- 
promising Republican, but not an active 
worker. He was never an office-seeker and 
cared but little for the honor of office, but 
was devoted to his chosen profession. Up- 
right, honest and honorable, he has the con- 
fidence of the people, and is winning on the 
bench the character of an able, impartial 
jurist. He is a man of good literary taste 
and an able writer, but apparently has no 
ambition for literary honors. He is a 
prominent [Mason, having served as worship- 
ful master of WaTren Lodge, No. 24, F. & 
A. M., and high priest of Piqua Chapter, 
No. 31. 

In 1879 Judge Jones was married to Miss 
Laura Harlow, of Piqua, wdio was born in 
Tennessee, and was in her eighteenth year 
when she came to Ohio with her parents. 
Rev. William D. and Kate (Tuttle) Har- 
low, locating in ]\Iianii county. To this 
unii m was Ijorn a daughter, Laura C. Judge 
Jones resided in the city of Piqua, wdiere 
he was born and where he has lived to the 
present time, and from the above record of 
his life it will be observed that he is an ex- 
ception to the rule that a young man cannot 
rise ti) fame in his own city and among his 
own kin. e. s. w. 



"JOHN F. ADAMS. . 

Jiilin F. Adams, one of tiie well known 
farmers of Staunton township, was born in 
Troy on the i6'th of July, 1833, a S(.)n of 
Da\id Adams, whose birth occurred in. 
Iredell county. North Carolina. July 29, 
1784. The father came with his family to 
Ohi(5. locating in Preble county in 1816, 



and removed to Miami county in 18 17, set- 
tling in Concord township, where he took 
up a tract of government land of one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, for which he paid two 
dollars and a half per acre. He w^as mar- 
ried, in North Carolina, to Miss SalHe Hall, 
and they had a family of five children : 
Lewis J., Emeline and Elizabeth, all of 
whom are deceased, and two who died in 
infancy. After the death of his first wife 
the father w'as married, in 1828, to Elenor 
Dugan, wdio- was born December 2y. 1797, 
and they became the parents of five children, 
as follows : Andrew, now deceased : Jiihn 
F., of this review; David M., who resides in 
Kansas; Martha D., who resides with her 
brother, John F. : and Sarah E., who mar- 
ried Robert ]\I(.)ffet and died in 1861. The 
father made the trip westward from North 
Carolina by team, and casting" in his lot 
with the pi(")neer settlers he lived in the true 
pioneer style. His first home was a log 
cabin, erected in the midst of the dense 
forest. For a time he engaged in agricult- 
ural pursuits. Init alxiut 1827 went to Tro)-, 
where he carried on his trade of wagonmak- 
ing. His was a long, active and useful life, 
and he passed away March 26, 1875. when 
more than ninety years of age, respected Iiy 
all who knew him. His wife survived him 
until February iS, 1879, when she was laid 
to rest. 

John Finley Adams, whose name begins 
this record, was reared in Troy, obtaining 
his education in the public schools of that 
city, and during his boyhood began work 
in a wagon shop with his father. At the 
age of twenty years he filled the position of 
chainman with the engineers engaged on 
the construction of the Dayton & Michigan . 
Railroad, being thus employed from 1852 
until the spring of 1855, when he remo\'ed 



GOO 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



to Carver county. Minnesota. There he 
took up a liome.stead of one Innulred and 
sixty acres, Init in Xcjveniber of the same 
year he returned to Troy and the following 
spring engaged in farming in Concord town- 
ship. He continued the operation of land 
there until i88,v when he came to his pres- 
ent farm in Staunton township. Here he 
has a rich tract of forty acres, pleasantly lo- 
cated about three miles from Troy. He car- 
ries on general farming and his land is 
under a high state of cultivation. 

Like many of the residents of the neigh- 
borhood, Mr. Adams went to the defense 
of his country in response to the call for 
men to serve for one hundred days. He en- 
listed on the 1 6th of May. 1864. becoming 
a member of Company H, One Hundred 
and Forty-se\-enth Ohio Infantry. The 
regiment was mustered in at Camp Dennison 
and participated in the defense of Washing- 
ton until .\ugust 30, 1864, \vhen the men 
received an honorable discharge. 

Mr. Adams then returned to his home, 
and on the ist of January. 1866, he mar- 
ried Miss Isabella G. Pence, who passed 
awav October 9, 1897. In pohtics he is a 
Prohibitionist, and is a member of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church of Troy, his sul)- 
stantial supiiurt and enci.nu"agement being- 
given to temperance mnvements and to all 
measures calculated to jjniniote the advance- 
ment of the comnuuiity along educational, 
material and mural lines. 



HEXRY C. .VXD MILKS K. BROWX. 

These brothers are well known farmers 
of Miami county and representatives of one 
of the pioneer families of this section of the 
state. Their grandfather. James Brown, 
was born and reared in X'irginia. whence 



he removed to Kentucky, locating near 
Cvnthiana. He married Miss Martha Sum- 
mers and in 1805. with his family and two 
brothers, left Kentucky, taking up his aliotle 
upon a farm of three hundred and thirty- 
two acres in Washington township, Miami 
county, south of Piqua. One of his brothers 
located near Muncie. Indiana, and the other 
at Connersville, that state. The old home- 
stead owned by James Brown is now in 
jXDSsession of T. C. Brown. The grandfa- 
ther served as a soldier in the war of 181 2, 
and throughout his active business career 
he carried on agricultural pursuits, his 
death occurring on his farm in December, 
1845. His children were: John; Thomas, 
who died near Logansport, Indiana : James, 
deceased ; Har\-ey, who married Miss Hil- 
liard and dieil near Logansport, Indiana ; 
William, who married Miss McCandless, 
and afterward a widow named Smith, and 
died near Logansport; Benjamin F., who 
married Miss Mary Hilliard, and died in 
Washington township, Miami county ; Mary, 
who became the wife of Robert Houston and 
in 1848, went to Lynn county. Oregon, 
where she died ; Elizabeth, who became the 
wife of Harvey Houston and died in Shelby 
cuuntv, Ohio; and Sarah, who married 
Robert McCandless and died at Logansport, 
Indiana. 

John Brown, the father of our subjects, 
was born near Cvnthiana. Kentucky, Oc- . 
ti.ber j^, 1794, and was eleven years old 
when .he accompanied his parents on their 
removal to Miami county. He aided his 
father in clearing the land and improving 
the farm. As the work of civilization had 
hardlv been liegun in this country, there 
were no schools and he obtained but little 
education. His entire experience in the 
school room covered but thirtv davs. His 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



601 



father, liowexer, was a fairly educated man. 
and from liis teacliing John Brown gathered 
much useful knowledge. When (juite young 
he left his home and began learning the 
hatter's trade. ser\-ing an apprenticeshij) in 
Piqua. and cunipleting his trade in Lexing- 
t(in. Kentucky. He afterward purchased 
property in Piqua. where the Plaza Hotel 
now stands, and there successfully conducted 
business along the line of his chosen voca- 
tion for several years. He entered from 
the goxernment a part of the land now 
owned by our subjects. He was highly es- 
teemed both as a man and a citizen, for he 
possessed many good qualities. Although 
not a member of any church, his life was 
characterized liy earnest Christian principles. 
Politically he was a \Miig. giving an earnest 
support to the principles of the jiarty. He 
was twice married, his first union being 
with Turzah Brandon, their wedding being 
celebrated October 13, 18 19. The lady was 
born February 14. 1801, in North Carolina, 
and was a daughter of Abel and Jeanette 
Brandon. She died November 12, 1837. 
and on the 31I of January, 1839. Mr. Brown 
was united in marriage to Miss Mary Knox, 
whose birth -occurred in Wilson county. 
Tennessee, in July, iBog. Her father. \\'ill- 
iani Knox, became one of the pioneer set- 
tlers of Miami countv. locating on Trotter's 
creek in Newberry township. Mr. Brown 
died at his home in Piqua Septeniljer 15. 
1846, and his second wife, long survi\'ing 
him. passed away Juh' 14. 1888. 

Tlie chiklren of his first marriage are as 
follows: Elizabeth, born April 19. 1821, 
liecame the wife of James Knox and died 
in New Paris, Preble county, in 1872: Nel- 
son, born Septemljer 22. 1824, wedded 
Sarah Winner and died in ^\'ashington 
township, ]\Iiami county, January 15, 1S66; 



William Armstrong, born Februarv 12. 
1827. died January 21. 1866: Martha Jane, 
born January 6. 1829. became the wife of 
Hiram Ewing. who died at Port Jefferson, 
Ohio, and after his death she married Henry 
Krug, her own death occurring in Logans- 
port. Indiana: James Elli.son. born January 
24. 1 83 1, died February 3. 1833: Sarah Ann, 
born July 30, 1833, became the wife of 
Logan Rogers and died January 5, i860; 
John Madison, born December 17. 1835, 
married Sarah Johnson, who died March 4, 
1882. He acquired his educatii^i in the 
public schools of Picjua and learned the tan- 
ner's trade, which he followed for many 
years in that city. He was also engaged 
in the tanning business for two years in 
V^ersaitles. Ohio. He now makes his home 
with his brothers. Henry and Miles. In pol- 
itics he is a stanch Rejuiblican. and socially 
is connected with the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows. 

The children of John Brown and Mary 
Knox are four in nimiber : James Harvey, 
born February 28, 1840. died at the age of 
fifteen years; Mary Turzah. the only daugh- 
ter, was born September 2. 1842; lienry 
Clay, born September 20. 1844. is now liv- 
ing on the old homestead at Pic|ua. He 
was educated in the public schools of that 
city, and. in connection with his brother. 
Miles Knox, he owns the old home farm of 
two hundreil and fiftv acres. He attends 
the Baptist church of Piqua. and is a mem- 
ber of the ^Masonic Lodge, No. 24. Miles 
Knox, the youngest of the famih-. was born 
November 9, 1846, at the home in Piqua. 
He pursued his education in the public 
schools of that city until sixteen years of 
age. He was then employed in a machine 
shop for a year and a half. In 1866 he 
went to the farm with his brother and they 



G02 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



have since carried on agricultural pursuits. 
Their place is under a high state of culti- 
vation and as the result of their care and 
lab.or the well-tilled fields yield to them an 
excellent return. Miles K. Brown has at- 
tended tiie Baptist church, and is a stanch 
Repuhlican in pnlitics. In manner he is 
genial and affaljle. and both brothers are 
regarded as reliable business men. who com- 
mand the high esteem of all whom they have 
been lirought in contact. 



JOSEPH M. STUDEBAKER. 

Joseph Isl. Studebaker, who follows 
farming in Elizal^eth township, was born in 
Bethel township, ]\Iiami county, June 28, 
1849. His parents were Jacob S. and -Mary 
(IMiller) Studeliaker, and the father of our 
subject was born upon the old Studebaker 
homestead in Miami county. In 1850 he 
settled upon the farm where his son Joseph 
now lives, then a partially improved tract, 
but was not long permitted to enjoy his 
new- home, for his death occurred ^lay 21st 
of the same year, when lie was thirty-six 
years of age. He left three children, the 
eldest being Elizabeth, who died in Alarch, 
1885. rhe1:ie, the second daughter, became 
the wife of Oliver Yount. and is now the 
wife of William Teter, of Dayton. The 
mother died of typhoid fever February 13, 
1853, and then the children were left 
orphans. They went to li\e with relatives 
and Joseph M. Studebaker, then three years 
of age, became a member of the family of his 
mother's uncle, George Warner, of Mont- 
gomerv countv. It proved an excellent 
home for him, and to habits of industry, 
economy and honesty he was trained. He 
attended the public schools of the neighbor- 
hooil until sixteen years of age and then 



returned to Miami county, where lie worked 
by the month for two seasons. He then 
rented land, in connection with his uncle 
Isaac, and in his farming operations met with 
good success. 

On the i6th of January, 1873, Mr. Stu- 
debaker married ]\Iiss ^lary A. Clyne, a 
daughter of Isaac Clyne, who was born on 
the farm where the father now lives. The 
property adjoins the.farm which is now their 
home. The young couple began their do- 
mestic life here in a log caliin. which had 
been erected by Isaac Sheets. With char- 
acteristic energ3' ]\Ir. Studel)aker began the 
improvement of the place. The windows 
had all been broken out of the house, but 
he placed it in a habitable condition and 
it is still standing, although it has been 
re-roofed. In 1886 he erected his present 
home, which is a pleasant and commodious 
residence, built of brick and containing 
eleven rooms. There are also good out- 
buildings and other desirable improvements, 
including well-tilled fields, which add to the 
value and attractiveness of the home and in- 
dicate the careful super\ision of the owner. 
In 1873 he had about one hundred acres 
under cultivation, the remamder l)eing tim- 
ber and waste land. The latter he has re- 
claimed by under drainage, having laid 
nearly a mile of tiling. He purchased his 
sister's interest in the farm and has added 
to it a tract of thirty-five acres. He suc- 
cessfully carries on general farming, wheat 
being his principal crop. In 1873 '^^ owned 
a one-third interest in the place and has 
received about twenty-two hundred dollars 
as his income from the farm. He went in 
debt nine hundred dollars in order to pur- 
chase the interest of one of the sisters and 
met this b\' annual payments of one hundred 
and fiftv dollars per year. Ten years later 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



603 



he purchased his other sister's interest, thus 
assuming an indebtedness of fifteen hundred 
doUars. He has devoted his attention ex- 
clusi\'ely to farming and has attained a high 
degree of success. 

Unto ]\Ir. and Mrs. Studeljalcer have 
been born two children, Alvaii C. and Viola 
L. The daughter has been a student of the 
Trny high school and the son pursued a com- 
mercial com-se in Springfield, Ohio. He 
now operates the Isaac Clyne farm. He is 
married and has one child, Gladys Marie. 
The mcither is a member of th^ Baptist 
church. Mr. Studebaker lias given his po- 
litical support to the Republican party and 
has served as school director and supervisor, 
but has not sought or desired j.iolilical pre- 
ferment. His life has been quietly passed 
in the faithful performance of his duties and 
he is known as one of the representative 
farmers of his neighborhood. 



FRANK BURKHOLDER. 

It certainly speaks volumes for Miami 
county that so many of her sons and daugh- 
ters, e\en to tlie second and third genera- 
tions, have maintained their homes and 
sought prosperity in this rich and favorable 
section of the state. Among these none 
stands higher in the public regard than 
Frank Burkholder, win:) is now t!ie popular 
and efiicient superintendent of the Troy 
Buggy Works, a position to which be has 
attained entirely through bis i;i\\n efforts, 
his promotion having resulted from his faith- 
fulness and ability displayed in the service 
of the company. 

Mr. Burkholder was burn Xcjvember ii, 
1867, in Concord township, ]\Iiami county. 
In the early '50s his father, James Burk- 
holder, removed from Lancaster countv. 



Pennsylvania, ti_) ^liami damty. and was 
employed at .-Mien's Mills. He is now spend- 
ing his declining years in Troy in an hon- 
ored retirement from labor, and can look 
back over the past without regret iov op- 
portunities lost. On the breaking out of 
the civil war he enlisted in the Eighth Ohio 
Cavalry, and faithfully served his country 
for three years as an honored defender of 
the starry banner. In Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, he had married Miss Sarah 
Stine, who departed this life in May, 1893. 
Frank Burkholder, whose name intro- 
duces this review, pursued his education in 
the public schools of Concord township un- 
til sixteen years of age, when he entered 
upon his business career as an emplo}'e in 
the factory in which he is now superintend- 
ent. The duties assigned him were those of 
the stockkeeper. and by stearly, ini<lustrious 
habits and strict attention to business he has 
gradually risen, step by step, until he is now 
superintendent. For some time he acted as 
shipping clerk, for seven years was assistant 
superintendent and since 1897 has filled his 
present position. As the years have passed 
he has also risen in the esteem of the em- 
ploves and owners of the factor}' and to- 
day he enjoys the high regard and uniform 
confidence of all those with whom he has 
been brought in contact. When he first en- 
tered the employ of the Troy Buggy Com- 
pany, the output was only about five buggies 
per week, and now it has grown to about 
thirtv-five hundred per year, which includes 
every style of buggy or carriage known to 
the trade. The output has an en\iable rep- 
utation throughout the nation for the qual- 
ity of the material used, the e.Kcellence of 
workmanship and the perfection of finish. 
A specialty is made of pneumatic tire ve- 
hicles. The works are supplied with all the 



C04 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



latest and best machinery and a glance over 
the plant reveals perfect order, system and 
thiiroughness in all departments. Absolute 
harmony prevails among employes and em- 
ployers. The foreman of each department 
in made responsible for the men under him 
and he engages and discharges all those 
who work in his department and fixes the 
wages. There is no interference with his 
work on the part of superior officers. Mr. 
Burkholder buys all materials and makes all 
contracts. The higher officials honor and 
trust him and among the employes of the 
factorv the general opinion was well ex- 
pressed by t)ne who said, "Mr. Burkholder 
is as true as steel." It is this quality that 
has led to his success. 

On the /th of January, 1892. Mr. Burk- 
holder was married, at Troy, to Miss Nellie 
?vl. Gallagher, a native of this city and a 
daughter of Patrick Gallagher. Socially 
he is connected with the Odd Fellows so- 
ciety of Troy, and politically with the Re- 
jjublican party. His advancement has re- 
sulted entirely from his own efforts, and the 
most envious therefore cannot grudge him 
him his success. His unflagging industry, his 
fidelity to duty and faithfulness to trust have 
been the ste])ping stones on which he has 
risen to the jjosition which is indeed credit- 
able. 



OLl\KR SULLIVAX. 

01i\er Sullivan is successfully engaged 
in business as a grain dealer at Re.x. and 
his prosperity has come as the reward of his 
own efforts. His life has been well spent 
and his honorable and useful career is 
worthy of ennilation. His course has been 
guided b\- that practical common sense which 
never runs to extreme-;, antl this, supple- 



mented by his unflagging industry, has won 
him a place among the substantial citizens 
of Miami county. 

Mr. Sullivan was born in the neighbor- 
ing county of Montgomery, his birth having 
occurred at Taylorsville, seven miles north 
of Dayton, on the 5th of September, 1845. 
His father. Samuel Sullivan, was one of the 
early settlers of that locality, having located 
there in 1833. In 1858 he removed with 
his family to Bethel township, Miami coun- 
ty, taking up his residence upon a farm, 
when Oliver Sullivan was about thirteen 
years of age. He spent his boyhood days 
under the parental roof, in. fact, remained 
with his father until thirty-one years of 
age, and was actively associated with him 
in the management and operation of the 
farm. Subse(|uent!y he formed a partner- 
ship with his father and began the manu- 
facture of linseed oil and flour in Tippe- 
canoe Citv, the business relationship being 
maintained for ten years. The son gave 
to the business his personal attention and 
on the expiration of that ])eriod he built an 
elevator at Tadmor Station, near his fa- 
ther's home, the latter joining him in that 
business. Subsequently, however, Mr. Sul- 
livan, of this review, entered the regular 
mail service, with which be was connected 
for .se\en years, running between Indian- 
apolis and Pitt.sburg. He then spent twelve 
vears in the railroad service as an employe 
of the Rock Island and Xortlnvcstern com- 
panies, running out of Chicago. In Sep- 
tember, i8()7, liowe\'er. he severed his re- 
lations with that business, and in 1898 he 
l)urchased his present elevator at Rex. Here 
he handles all kinds of grain and has built 
up a good business, which has not only 
brought to him ])ros]>erity but has proved of 
material benefit to the coniniunitx- b\' fur- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



605 



nishing- a market for the farmers who sell 
ti) him their grain. He lias eqiii])pe(l the 
ele\'ator with new machinery nf modern 
constriiction. inchuling- a twenty-horse- 
power engine. He has an excellent corn 
sheller anil is supplied with all the api)liances 
known to the modern grain merchant who 
carries on business along- progressive lines. 
On the _'6th of March. 1868, Mr. Sulli- 
van was married, in Dayton, Ohio, to Miss 
Alma A. Smith, a daughter of John Smith. 
a teacher of this city. Mrs. Sullivan also 
engaged in teaching and is a lady of marked 
culture and literary ability. Their union 
has been 'blessed with two children; (irace 
W. is now the wife of W. T. Sherman and 
resides with her parents. She has one child, 
Howard Cook Sherman. Fanny, the 
younger daughter, is still at home and in 
Bethed and Troy high schools has acipiired 
a lilieral education. Mr. Sullivan well de- 
serves mention among the prominent Inisi^ 
ness men of Miami county and should find 
a place in the history of those whose enter- 
prise has contributed to the welfare and 
progress of the community. His force of 
character, sterling integrity and ability to 
control circumstances ha\e won to bim a 
well-merited prosperit\\ 



TAMES E. 



AND THOMAS B. GEAR- 
HEART. 



James E. and Thomas B. Gearheart are 
enterprising farmers and own and operate 
the old homestead in Elizabeth township. 
Among the first settlers in Miami county 
were John and Catherine (Bourcatman) 
Gearheart, the great-grandparents, who took 
up their abode here in the pioneer epoch of 
the county's development. They settled 
where Isaac Sheets now lives, and the great- 



grandfather was almost a centenarian, at the 
time of his death, haxing attained his ninety- 
ninth. His \\ife had passed away many 
years previous. It is known that bis mother 
came from Pennsylvania with bim. She 
was then an old lady and for many years was 
blind. She, too, was almost a centenarian 
when called to her final rest. John Gear- 
heart, the grandfather, was Ijorn in Penn- 
sylvania, in 1790, and was therefore quite 
young when the family came to Ohio. He 
was married near Urbana to Eleanor Beatty, 
who came from \'irginia to Ohio during 
her childhood. They located on a farm in 
Elizabeth township, near the Kyle cemetery, 
and there Mr. Gearheart cleared and culti- 
vated land, becoming one of the enterpris- 
ing and progressive agriculturists of the 
community. He carried on farming until 
his death, wdiich occurred August 16, 1850, 
his wife surviving bim until January 3, 
1871. 

Upon the old farm in Elizabeth town- 
ship James M. (iearheart, the father of James 
E. and Thomas B., was l)orn ilarch 10, 
1824. \Mien be was abi_)Ut fifteen years of 
age his parents removed to the farm upon 
which his widow and children now reside. 
He had one brother, Ji.)hn X., who is now a 
resident of Troy. 

In the usual manner of farmer ' lads 
James M. Gearheart spent the days of his 
boyhood and youth, and, having arrived at 
years of maturity, be was married, on the 
1 6th of September, 1847, to Miss ]\Iatilda 
Sprowl, who lived on an adjoining farm. 
Thev began their domestic life ujjon a farm 
in Elizabeth townsbii), where the father 
spent his entire life. He became the owner 
of one hundred and fifty acres of rich and 
arable land, the greater part of which w-as 
under a high state of cultivation. In his 



606 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



farming methods he was both practical and 
progressixe. and his liome was one of tlie 
1)est properties of the neighborhood. After 
a long illness he passed away, ]\Iarch 6, 1884, 
and the community moiu'ned the loss of one 
of its best citizens. His w ife. who was born 
.March 5. 1824. and was. therefore, just 
live days his senior, is still li\ing upon the 
okl homestead. The present residence was 
completed the fall \n-ior to her husband's 
.death. He left his family in good circum- 
stances, and yivs. Gearheart is now well pro- 
vided with the comforts and many of the 
luxuries of life. Air. Gearheart was a man 
of very genial and kindly disposition, who 
could not do too much to enhance the wel- 
fare and happiness of his family. He won a 
large circle of friends, all of whom esteemed 
him highly for his sterling worth. In re- 
ligious faith he was a Methodist, holding 
membership w ith that church. He accorded 
to all the right which he reserved for him- 
self of forming his own opinions in religious 
matters. His wife remains a member of the 
Presbyterian church. 

Unto Mr. and ]\lrs. Gearheart were born 
six children: John H., Robert S., William 
J., James E., Thomas B. and Hilary B. 
The sons, James E. and Thomas B. Gear- 
heart, operate the old homestead farm and 
are recognized as enterprising agriculturists 
of the community. Their fields are well 
tilled, buildings and fences kept in good re- 
pair and all the improvements of the model 
farm are seen around their place. In busi- 
ness circles they sustain an enviable repu- 
tation for straightforward dealing, and thus 
they have gained the confidence and esteem 
of all with whom they have been brought 
im contact. James E. Gearheart was mar- 
ried, l-'ebruary 20. 1897. the lady of his 
choice having 1)een Miss Ida Smith, daugh- 



ter of John and Alary (IdamilerJ Smith, 
of AlontgomerV county, Ohio. The family- 
is one <_)f prominence in the community, and 
the members of the household Inne a large 
circle of friends in the cotmty. 



DAXIEL SWALLOW. 

One of the oldest millers of Ohio and 
one of the most capable representatives of 
this industry is Daniel Swallow, who is con- 
ducting a successful business in the line of 
his chosen vocation in Bethel township, Mi- 
ami county. He was born in Butler town- 
ship. Montgomery county, on the 3d of July, 
1 83 1, and is a son of James O. and Judith 
( Hutchins) Swallow.. His parents were 
married in Butler township and there re- 
sided for some years. From the pioneef 
epoch in the history of Ohio the family has 
.been identified \vith its upbuilding" and im- 
provement along material lines. The grand- 
father, Sylvanus Swallow, was a resident of 
Pennsylvania, whence he came to the Buck- 
eye state during the war of 181 2. James 
O. Swallow was a farmer and lumber manu- 
facturer. He owned an extensive and 
valuable tract of land and for thirty years 
he was engaged in the lumber business, op- 
erating an old water mill on Poplar creek 
at that early day, and later conducting a 
steam mill at \'andalia. Prominent in the 
affairs of the community, he served for 
twenty-one years as justice of the peace, 
discharging his duties with marked ability 
and fairness. His political support was 
given the Repulilican party and he took an 
active interest in its work and success. His 
entire married life was spent in Butler town- 
ship, Montgomery county. His death oc- 
curred in \'andalia, in his sixty-sixth year. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



GOT 



His wife passed away when about the same 
age. 

Daniel Swallow, whose name introduces 
tliis re\'iew, began work in his father's mill 
when about fifteen years of age and occupied 
the position of head sawyer in the steam mill 
at V^andalia. Subsequently he purchased 
a half-interest in that mill, his partner being 
Jacob Kaufman. After several years they 
sold out, and ilr. Swallow removed to Tad- 
mor, Montgomery county, where he built 
acircular-saw mill, which he operated for two 
years. In 1872 he came to his present home 
in Bethel township, Miami county, and, in 
])artnership with John Ross, purchased the 
steam mill which he now conducts. The re- 
lationship was maintained for nine years and 
afterward JNIr. Swallow was in partnership 
with Henry Howard for two years. On the 
expiration of that period he became sole pro- 
prietor and has since carried on the busi- 
ness with excellent success. He does custom 
work principally and his patronage is ex- 
tensive and of a profitable character. His 
son, D. W. Swallow, now assists him in buy- 
ing both logs and timber. Mr. Sv,allow ships 
the products of his mill to Dayton and other 
markets. He makes a specialty of handling 
oak, hickory, ash and poplar lumber to be 
used in the ci:instruction of bridges and 
wagons. His lumber is nearly all cut to 
order and many of his patrons have been 
numbered among his purchasers for many 
years. Soon after coming to Bethel town- 
ship Mr. Swallow purchased a half interest 
in a similar custom mill at Brandt and was 
interested in its operation for nine years, 
fiuring which time he was connected with 
several partners. He acted as sawyer at 
each mill and still performs the work of 
head sawyer in his Bethel mill, having de- 
voted his energies to that special branch of 
35 



work for fifty-four years. At one time his 
hand was slightly cut by the saw, but he 
has never had an accident of a serious nature. 
H'e is one of the oldest mill men now living 
in Ohio and few have such a comprehensive 
and exact understanding of the business. 
He is thoroughly familiar with the work 
of manufacturing lumber, both in principle 
and detail, and his long experience has made 
. him pecidiarly capable. 

In the spring of 1864 Mr. Swallow put 
aside business cares for a time in order to aid 
liis country, then engaged in civil war. He en- 
.listed in Company D, One Hundred and 
Thirty-second Ohio Infantry, and served for 
four months at City Point and in the vi- 
cinity of Richmond, being discharged in the 
month of September. Previous to this Mr. 
Swallow was a member of Company E, 
Twelfth Regular Battalion, Ohio National 
Guards, joining on the 26th of July, 1863, 
for a term of five years, and, through his 
service in the civil war, w'as honorably dis- 
charged from this organization, May i, 
1866. 

On the 17th of July, 185 1, at Dayton, 
Ohio, Mr. Swallow was married to Miss 
Louisa Micum, who was born in Gallipolis, 
Ohio, and removed to Montgomery county, 
when a maiden of ten years, in company with 
her parents, Daniel and Nancy (Linn) 
Micum. Her father died in Illinois, and her 
mother, who afterward married Henry 
Snyder, is now residing in Seneca, South 
Dakota, a well-preserved old lady of eighty- 
four years. Airs. Swallow was only sixteen 
years of age at the time of her marriage. 
.She noW' has five children : Amanda, who for 
twelve years engaged in teaching school, 
spending that entire time in two districts, 
was afterwards married to James M. \\diite, 
who was engaged in the nursery and fruit 



60S 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



business. His death occurred on the 12th 
of }klarch, 1898. since which time Mrs. 
W'iiite has resided with lier parents. Caro- 
Hne is the wife of \\'iniam Putterbaugh, of 
Bethel township, Miami county. Rhoda is 
the wife of Charles Senseman, also of Bethel 
township. Daniel \\'ebster married Emma 
Davidson and resides on the farm near his 
father. Elizabeth is the wife of Daniel 
Slanker, a resident of Wayne township, 
Montgomery county. Retta, a daughter of 
Caroline Putterbaugh and grandduaghter of 
Mr. and ilrs. Swallow, has made her home 
in their family since her childhood. Five 
generations of the Swallow" family are liv- 
ing. ]\lr. Swallow and his daughter, Mrs. 
\\'hite, o\vn. in partnership, a nice little farm 
of seventy-one acres of fine land, well im- 
pro\'ed, and have other investments which 
represent the fruits of their well-spent ener- 
gies. 

In his political views Mr. Swallow is a 
Republican and served as township trustee 
one term, but refused further election on 
account of interference with his business. 
Socially he is connected with the Milton 
\\'eaver Post, G. A. R., at Vandalia. He 
has always greatly enjoyed hunting and in 
former tiays had excellent opportunities to 
indulge his love for that sport in this sec- 
tion of Ohio. As the state has become more 
thickly settled, however, game has in conse- 
quence been dri\en to wilder haunts and he 
lias frequently gone with a hunting party to 
Michigan and Minnesota. He is a member 
of the Buckeye Gun Club, and of the Da}-- 
ton and Wilson Gun Club and has won dis- 
tmction as an excellent shot. In manner 
]\Ir. Swallow is frank, genial and courteous. 
During his long residence in this section of 
the state lie has become widely known and is 
<juitc popular among the better class of citi- 



zens of this community. He has never in- 
dulged in the use of tobacco or intoxicating 
liquors and his life has at all times been 
loyal to truth, honor and right, and as one 
of the early settlers and representative busi- 
ness men of Miami county he well deserves 
mention in this volume. 



JACOB SEE. 

Jacob See, who carries on general farm- 
ing in Elizabeth township, was born near 
Orwigsburg, Schuylkill count}^, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 8th of January, 1838. his par- 
ents being Samuel and Sarah (]\Iiller) See, 
both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania 
and were of German lineage. In 1S46 the 
family emigrated to Ohio, making their 
journey across the mountains with a team. 
The father of our subject was one of a large 
family, the others being: John and Will- 
iam, who remained in Pennsylvania; Daniel, 
who removed from the Keystone state to 
Peru, Indiana; George, who remained in 
Pennsylvania; Charles, who also became a 
resident of Peru, Indiana ; Solomon, who 
made his home in the Hoosier state: and 
Fiatta C, who wedded a Mr. Moyer and 
remained in Pennsylvania. The father of 
our subject became a resident of Tippecanoe 
Cit}", Ohio, and was the onlj'^ one of the fam- 
ily who remained in this state. He had three 
children : Jacob, Catherine and Sarah C. 
The mother died of cholera in Tippecanoe 
City in 1849, ''"'^ the children afterward 
went to live with strangers. During the 
civil war, the father responded to the couii- f 
try's call for troops, enlisting in the Se\enty- 
first Ohio Infantry, with which he remained 
until the close of hostilities. He made for 
himself an honorable war record and when 
his services were no longer needed he re- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



609 



turned to this locality. Subsequently he 
lived among- his children, but his last days 
were spent in the Soldiers' Home Hospital, 
at Dayton, where he died at the age of sixty- 
six years. His elder daughter, Catherine, 
spent much of her girlhood in the home of 
Dr. Hartman and at the age of eighteen was 
married to James Miller. After his death 
she became the wife of William Ege, who is 
.also now deceased. She resides in Peru, In- 
diana, where she has many relatives. Sarah 
See, the second daughter, was reared in the 
family of Cj'rus Wheeler and married 
George Yantis, who is now deceased. She 
makes her home in Elizabeth township, Mi- 
ami county. 

After his mother's death, Jacob See, the 
subject of this sketch, became a member of 
the family of Joshua Cottingham, a farmer 
of Elizabeth township, W'ith whom he re- 
mained until eighteen years of age. He 
pursued his studies through the winter sea- 
son and during one term was a student under 
Captain E. S. Williams. Among the other 
pupils of the same school was flie lady who 
later became his wife. At the age of 
eighteen he began working as a farm hand 
in the neighborhood and was thus employed 
until twenty-two years of age, when he 
rented land, boarding with the family of J. 
H. Cottingham until his marriage, which oc- 
curred on the JOth of February^ 1862, ]\Iiss 
Ellen Jackson becoming his wife. The lady 
is a daughter of William and Mary (Ram- 
sey) Jackson. They took up their abode 
upon a farm east of Tippecanoe City, Mr. 
■'See renting that property for five years, 
at the end of which time he bought a half 
interest in the old Jacob J\lann farm in Eliza- 
beth township, his father-in-law being asso- 
ciated with him in his operations. He op- 
erated that property for eleven years and then 



became the owner of his present home, which 
was known as the Hannah French farm. 
He bought that property in 1878. It was 
a part of the tract entered by Fielding Lauer ; 
he sold to Mr. French, who iriiproved it. 
All of the buildings upon the place stand as 
monuments to the thrift and enterprise of 
Mr. See, for he erected them all with the ex- 
ception of the barn, which was built by Mrs. 
Hannah French, the widow of the former 
owner, in 1857. She planned and superin- 
tended its erection, it being constructed with 
old-fashioned, heavy timber frames. The 
farm comprises one hundred and fifty-seven 
acres and is crossed by a railroad. Mr. 
See has spent the last twenty-two years of 
married life upon this place and here he 
reared his family of two children. He is 
also the owner of another tract of land, in- 
herited by Mrs. See, known as the Samuel 
Kyle farm, upon which is located the Kyle 
cemetery. For eight years his son, William 
E., has operated the home farm. The prop- 
erty is valuable, as is also the Kyle farm, 
and Mr. See deserves great credit for his 
success, as all that he possesses has been ac- 
quired entirely through his own efforts. 

His li\'ing children are William E., who 
wedded Clara Hoover and has two children, 
Verna and Lauren; and Amanda Ellen, wife 
of Charles D. Martin, of Elizabeth township, 
by whom she has one child, Lena. 

Mr. See, of this review, is a Democrat 
in his political affiliations and in 1888 was 
elected trustee of his township, in which 
position he has since served, covering a 
period of twelve consecutive years. He has 
been a delegate to the various party con- 
ventions and at all times has done what he 
could to promote the interests of Democracy 
and to aid in the upbuilding and improve- 
ment of his county. He is a strictly tern- 



610 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



perate man, having indulged in tlie use of 
neither intoxicants nor tobacco. During 
her girlhood Mrs. See had strong objections 
to the use of those pernicious things and 
chose for her husband one who never han- 
dled them, preferring to begin life with a 
poor man of high moral character than one 
who. perhaps, could give her a better home, 
but whose habits were not as good. Together 
therefore, Mr. and Mrs. See worked their 
way upward, the careful management and 
economy of the wife supplementing the dili- 
gence and enterprise of the husband. Their 
labors have at length been rewarded and 
they now enjoy a very pleasant home, sup- 
plied with many of the comforts that go to 
make life worth living. 



JOHN W. BARTEL. 

John W. Bartel, who is identified with 
the agricultural interests of Miami county, 
was born on the loth of December. 1865, 
in Auglaize county, Ohio, and when only 
three years of age was left an orphan. His 
father, Joseph Bartel. was born in Ham- 
burg. Germany, and when a young man emi- 
grated to the United States, taking up his 
abode in Piciua, Ohio, where he married 
iliss Sourbough, who died in Piqua. Later 
he wedded Miss Annie Swavely and subse- 
quently removed to Auglaize county. Dur- 
ing the ci\il war he enlisted as a private in 
the Seventy-first Ohio Volunteer Infantry. 
and for four years loyally defended the 
Union cause. He died in Auglaize county 
about 1869. and his second wife passed away 
in 1866. The children of his first marriage 
were: Theresa, who became the wife of 
Charles Hirt: and Lizzie, wife of Joseph 
Swavely. By Iiis second marriage there 
were four children : August, who is liv- 



ing in Shelby county, Ohio: Oliver, a resi- 
dent, (if Xewton township. Miami coun- 
ty; Katie, wife of Addison Stafford, of 
Dodge City. Kansas; and John W'., of this 
review. 

After the death of his parents Mr. 
Bartel. nf this sketch, made his home with 
his uncle. Adam Bartel, until seven years 
of age. and since that time he has been de- 
pendent upon his own resources, so that 
\\hate\er success he has achieved is the 
merited reward of his individual labor. 
Throughout the period of his minority he 
resided in the home of William Morrin. and 
after his marriage he went to a home of 
his own. Throughout his entire life he has 
carried on agricultural pursuits and is rec- 
ognized as an enterprising young farmer of 
Miami county. On the 30th of March, 
1892, he was joined in wedlock to Mellie 
B. Morrin. a daughter of George S. Morrin 
and a granddaughter of \\'illiam ^Morrin. 
The latter was born in Lxland and when a 
young man. in order to avoid service in the 
English army, he ran away from home, 
crossing the Atlantic to the United States. 
He took up his abode in Washington coun- 
tv, Pennsylvania, where he married Eliza- 
l)eth Snyder, and with his wife and family 
he afterward came to Miami county. Ohio. . 
He finally settled in Washington township, 
where his death occurred as the result of 
injuries sustained from being thrown from 
a horse. His widow died in Piqua. 

His son. George S. Morrin. the father 
of ?ilrs. Bartel. was born in Washington 
county. Pennsylvania. June 30. 1818. and 
when five years of age was brought by his 
parents to Miami county, the family resid- 
ing in Piqua for about fi\'e years, when 
thev removed to a farm in Washington 
township. There George .S. Morrin was 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



611 



reared to manliood and in the public schools 
of the neighborhood he acquired his educa- 
tion. At the age of eighteen he began 



earning Iiis 



.n livelihood bv working as 



a farm hand, and also followed other occu- 
pations that would yield him an honest liv- 
ing. In 1850 he joined a parly cii route for 
California, having been attracted by the dis- 
covery of gold in that state. In the party 
was a young man who said that he would 
kill the first Indian that he met. They had 
proceeded well into the country inhabited 
l)y the red race, when one day they espied a 
squaw washing clothes in a creek. Members 
of the party began joking the young man 
about his promise, whereon he raised his 
gun and shot the squaw dead. The news 
reached her tribe and they proceeded and 
overtnok the company, capturing the young 
man who did the deed. Tliey tied him to 
a stake and skinned him alive, compelling 
his comrades to witness his horrible death. 
At length the party reached California, and 
Mr. Morrin prospected in the gold fields of 
that state, meeting with fair success during 
the se\'en years which he spent upon tlie 
Pacific slope. On the expiration of that 
l)eriod he returned home, and on the 15th 
of .\ugust, 1858, he was united in marriage 
to Mrs. Rachel Mitchell, ncc Parish. Her 
father, Xoalv Parish, was a native of North 
Carolina and with his parents removed to 
Indiana, where he was reared. He was a 
son of Edward Parish, who was married, 
in North Carolina, to Rachel Tucker, They 
spent their last days in Indiana, dying in 
Putnam county. Noah Parish married 
Jerusha Elliott, and in the spring of 1834 
he remo\ed to Des Moines county, Iowa. 
Later he took up his abode in Washington 
township, Washington county, Iowa, where 
he died August 15, 1845, '''•^ wife's death 



there occurring in 1850. They were the 
parents of six children, namely : Rachel, 
who became the mother of Mrs. Bartel ; 
George, who died at the age of sixteen years ; 
Jennie, who became the wife of William 
Benson, of Nebraska ; Noah, of Iowa ; Mary, 
who became the wife of James Lowry, who 
died in Battle Creek, Michigan; and Elliott, 
who was a private of the Eleventh Iowa In- 
fantr\^ in the ci\'il war and died in the hos- 
pital at ^Iem]3his, Tennessee. Rachel Parish, 
the eldest child, became the wife of Samuel 
K. Mitchell, a son of Joseph Mitchell, who 
was a native of Kentucky, in which state he 
married Sarah McCuIlough. He afterward 
came to Miami county and was later twice 
married. His second wife was Mary .\nn 
Morrin, an aunt of Mrs. Bartel, and his 
third wife was Mary Preston, who died 
near Troy. 

In the spring of i860 George S. Morrin 
removed to his farm in Washington town- 
ship, where he owns sixty-five acres. That 
tract of land he operated until his death, 
which occurred ]May 27 . 1898. The farm 
is now conducted by JNIr. Bartel, of this 
review. ^Mr. Morrin was a Baptist in his 
religious faith and was a stanch Democrat 
in his political views. His wife was Ijorn 
January 2t^. 1835, in Des Moines county, 
Iowa, and was reared in Washington coun- 
ty, that state. There she married Samuel 
Kyle Mitchell, with whom she came to 
Washington township, Miami county. Here 
Mr. Mitchell died May 17, 1852, and their 
only child, Mary Kyle, died in infancy. The 
children of George and Rachel (Parish) 
Morrin were eight in numljer, namely: 
Orlando E., who died in Muncie, Indiana, 
in 1893; Martha Elizabeth, who became the 
wife of Harrison Hildebrand and died in 
Shelby county, Ohio, December 8, 1887; 



612 



GENEALOGICAL AXD BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Sarah Jane, who (hed April 20. 1889. at the 
age of twenty-six years; ilrs. Bartel; James 
W.. of Piqiia, Ohio ; Elger J., of Troy. Ohio, 
who married Hattie Gruver. and they have 
two children. Pearl and Lida : Alliert Lee, 
of Troy: and Franklin G., of Troy, Ohio, 
Avho married Miss Nellie Starry, whose 
death occurred Octoher 2, 1897. 

Mrs. Bartel, a member of this family, 
was born in Wasliingtun township, October 
18, 1864, and by her marriage has become 
the mother of three children, Ruth, Paul and 
Grace. They reside upon a good farm in 
Washington township, where ]Mr. Bartel is 
successfully engaged in the cultivatii:)n of 
his land. His well tilled fields yield to him 
a golden tribute in return for the care he 
bestows upon them. He is a young man of 
high moral character, at all times honorable 
and upright in bis dealings, and is a con- 
sistent member of the Baptist church. In 
politics he is a stanch Republican, but has 
never sought or desired office, preferring to 
give his attention to his business affairs, in 
which he has met with creditable success. 



FIELDER B. HARRIS. 

Prominent in educational circles. Pro- 
fessor Fielder B. Harris is now superintend- 
ent of the schools of West Milton, and under 
his able guidance marked advancement has 
been made in the educational system of the 
town. He was born October 14. 1857, in 
Warren county, near Clarksville. Clinton 
count}-. His father, Samuel Harris, was 
born in Clinton county December 2S, 181 5, 
and was a son of James Harris, whose birth 
occurred in Prince George county, Mary- 
land, December 22. 1775. The latter re- 
moved to Loudoun countv, \'irginia, when 



fourteen years of age. and there learned the 
carpenter's trade. He wedded Miss Mary 
Cherry, of Virginia, a daughter of ^lajor 
William Cherry, who served throughout 
the war of the Revolution. In 1809 James 
Harris emigrated westward to Ohio, taking 
up liis residence at Todd Forks (inly a few 
vears after the admission of the state into 
the L'nion. He served as captain and colonel 
of militia in the old training days, and for 
eighteen years was justice of the jieace, 
while for six years he represented his district 
in the general assembly and left the im- 
press of his strong individuality upon the 
legislation of the state. He died in 1845, 
and his wife survived until i860. 

Samuel Harris, the father of our sub- 
ject, spent his boyhood days on the old 
home farm and acquired his educatiim in 
the subscription schools of that time. He 
remained with his parents until he had at- 
tained bis majority and then engaged in 
merchandising in Clarksville, Ohio, for three 
years. He was married, at that place, on 
the 20th of October, 1838. to Phcebe Kibln". 
who was born at Clarks\ille, Fcliruary 2, 
1818. They became the parents of seven 
children : Henry C, who died at the age of 
one year; Charles A., a successful 'farmer 
li\ing near Ogden, Clinton count}', Ohio; 
Mary X., wife of George W'ilker.son, of 
Warren county: James E., a teacher and 
farmer of Osage county, Kansas: Angeline. 
wife of Thomas X. Wilkerson. a farmer of 
Warren county: Samantba, who married 
L'riah Compton : and Fielder B. After fol- 
lowing mercantile pursuits for three years 
Samuel Harris resumed farming, and de- 
\-oted his energies to agricultural pursuits 
throughout the remainder of his life. He 
died ]\larch 21. 1895, '!"<' '" '"^ death the 
community lost one of its valued citizens. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



613 



His political support was given the Repub- 
lican party and he did all in his ix)\ver to 
promote its growth and insure its success. 
For twenty years he was justice of the 
peace, but on most occasions he used his in- 
fluence with litigants that they might settle 
their disputes outside of court. This was 
not to his financial advantage, but it indi- 
cates the high moral character of the man. 
He held membership in the Methodist church 
and in his daily life exemplified his belief. 
Socially he was connected with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. Prior to the 
civil war his home was a station on the un- 
derground railroad, and he aided many a 
negro in making his way to freedom. After 
the strife between the two sections of the 
country began he was a loyal supporter of 
the Union cause, and aided many of the 
soldiers" families while the husbands and fa- 
thers were in the field. In 1880 he wmte 
the history of Washington township, War- 
ren county, and his familiarity with all of 
the events that occurred therein well qual- 
ified him for the work. His wife was an 
active co-worker with her husband, and was 
called to her final rest Alarch 26, 1895, only 
five days after his death. She was also 
a member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
and continued to take an active part in its 
work until the weight of years caused her 
to put aside the more acti\e duties of life. 
Fiekler B. Harris, whose name intro- 
duces this review, needs no introduction to 
the readers of the history of Miami county, 
for he is both widelv and fa\'orablv known 
in this section of the state. He remained 
upon the old home farm until about seventeen 
3'ears of age, and during that time attended 
the district schools and a high school. He 
then went to Lebanon and entered the Na- 
tional Normal University at that place, and 



after completing a three-years course was 
graduated in that institution. He entered 
upon his career as an educator in Warren 
county, teaching in the district schools there 
for six vears, while he spent the summer 
vacations in pursuing .special studies, also 
sometimes teaching at his ahna mater. After 
three years of high school work he went to 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, as principal of the 
fifth district school, remaining in charge for 
four years. In 1892 he came to West Mil- 
ton and accepted the superintendency of the 
schools of this place, and for eight years 
has filled the position with marked ability. 
His career as a teacher co\-ers a period of 
twenty-two years, during which time his 
labors have been very effective, for he has 
kept in touch with the progress that has 
been manifest in educational circles. 

On the 1 2th of October. 1882, Mr. Harris 
was united in marriage to ]\Iiss Addie War- 
wick, daughter of Albert C. and ]\Iary 
(Sherwood) ^^'arwick, both of whtjm are 
of English extraction. She was born and 
spent her girlhoo'd days in Lebanon and ob- 
tained her education in the schools of that 
city. By her marriage she has become the 
mother of four children : Clarence E., 
Edith, Albert S. and Ada. All are yet at 
home. Professor Harris votes with the Re- 
publican party and is well informed on the 
issues of the day, but has never sought of- 
fice. Socially he is a valued representative 
of the Masonic fraternity, the Knights of 
Pythias lodge and the Independent Order of 
Odd Fellows, all of West Milton. He, his 
wife and children are members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal church, in which he has 
served eight years as Sunday school super- 
intendent, — three years at Chattanooga and 
five years at West Milton. He takes a very 
acti\'e part in church work, doing all in his. 



614 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



power to promote the cause of Christianity 
among' his fellow men. The Harris huuse- 
hold is noted for its hospitahty and is tli.e 
center of a cultured society circle. Pro- 
fessor Harris has done much to improve 
the intellectual and moral tone of the cnm- 
munity with which he is connected, and his 
sterling character commands for him the 
high regard of all with whom he is asso- 
ciated. 



JOSIAH ROUTSOX. 

Xumbered among the leading represen- 
tatives of the commercial interests of Range- 
ville, ?klr. Routson is successfully engaged 
in the grain business. He is a son of Jacob 
and Ediah (Hahn) Routson. He was born 
May 28, 1 841, on the old home farm in this 
locality. His father, a native of Frederick. 
Maryland, was born January 13. 1813. and 
in 1833 accompanied his parents on their 
removal to Ohio, the journey westward be- 
ing made in wagons. His education was 
obtained in the subscription schools of his 
native state and after reaching Ohio he as- 
sisted his father in clearing and developing 
the wild land. He was married in Adams 
township, Darke county, in 1835. to Miss 
Ediah Hahn and upon a farm in Lorain 
township, Shelby county, tiiey began their do- 
mestic life. The grandfather entered eighty 
acres of land from the gcwernment and sold 
this to his son. Jacob, for a dollar and a 
quarter per acre. There the latter carried on 
agricultural pursuits until his death, which 
occurred about 1894. He had long survived 
I'lis wife, who passed away in 1867. Thev 
were members of the Lutheran church and 
Mr. Routson was a Democrat in his political 
affiliations. This worthy couple were the 
parents of ten children, as follows: Josiah, 



ol this review: Clara, who Ijccame the wife 
of David Rhddahaffer and died in Lorain 
township, Shelby county: Hannah, wife of 
Jacob Zimmerman, of Newberry township: 
Harriet, wife of Isaiah Finnefrock. of In- 
dianapolis, Indiana; Eliza, wife of Daniel 
Swank, of Newberry township; Elizabeth, 
who died at the age of se\-en years; Ellen, 
v.ife of Frank Bronson, of Shelby countv: 
XMlliam, who married Sarah Shaffer and 
died near Bloomer; Orrin, who wedded 
Jennie Har]) and lives in Pifpia, and Samuel 
J., who wedded Lizzie Kelch and makes his 
home in Darke county, 

Josiah Routson obtained his education 
in the common schools near his home and 
was later trained to habits of industry and 
economy upon the home farm. He assisted 
his father in the labors of the field at an 
early age and later learned the carpenter's 
trade under the direction of Peter Hartle and 
Reuben Routson. For a short time he fol- 
lowed that business, after which he owned 
and operated a threshing machine. After 
his marriage he rented farms in Darke comi- 
ty for two years and then rented land in 
Newberrv township, Miami county, for five 
3"ears. On the expiration of that period he 
took up his abode in Lorain township, Shel- 
by county, where he remained for ten years, 
and then purchased se\-enty-eight acres of 
land on Stillwater creek in Xewlierry town- 
shi]), there continuing his business for four 
years. On the expiration of that time he 
Sold his ])niperty and bought one hundred 
and three acres across the river, continuing 
the culti\-ation of that farm for six years, 
after which he sold, and purchased fiftj' 
acres in Xewberr}' township, upon which he 
li\ed four years. In October, 1899, he 
opened his store in Rangeville and has since 
engaged in general merchandising, his son, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



615 



Ashley, acting as his cleric. He is also pro- 
prietor of a grain elexator there and is 
railroad agent of the Chicago. Hamilton & 
Dayton road. In addition he filled the office 
of postmaster and is regarded as one of the 
most enter])rising business men of this sec- 
tion of the county. 

iNIr. Routson was married in Xewberry 
township, November i, 1866, to Abbie 
Swank, daughter of Joshua Swank and unto 
them have been born the following children . 
Jacob Wesley, who married Jennie Routson 
and is living in Xewberry township; N. 
Colvin, who married Emma Deckenhart and 
resides in Xewberry township ; Harrison F., 
a farmer of the same township, who mar- 
ried Lizzie Stayer; Alary C, deceased wife 
of Ora Rike; Ashley F., who was born De- 
cember 4. 1876, and was married July 4, 
1900, and one who died in infanc}'. Mr. 
and Mrs. Rijutson are widely and favorably 
known in the locality where they make their 
home and are esteemed members of the Ger- 
men Reformed church. In his political 
views Air. Routson is a stanch Democrat, 
faithfully upholding the principles of the 
party. In all business affairs he is reliable 
and enjDvs in a high degree the confidence 
and respect of his fellow men. 



S. DAVIS GREEN. 

For forty-seven years Stephen Davis 
Green has resided on his farm in Elizabeth 
township. Miami county, and is one of the 
most highly respected agriculturists of the 
community. He has long since passed the 
psalmist's span of three-score years and ten, 
but is still an active and x^igorous old man, 
Avhose industrious life has not deprived him 
of health and strength. He has watched the 
greater part of the progress and develop- 



ment of the county through almost eight 
decades and has witnessed a wonderful 
transformation, having seen forests cleared 
away and farms developed, while towais and 
villages have sprung up. containing all the 
leading industries and enterprises which are 
familiar to the commercial activitv of the 
east. Along many lines Mr. Green has aided 
in securing the growth and upbuilding of 
the county, and is a ])ublic-spirited and pro- 
gressive citizen, withholding his support 
from no movement which he believes will 
prove of public benefit. 

His birth occurred in Lost Creek town- 
ship December 2, 1823. his parents being 
George W. and Nancy (Knight) Green. 
The father was a native of Union county, 
Pennsylvania, and a representative of the 
same family to which belonged John Green, 
one of the distinguished heroes of the Revo- 
lution. In the Keystone state George W. 
Green was united in marriage to Miss Gray, 
and aljout the close of the eighteenth cen- 
tury they came to Ohio, locating in Miami 
county, which was then in the periixl of its 
pioneer development. Mr. Green became 
a meiuber of the Baptist church at Staunton, 
which was established in 1804. and in many 
other ways was actively associated with the 
work of laying the foundation of the coun- 
ty's present prosperity and progress. He 
erected some mills on Lost creek, and was 
the builder of at least one bridge oxer the 
Miami river at Troy. His second wife was 
Nancy Knight, and she became the mother 
of fi\-e children, her death occurring at about 
the age of forty years, when Davis was only 
two years old. The father afterward wedded 
Mary Hendricks, who survi\-ed him several 
years, his death occurring in 1836. when he 
had attained the age of fifty-five years. He 
was a very prominent church worker in 



61G 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Staunton, and ser\e(l as an officer in the 
church of his denomination for some time. 
The chil(h-en nf his first marriage were: Jo- 
seph, who engaged in merchandising at Cass- 
town, where lie died at ahout the age of forty 
years; William, a farmer of Staunton, who 
died at the age of seventy-four years, leav- 
ing a son, Dr. Joseph H. Green, of Troy; 
and Eliza, who became the wife of John C. 
Dye, of Elizabeth township, and departed 
this life at the age of sixty-five years. By 
the second marriage there were five children : 
Mary, wife of John Williams, with whom 
she removed to Indiana at an early day, her 
death there occurring at the age of sixty; 
Elizabeth, who died in middle life; John, a 
farmer of Bethel township, who died at the 
age of forty years ; Nancy, who became the 
wife of Bennett Harter, a farmer of Eliza- 
beth township, and died in \\'ashington City 
at the age of sixty-five years ; and S. Davis, 
of this re\'iew. The children of the third 
marriage are : }tlargaret, widow of Joseph 
Mott, of Champaign county, Ohio; Abbot, 
who died at tlie age of twehe years; Ann, 
wife of W. W. Wallace, of Troy, Ohio; Rob- 
ert, a machinist living in Springfield, Ohio; 
Sarah, who died in childhood; George, who 
died in early life; and Jane, who is living in 
the west. 

S. Da\is Green, whose name introduces 
this review, resided with his brother-in-law, 
John C. Dye, after his father's death. When 
he was only eleven years of age he was taken 
by his father to New Carlisle, and there ap- 
prenticed t(i learn the woolen-mill trade. Init 
an epidemic of cholera compelled him to re- 
turn to his home, and the boy was glad of 
it because he did not enjoy town life. He 
had obtained nothing but his board and 
clothes for, his services, and he did not con- 
sider that it was very profitable. 



When twenty-two years of age Mr. 
Green was united in marriage to iliss Han- 
nah French, daughter of Asa and Hannah 
(Davis) French, of Elizabeth township. He 
then rented land of his brother-in-law, oper- 
ating that tract for one year, after which he 
rented in other places in the county for five 
years, when, with the capital he had ac- 
quired, he purchased ninety-six acres of his 
present farm, taking up his residence there- 
on in 1853. There was a small clearing 
and a little orchard had been planted, but 
no buildings had been erected at the time of 
the purchase. The tract was largely cov- 
ered with walnut, ash and maple trees. He 
paid fifty dollars per acre for it, but had to 
incur an indebtedness for two-thirds of the 
amount. With characteristic energy, how- 
ever, he began the work of clearing and im- 
proving the land, and soon the richly cul- 
tivated fields yielded to him good financial 
returns. He erected his present residence in 
1 86 1, burning the brick and lime upon his - 
farm. It is a basement house and stands on 
a natural building site, commanding an ex- 
cellent \iew of the surrounding country. 
;Mr. Green also built a large basement barn 
in 1 87 1, and has made many other substan- 
tial improvements upon the place, adding 
liotli to its value and attractive appearance. 
Bv additional purchase he has also extended 
the l)Oundaries of the farm until it now com- 
prises one lunulred and seventy-six acres, all 
in one body. For some years he has made a 
specialty of stock dealing, shipping hogs and 
cattle on quite an extensive scale. He has 
also handled many horses, and has for many 
years felt a marked interest in improving the 
grades of stock raised in this section of the 
state. From his own farm he has made 
many exhibits at county fairs, and won a 
large number of premiums. His thorough 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



•317 



understaiiding of farming and stock raising, 
combined with Iiis marked energy, has en- 
abled him to win splen(Hd success in his 
Ijiisiness career, and for a long period he 
has been numbered among the most promi- 
nent representatives of agriculture in cen- 
tral Ohio. At one time he became owner of 
one thousand acres of land in Illinois, 
through the purchase of land warrants in 
Lee county, and later he sold that property 
to good advantage. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Green were born the 
following children : Asa, who is on the 
lecture platform and travels throughout the 
country ; Zelora, who is a graduate of Gran- 
ville College, went to South America as a 
civil engineer of a railroad company when 
twenty years of age, and is now engaged in 
farming and stock raising at Oakland, Illi- 
nois; Eliza, who was also educated in Gran- 
ville College, is the wife of Alonzo Thack- 
ara, of Lost Creek township; Joseph, who 
was graduated in Lebanon, became an at- 
torney, practicing at Oakland, Illinois, and 
is now a ranchman of DeWitt county, 
Texas, where he rents one hundred and 
eighty-nine thousand acres of land, upon 
v.hich he has ten thousand head of cattle, 
five hundred goats and one hundred horses; 
and Glen is a farmer of Shelby county, Ohio. 
After a happy married life of thirty-six 
years Mrs. Green, the mother of this family, 
was called to her final rest. Mr. Green's 
present wife was formerly Miss Thedosia 
McColloch, of Delphi, Indiana, and their 
marriage occurred December 24, 1890. She 
was born in Indiana, of Scotch parentage, 
was a seamstress and is a bright and intelli- 
gent lad)', of genial nature. For a few years 
after her marriage her father, Solomon Mc- 
Culloch, resided with her. 

For forty-seven years Mr. Green has 



made his home upon his present farm, and 
during that time only two deaths have oc- 
curred there. He cast his first presidential 
vote for William Henry Harrison, and has 
voted at each presidential election since that 
time. He is now a stanch Republican, and 
has often served as a delegate to county 
conventions. He became a member of the 
Missionary Baptist church, at Staunton, was 
clerk of the Casstown church for eighteen 
years, and is now a member of the church of 
his "denomination at Troy. The cause of 
education has always found in him a warm 
friend, and realizing its importance in the 
active affairs of life he gave to his children 
excellent advantages in that direction. For 
many years he has been a member of the 
township school board, and has ad\ocated all 
measures calculated to promote the general 
welfare along intellectual, social, material 
and moral lines. 



WILLIAM S. ANDERSON. 

For the past fifteen years Mr. Anderson 
has occupied the important position of fore- 
man in the Woods Planing Mill and is well 
qualified for the responsible duties which de- 
volve upon him. He was born in Piqua, 
in 1856, and is a son of George Anderson, 
who came to this city prior to 1850. The 
father was a native of Butler county, Ohio, 
born in 1802, and his death occurred in 
1887, when he had attained the advanced age 
of eighty-five years. In 1836 he married 
^liss Elizabeth ]\Iutchmore, of Butler coun- 
ty, and to them were born the following 
children : Mary Frances, now Mrs. Furnes, 
of Covington, Ohio; Philip Benson, a sales- 
man of Troy, who for many years has been 
connected with the Troy Carriage Works 
Company; Mrs. Jonathan Carr, of Auburn, 



618 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



New York : Mrs. Thomas Burns, of Xtr- 
sailles, Ohio ; John Wilhur, who served for 
three years as a soldier in tlie First Iowa 
Cavalry during the ci\-il war and is now de- 
ceased : ]\Irs. John Reiter, of Grinnell, Iowa, 
and William S., of this review. 

The last named is the youngest of the 
family, and in the puhlic schools of Piqua 
he acquired his education. At the age of 
twenty he l)egan learning the carpenter's 
trade under the direction of I. J. \\'hilIock, 
in whose service he remained fol^ nine years, 
becoming an expert workman. He gained 
a thorough understanding of the business, 
both in principle and detail, and was well 
qualified for his present position when, in 
1885 he became foreman of Woods Planing 
Mill. He has excellent mechanical ability 
and his thorough understanding of the busi- 
ness enables him to capably direct the large 
force of workmen under his charge. He is 
devoted to his employers' interests, but at 
the same time there is nothing of the over- 
bearing taskmaster in him. He is just to 
those who are employed in the works, and 
all know that faithful service means ad- 
vancement as soon as opportunity offers. 
Mr. Anderson has the entire confidence and 
inu|ualifie(l regard of the owners of the ex- 
tensive factory and well merits the trust re- 
posed in him. 

In 1885 Mr. Anderson was jnined in 
wedlock to Miss Jennie Hardesty. a daugh- 
ter of James Hardesty, a highly respected 
pioneer of Piqua. Her father was born in 
Loudoun county, Virginia. March 6. 18^4, 
a son of Thomas Hardesty, who was also 
a native of the Old Dominion. The latter 
married Hannah A. Palmer, who was born 
in \'irginia and died in Piqua. James 
Hardesty was seven years of age at the time 
of his father's death. In 1835 he and his 



older brother, John, made their way west- 
ward, coming to Piqua with relatives. The 
following year, when a larl of twelve sum- 
mers, he carried the mails through the wil- 
derness to Fort W ayne, Indiana, making the 
journey alone on horseback. The distance 
was one hundred miles and a week was re- 
quired to make the trip. He also carried 
mail to Dayton, Sidney. Urbana and other 
pioneer places of the time. In Urbana he 
was obliged to remain for two days each 
week, and was so industrious and ambitious 
to secure an education that he qjent Monday 
and Tuesday of each week in attending 
school at that place. He afterward learned 
the carpenter's trade and became one of the 
pioneer contractors and builders of Piqua, 
being actively identified with the improve- 
ment of the city along the line of his chosen 
work at an early day. Throughout his long 
business career he enjoyed the confidence 
of all with \\hom he came in contact and 
also won the esteem of all classes. For 
fourteen years he was township trustee, dis- 
charging his duties with marked pronqjtness 
and fidelity. For many years he has been a 
member of the board of equalization and 
still fills that office. Although seventy-three 
years of age. he is yet active and energetic, 
feeling a deep interest in everything pertain- 
ing to the welfare and progress of the com- 
munity. His wife bore the maiden name of 
Lida Jane X}e and at the time of her mar- 
riage was a resident of Piqua. Unto Mr. 
and Mrs. Anderson have been born three 
chiklren : Marie, George and Clarence. 
They have a nice home, which is noted for 
its generous hospitality, and their friends 
throughout the community are many. Of 
tlie Odd Fellows society Mr. Anderson is a 
\alued and exemplar}- member and is now 
past grand of Piqua Lodge. He is also a ^•ery 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



619 



acti\e worker in the Grace Metliodist church, 
of whicli lie is trustee. Over the record 
of his life there falls no shadow of wrong 
or suspicion of evil, and through an hon- 
orable career he has won the confidence and 
good will of all with whom he has been asso- 
ciated. 



^\■A(:;xER, groven & co. 

The alH)\-e style is the firm name of one 
of the leading Ijusiness concerns of Picjua. 
Walter A\'. Wagner. Barnard Groven and 
nii\'er Snxpi) c-. institute the firm and are 
extensively and successfully engaged in the 
furniture and undertaking business. They 
have a light, commodious and handsome 
store room, situated on the southeast corner 
of Ash and Wayne streets, and stocked with 
.a large and cmiiplete line of furniture, in- 
cluding some of the best designs and quality, 
as well as nuich of the more ordinary grade. 
They also conduct a first-class undertaking 
and embalming establishment. The part- 
ners are yc.)ung, enterprising, industrious and 
capable business men, practical and honor- 
able in their methods and courteous in their 
treatment of patrons. Such qualities have 
insured tn them a large business and they are 
now enjoying a creditable success. The 
partnership was formed in 1898, and with 
astonishing rapidity the firm has gained a 
place in the front ranks of the leading and 
extensive business men of Piqua. They are 
highly esteeiued for their business ability, 
keen discernment, capable management and 
above all their straightforward business 
policy. 

Walker W. Wagner, the senior member 
of the firm, was born in Shelby county, O^iio, 
in 1S67, and is a son of Jacob Wagner, de- 
ceased, who came to the Buckeye state about 



i860, from his old home in Harrisburg, 
Pennsylvania. The Wagners were a pio- 
neer family of that portion of the Keystone 
state and were highly esteemed people. The 
mother of our subject bore the maiden name 
of Harriet Drake, and was a daughter of 
Abraham Drake, one of the pioneer settlers 
of Brown tov^-nship, Miami county. 

\[r. Wagner attended the common 
schools, after which he learned the carpen- 
ter's trade. About 1889 he entered the fur- 
niture factory of L. C. & W. L. Cron, of 
Piqua, wdiere he remained for two and a 
half years, after which he was employed for 
two years by the firm of Cron, Kills & Com- 
pany. He thoroughly mastered the busi- 
ness, becoming an expert workman, and his 
ai)titude and ability as a wood worker and 
as a manager and salesman led to his ap- 
pointment to a position in the store of F. E. 
Campbell, where he remained for five and a 
half years, the most trusted and faithful em- 
ploye in that house. His labors were both 
in the store and in the undertaking" and em- 
balming department, and he there continued 
until 1898. when the firm of Wagner, Gro- 
ven & Company was formed. He married 
Miss Clara Snypp, of Piqua. a sister of his 
partner, Oliver Snypp, and they haxt one 
child, Chester. Mr. Wagner is a member of 
the Odd Fellows society, and in nolile chief 
of the Knights of the Golden Eagle. In 
politics he is a Republican, and in religious 
faith is a Presbyterian. 

Barnard Groven, the second partner, was 
l)orn in Washington township, Miami coun- 
ty, in 1868, his parents being Herman and 
Minnie (SoerhofY) Groven, who came to 
this country from Holland, in 1865, and set- 
tled on a farm near Piqua. They ha\-e pros- 
pered and are now well-to-do and highly 
respected citizens, enjoying the warm re- 



620 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



gard of friends and neighbors. Mr. Gro- 
ven attended the township schools and later 
learned the carving and designing trades 
with the firm of L. C. & A\'. L. Cron, whose 
employ he entered when seventeen years of 
age. He there remained for fifteen years, 
and his work was such as to win him con- 
stant promotion. During the last five years 
of his connection with that company he was 
foreman of the carving and designing de- 
partment, a fact which indicates his superior 
skill and ability, for no factory produces a 
higher grade of work than that of L. C. & 
^\'. L. Cron. Since 1898 he has devoted 
his energies untiringly to building up the 
business of the firm with which he is now 
connected, and his efforts in this regard 
have Ijeen very effective. He is a member of 
the Odd Fellow society, and of the Druids, 
and belongs to the Cierman Reformed 
church. 

Oliver Snypp, the junior member of the 
firm, \\as born in Greene county, Ohio, and 
is a son of Reinhart Snypp. The grand- 
father. Abraham Snypp, served in the war 
of 18 1 2 and came to Ohio at an early day. 
His father was one of the Revolutionary 
heroes, and the former is of French descent. 
The mother of our subject was Sarah How- 
• ell, a daughter of \\'illiam R. Howell, of 
Dayton, Ohio. She now resides in Piqua. 
Her grandmother, Mary Van Cleaf, was the 
first white girl in Dayton, for when her par- 
ents came from Cincinnati on a boat they 
were the first settlers. The boat touched at 
what is now the site of Dayton, and Mary 
was the first passenger to jump ashore. Her 
father was shortly afterward killed by the 
Indians, and the family experienced the 
usual hardships and trials of pioneer life. 
She died at the advanced age of ninety- 
se\-en. but retained her mental faculties un- 



impaired until the last. She always de- 
lighted in relating stories of those early 
times. ]\Ir. Snypp, before coming to Piqua, 
in 1892, had had extensive training and ex- 
perience in the furniture Ijusiness with Omer 
& Sons, of Dayton. He is a member of the 
Odd Fellows society, and, like his partners, 
is an enterprising young man. The firm 
indeed enjoys an enviable reputation in com- 
mercial circles, and the volume of their busi- 
ness indicates their high standing. Their 
success has been won through close applica- 
tion, untiring labor and unassailable honesty. 



I 



JOHN H. GEARHEART. 

Born on the old family homestead in 
Elizabeth township, February 28, 1849, Jo^^i'' 
Hayes Gearheart is a son of James M. and 
Maria Matilda (Sproul) Gearheart, the lat- 
ter a daughter of Robert Sproul. The first 
of the name to locate in Miami county were 
John Gearheart and his wife, who came 
from Virginia and settled upon a farm now 
owned and occujiied by Isaac Sheets. There 
the emigrants lived for many years, his 
death occurring when he was more than 
ninety years of age. The old Gearheart 
cemetery is located on a lovely eminence on 
that farm, and is surrounded by a stone wall 
which was built in 1878, by a son and daugh- 
ter, Samuel and Sarah Gearheart, who re- 
sided on the old homestead, being the last of 
the children living in this vicinity. John 
Gearheart and his wife had a large family, 
the sons being Daniel, William, John and 
Samuel. The last named was the youngest, 
and he and his sister Sarah resided on the 
old home farm, where both died when well 
advanced in age. Daniel, the eldest brother, 
married Polly Beatty, and settled near 
Fletcher, Miami county, near where their 



I 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



621 



son Wesley is still living. Jnlm married 
Eleanor Beatty. the sister of Polly, and took 
up his abiide in Elizabeth township, upon 
the farm two miles south of the farm which 
is now occupied by the widow of his son, 
James ]\I. Gearheart. He had a farm of 
two hundred and forty acres, and continued 
its cultivation until his death, which oc- 
curred when he was fifty years of age. His 
widow was called to her final rest when 
about seventy years of age. Their children 
were: James M.; John N., who resided 
in Troy; William, who died in early life; 
Elizabeth, who became the wife of Robert 
Fuller, and died at the age of thirty-four 
years; and Alary, who became the wife of i. 
N. Beals, and also died in early womanhood. 

James M. Gearheart, the father of our 
subject, was born in Elizabeth township and 
during his early boyhood came with his 
parents to the farm so long in possession of 
the family. He inherited a part of the old 
homestead, built a new residence upon it, 
and there died March lo, 1884, at the age 
of sixty years. He made excellent improve- 
ments upon his farm, transforming it into 
one of the valuable and attractive homes of 
the neighborhood. At the age of twenty- 
five years he married Maria Matilda Sproul, 
who was reared jn the same neighborhood, 
and is now surviving her husljand, at the 
age of seventy-six years. Their children 
are John H. ; Robert S., who is living with 
his elder brother; William J., who died at 
the age of ten years; James E., who operates 
the old homestead ; Thomas B., who is work- 
ing with his brother, James E. ; and Mary 
B., wife of Thomas J. Gearheart, of Tippe- 
canoe City. 

John H. Gearheart, of this review, spent 
his boyhood days upon the home farm and 
pursued his education in the schools of Troy. 



He carried on agricultural pursuits in con- 
nection with his father until he was twenty- 
four years of age, after which he spent a 
year upon the old Sproul farm, occupied by 
his grandfather, Robert Sproul, who had 
left the property to his four daughters, Mar- 
tha, Sarah, Nancy and Isabel. The first 
named had died when Mr. Gearheart took 
possession of the place, lint the other three 
were still living on the farm. Since th^t 
time Sarah and Isabel have also passed away, 
so that Nancy is the only survivor of the 
family. She is still living on the old home- 
stead, at the age of eighty-six years. 

John H. Gearheart was married, January 
7, 1875, to Miss Elizabeth C. Hall, of Cham- 
paign comity, Ohio. He continued to op- 
erate the old Sproul homestead for six years, 
and then purchased the farm which origi- 
nally belonged to his great-grandfather, John 
Gearheart. The former owners, Samuel 
and Sarah Gearheart, had both died and the 
property was sold by the court, the subject 
of this review becoming the purchaser. His 
father, James M. Gearheart, was one of the 
heirs and the administrator, and our sub- 
ject had simply to purchase the interests of 
the other heirs. The old farm contained one 
hundred and sixty acres and for seven years 
it remained in possession of Mr. Gearheart, 
who then sold it to John K. Sheets and pur- 
chased his present farm, which is known as 
the old John C. Dye homestead. The house 
was erected by Mr. Dye, and the farm com- 
prised one hundred and twenty-nine acres, 
upon which Mr. Gearheart has laid over 
eight hundred rods of tiling, thus reclaiming 
a great deal of the wet land which hitherto 
had been unfitted for cultivation and which 
by this process became a highly arable tract. 
Mr. Gearheart has successfully carried on 
general farming, and his enterprising ef- 



622 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



forts have brought to him good success. He 
has also made a specialty of feetling hogs and 
lias found it a profitable source of income. 

In 1892 ^Ir. Gearheart was called upon 
to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on 
the 23d of March of that year, leaving one 
son, Bert \\'., who was graduated in the 
Troy high school, and for three vears was a 
teacher in the schools of his own district. 
He is now superintendent of the public 
schools of Christiansburg. Champaign coun- 
ty, and gives close attention to his chosen 
profession in which he has attained a lead- 
ing position. 

Mr. Gearheart, of this review, has been 
quite actively connected with public affairs, 
for nine years being a director of the County 
Fair Association, and taking active steps in 
the advancement of its interests. He was 
township trustee -for eight years, and is an 
earnest and stalwart Republican who has 
served as district committeeman, and has fre- 
quently been a delegate to the county con- 
ventions of the party. He belongs to tlie 
Presbyterian church, of Troy, with which 
organization the Sproul family were long 
connected. For many generations the Gear- 
hearts were Methodists, and the first Meth- 
odist class meeting was held in his great- 
grandfather's house. Both his grandfather 
and his father were \ery industrious work- 
ers in that church, and f<jr many years the 
family has been connected with the various 
movements which contributed to the welfare 
of the county and its advancement along edu- 
cational, social, material and moral lines. 



EDWIX M. WILBEE. 

Tlie history of a state as well as that of 
a nation is chiefly the chronicle of the lixes 
and deeds of those who have conferred honor 



and dignity upon society. The world 
judges the character of a community by that 
of its representative citizens and yields its 
trilnites of admiration and respect for the 
genius, learning or ^■irtues (if those whose 
works and action constitute the record of a 
state's prosperity and pride; and it is their 
character, as exemplified in probity and be- 
nevolence, kindly virtues and integrity in 
th.e aft'airs of life, that are ever affording 
worthy examples for emulation and valuable 
lessons of incentive. 

To a student of biography there is noth- 
ing more interesting than to examine the 
life history of a self-made man and to de- 
tect the elements of character which have 
enabled him to pass on the highway of life 
many of the companions of his 3-outh \vho 
al the outset of their careers were more ad- 
vantageously equipped or endowed. The 
subject of this re\'iew has through his own 
exertions attained an honorable position and 
marked prestige among the representati\e 
men of the west, and with signal consist- 
ency it may be said that he is the architect 
of his own fortunes, and one whose success 
amply justifies the application of the some- 
what hackneyed but most expressive title, 
"a selt-made man." He is now living re- 
tired, having acquired a competence ample 
to supply all his needs and at the same time 
permit him to enjoy many of life's pleas- 
ures. 

Mr. W'ilbee is a native of Elora, Ontario, 
born November 9, 1842, his parents being 
Henry and ^lary (\\'ood) W'ilbee. The 
Iflther was born in Devizes, England, about 
the year 1800, and the mother was a native 
of Hull, England. They emigrated from 
their native country about 1818, becoming 
residents of Canada. The father was a 
builder and settled first in Flambnro, but af- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



623 



terward removed to a farm at Elora. His 
son, Edwin Milton, attended the public 
schools, and during his youth he learned the 
trade of carriage painting in Hamilton, On- 
tario, in 1 86 1. Subsequently he worked in 
Rochester, and afterward in New Haven, 
and later he was in the employ of John 
Stevenson, a celebrated omnibus builder of 
New York city. At different times he was 
associated with other extensive concerns in 
Kalamazoo, Michigan. He had marked 
artistic taste and ability which enabled him 
to do excellent work in the line of his trade, 
so that his services were always in demand 
and he was able to command excellent 
wages. In 1865 he came to Sidney, Ohio, 
where he remained for six years with J. S. 
Crozier. 

On the 6th of January, 1870, he was 
united in marriage to Miss Fanny Crozier, 
a daughter of W. R. Crozier, the wedding" 
ceremony being performed in the bride's 
home, in which Mr. and Mrs. Wilbee now 
reside. It is located in North Downing 
street, and has since been enlarged and mod- 
ernized into a beautiful and tasteful resi- 
dence. Mrs. \\'ilbee is of Irish lineage on 
the paternal side. Her grandfather, John 
Crozier, emigrated from the Emerald Isle 
to the new world, and in 1815 removed from 
Pennsylvania to Ross county, Ohio. About 
1825 he became a resident of Auglaize coun- 
ty, Ohio, and in 1827 established a home in 
Piqua. Mr. Crozier had acquired a good 
education in the land of his nati\-ity and 
through the greater part of his life engaged 
in teaching, being employed for man}- years 
in the schools of Piqua and vicinity. In his 
later life he purchased a farm about seven 
miles northwest of Piqua. where he lived in 
comfortaI)le circumstances. William R. 
Cnizier, the father of ^Irs. Wilbee, was 

36 



born in Pennsylvania in 1813, and remained 
at home with his parents until about seven- 
teen years of age. He then learned the car- 
riage making trade, and in time became the 
proprietor of the most extensive works in 
Piqua. In 1837 he married Miss Catherine 
Statler, daughter of Christopher and Fanny 
(W'i-nans) Statler, who were married May 
27, 1817. Her father was born in Penn- 
sylvania about 1787, and w'as a son of Chris- 
topher Statler, who came to Miami county 
about 1801, when there was only one store 
on the present site of Piqua, and the county 
was much more thickly settled by Indians 
than white men. The family lived here 
through the troublous times of the war of 
18 1 2, when the Indians showed much hos- 
tility to the settlers. Mrs. Statler was a 
faithful member of the Methodist church 
for over eighty years, having joined that 
church in New Jersey, in 1808. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Wil- 
bee came to Piqua, where he entered into the 
carriage manufacturing business, in connec- 
tion with his father-in-law. In 1880, how- 
ever, Mr. Crozier, Sr., retired, after which 
the business was conducted by Mr. Wilbee 
and W. G. Crozier until 1890, when they 
sold out. The career of the firm had been 
one of enterprise and prosperity and their 
constantly increasing business had brought 
to them a handsome income. The block of 
land occupied by the works and residence 
and bounded by Downing, Green and North 
streets, was divided into lots and sold in 
1892, some of the property bringing as high 
as sixty-five dollars per front foot. This 
liiock is now improved by beautiful homes 
and is the best residence portion of Piqua. 

Mr. W'ilbee is a public-spirited and very 
enterprising man who since his arrival in 
Piqua has been actively identified with many 



C24 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I.ulilic measures and movements which have 
contribufed to the welfare and upbuilding 
of the city. He does all in his power to pro- 
mote such enterprises as will advance the 
best interests of the general public and Pi- 
qua owes much to his labors. The exten- 
sive factory which he conducted for many 
years not only contributed to his individual 
success but also promoted the general pros- 
perity by advancing commercial activity. 
He has made a close and earnest study of the 
questions affecting the general welfare and 
his conclusions are based on thorough knowl- 
edge, while his actions are directed by an in- 
telligent understanding of the propositions 
under consideration. His fellow towns- 
. men, recognizing his worth and ability, have 
frequently called him to public office, and 
he has ever exercised his official prerogatives 
to secure the upbuilding of material, educa- 
tional and moral interests. He was for six 
years a member of the city council, was 
mayor from 1891 to 1893 and was county 
sheriff for two terms, embracing the years 
from 1893 to 1897. During that time he 
made his residence at the county seat. He 
discharged the duties of the office with 
marked faithfulness and loyalty. In 1898 
he purchased the Piqua Dispatch, which he 
conducted as a Republican paper for one 
year, when he sold it to the present proprie- 
tors. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. W'ilbee were born 
four children : Eva, Frank, Carrie and 
Clifford, all of whom are yet with their par- 
ents. They have an ideal home in which 
cordial hospitality reigns supreme. Their 
beautiful residence is tastefully furnished 
with all the adornments that wealth can 
secure and refined culture approves. Miss 
Carrie has inherited her father's artistic 
ability, and displays marked talent in paint- 



ing. It is intended that she shall receive 
instruction in the best art schools, thus be- 
coming proficient in her chosen line. Mr. 
W'ilbee and his family are members of the 
Green Street Methodist church. He is a 
thirty-second degree Mason, a member of 
the Mystic Shrine, has served as past mas- 
ter in the lodge and h\g\\ priest in the chap- 
ter, and is also a member of the Knights 
of the Golden Eagle and the Knights of the 
Maccabees. Although he has retired from 
business cares, indolence and idleness are ut- 
terly foreign to his nature, and he concerns 
himself with many of the large, loving in- 
terests which affect humanity, and also with 
the public affairs of his adopted town and 
county where his labors have proved of great 
benefit. Enterprising, genial, kindly and 
progressive, he ranks among the most promi- 
nent men of the community, and is a power 
for good in Miami county. 



JOHN M. POPP. 

Now living a retired life in Covington, 
John M. Popp is enjoying the fruits of a 
well earned rest, for his competence has been 
acquired as the direct result of his own ef- 
forts. He was born in Bavaria. Germany, 
January 30, 1823, and is a representative 
of one of the old families of that country. 
The grandfather, Andrew Popp, was a well- 
to-do farmer of Bavaria, and his son, An- 
drew Popp, Jr., the father of our subject, 
carried on agricultural pursuits in Bavaria 
throughout his entire life, his death occur- 
ring about 1866, at the age of eighty-five 
years. His wife bore the maiden ;iame of 
Catherine Hebner, and died at the age of 
thirty-five years. In their family were eight 
children, namely: Henry, who died in 
Michigan, in 1896: John M. ; Barbara, who 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



625 



(lied ill cliildiiood ; Eveline, wife of John 
Mader, of New Bremen, Ohio: Ji'hn, who 
is H\ing on the old home farm in Bavaria; 
George, who died on the old home place; 
Mrs. Eve Lansendurfer, of Bavaria ; and 
Mrs. Margaret Helmuth, of Bavaria. 

Upon the home farm John M. Popp 
spent his childhood days. He attended 
school nntil fourteen years of age, and was 
then confirmed. When a young man of 
twenty-fi\e hs determined to seek a home 
in the new world, thinking to better his 
financial conditions in a land where opportu- 
nities were greater than in the more thickly 
settled countries of Europe. Accordingly, 
in the spring of 1848, he took passage at 
Bremen on a sailing vessel bound for Balti- 
more. After a voyage of six weeks they 
reached that port, and Mr. Popp proceeded 
en his way to Pittsburg by rail, and thence 
by boat to Cincinnati, where he arrived July 
4. 1848. Immediately, however, he re- 
moved to Piqua, Miami county, where he 
learned the potter"s trade, at which he 
worked for three years. He then built a 
shop of his own and continued the business 
at Piqua until 1869, when he sold out and 
came to Covington, where, in connection 
with his brother-in-law, Richard Schilling, 
he engaged in the cigar business for five 
years. He then opened a saloon with Air. 
Schilling, their partnership continuing for 
five 3'ears, when Mr. Popp purchased Mr. 
Schilling's interest and thus became the sole 
proprietor. Success attended the venture, 
and he has also been fortunate in other busi- 
ness speculations. While at Piqua he pur- 
chased a house for six hundred dollars, and 
sold it for twelve hundred and fifty dollars. 
He owns the business block in which his sa- 
loon is situated, and it is one of the largest 
and finest buildings in the town. His home 



is a commodious red brick residence which 
was erected in 1886, and in addition to this 
he owns seventy-four acres of farming land, 
the returns from which add materially to his 
income. 

Mr. Popp was married June 10, 1856, to 
Miss Mary Catherine Neth, who was born in 
Wurtemberg, Germany, May 3, 1837, a 
daughter of George and Rosie (Neth) 
Neth. His parents, though of the same 
name, were not relatives. Her paternal 
grandparents were John and Angeline Neth 
and the former conducted a hotel in Wur- 
temberg, Germany. Her father, George 
Neth, was a saddler of Wurtemberg and in 
1854 he emigrated with his family to Amer- 
ica. They sailed from Havre, France, for 
New York on the sailing vessel Bavaria, and 
reached the latter harbor after a voyage of 
twenty-se\en days. He had only money 
enough to pay the transportation of his 
family as far as Albany, New York. There 
his funds gave out and he had to leave five 
of his children at that place, while he with 
the other members of the family proceeded 
to Covington, Ohio, where six months later 
the father died. Mrs. Popp secured em- 
ployment as housekeeper in the home of 
William Scott, and there remained until 
her marriage. Her mother died in Cov-- 
ington, in 1871, at the age of sixty-eight 
years. Mr. and Mrs. Neth became the par- 
ents of the following children : Angeline, 
who was married in Albany, New York, to 
Henry Eskey, but died in Covington, Ohio; 
Mary, wife of John Reif, of Newberry 
township, Miami county; John, who died in 
Covington in 1899; Agnes, wife of Henry 
Drees, of Covington; Catherine, wife of 
Martin Steinhelfer, of Covington; Mrs. 
Popp; Lewis, who wedded Margaret Brann 
and makes his home in Piqua ; Jacob, who 



C2G 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



wedded Barbara Flammer and is living 
in Covington ; Mary Ann, who became Mrs. 
Steinhelfer, and died in Covington; George, 
who wedded Christina Jileyer, and hves in 
Covington; Christina, wife of Richard 
SchilHng, of Covington; and Conrad, of 
the same city. There were also four others 
of the family, who died in childhood. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Popp have been born 
six children : ]\lary Elizabeth, deceased 
wife of Samuel Hoelflich, of Covington; 
Henry, a farmer of Newberry township, 
who married IMary McBride; Rosie, who 
died in infancy; George, of Jackson, Michi- 
gan; William, who wedded Elizabeth Fet- 
ters and died in Covington; and Rosie, who 
married Henry Ehlen. The father of this 
family is a .stanch Democrat in his political 
views, and is a member of the Lutheran 
church. He came to this country empty- 
handed, and has worked his way steadily 
upward, overcoming all obstacles in his 
path by determined purpose and resolute 
will. Such c|ualities when guided by sound 
judgment always ensure success, and have 
gained for him his present prosperity 



HUGH WISE. 



Hugh Wise, of Troy, is the manager of 
the Haynes Distillery, which is known 
throughout the country on account of the 
excellence of its product, which is sold only 
liy mail orders to private consumers. Mr. 
Wise was born November i6, 1833, in Clark 
county, Ohio, fourteen miles east of Trov. 
His father, Joseph Wise, was a distiller and 
removed from Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, to the Buckeye state. His wife, who 
bore the maiden name of Margaret Heller, 
was also a native of Lancaster county. 
The subject of this review obtained his 



education in the common schools, and at 
the age of fourteen vears entered- upon his 
business career as an employe in the distil- 
lery, within a mile of Troy. Thirty-four 
years ago he aided in building the Haynes 
Distillery, of this city, and has been con- 
nected with the enterprise, since that time. 
At first only fifty bushels of grain were con- 
sumed per day in the manufacture of whisky, 
but now four hundred bushels are tlaily used 
and the output is eighteen hundred gallons. 
During all these years Mr. Wise has com- 
menced work at half past three o'clock in 
the morning and has been most unremitting 
in his attention to his work. The success 
of the enterprise is undoubtedly due in very 
large measure to his capable management 
and his thorough understanding of the busi- 
ness. He is the discoverer of a yeast pro- 
cess which enables him to make a half-gallon 
UKire whisky from each bushel of grain than 
is usually produced in other distilleries. He 
is carefully training his son, Walter, iur the 
business, and the young man will undoubt- 
edly become an able successor of his father. 
Mr. Hugh was married to IVliss Sarah 
Carmen, a daughter of John Carmen, of 
Springfield, Ohio, one of the pioneer set- 
tlers of the Buckeye state, who came to the 
west from Maryland. Mr. and Mrs. Wise 
have two sons, Joseph Elvin, an employe of 
the Troy Buggy Works Compan_\-, and Wal- 
ter, who is his father's assistant. There is 
also one daughter, ]\Irs. Sims Parks, of 
Memphis, Tennessee. 'Mr. and Mrs. Wise 
are now enoving the comforts of life in a 
beautiful home on East ^Lnin street in Trov, 
I which has been secured to them throush the 
enterprising and continuous labor of our sub- 
ject. His wife is a member of the Christian 
church. In his political views Mr. Wise is 
a Republican, and for four years was a trus- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



G27 



tee of the Troy water works, occupying that 
position at tlie time tiie plant was established 
and the system inaugurated. His services 
in that regard were highly appreciated by 
the citizens of Troy, who have always found 
in him an able champion of the movements 
and measures which contribute to the public 
good. 



ELI M. TA XX EH ILL. 

Eli 1\I. Tannehill. i>f Tr(jy, occupies the 
resimnsible position of foreman in the plrm- 
ing-mill department of the Troy Wagon 
Works, a position which he has acceptably 
tilled for thirteen years. He was Ixirn in 
Kno.x county, Ohio, June 9, 1840, a son of 
William Tannehill, who resided near Har- 
risl)urg, Pennsylvania, wdience he remos'ed 
to Knox county, Ohio, about 1S36. There 
he located upon a farm. His father was a 
native of Scotland and resided in the same 
locality where occurred the l^irth of the 
Scotch poet, Tannehill, to whose memory 
has been erected a lieautiful monument, his 
countrymen thus paying tribute to his ability. 
His mother bore the maiden name of Elea- 
nor AlcMillan an<l was a native of Pennsyl- 
vania. Her parents, however, were of 
Sc(!tch descent and came to this country 
from county Cork, Ireland, 

His mother died when Eli Tannehill 
was seven years of age and he went to live 
with his brother, in Whitley county. Indiana, 
Vi'here he remained eight years, when he 
returned to Ohio and worked on a farm un- 
til 1858. In that year he began learning 
his trade at Elida. Ohio, and followed that 
]nirsuit until 1861, when, prompted by a 
spirit of patriotism, he put aside all personal 
considerationsand joined the Twentieth Ohio 
Infantry for three months' service. On the 



expiration of that period he re-cnli^ted for 
three years' service, in the Ninety-ninth 
Ohio Infantry, and, with his regiment, aided 
in the defense of the Union in Georgia, 
Tennessee and Alabama. For some time he 
served on detached service in the commis- 
sary department, and when hostilities had 
ceased and the country no longer needed his 
aid he returned to the north, reccix'ing his 
discharge June 26, 1865, at Salisbury, Xorth 
Carolina, and arriving honi; on August 17th 
of the same year. 

In 1865 Mi\ Tannehill took uj) his .abode 
in Lima, Ohio, where he worked at his trade 
for two years, after which he began carriage- 
making on his own account in Delphos, Ohio, 
where he carried on business for ten years. 
On the expiration of that |)eriod, he went 
to Xew Carlisle, Ohio, where he operated a 
sawmill. The year 1887 witnessed his ar- 
rival in Troy. He was appointed superin- 
tendent of the planing-mill department of the 
Troy W'agon Works and has since been con- 
nected with that enterprise. The constantly 
growing business has greatly increased his 
labors and responsibilities, but he has kept 
his department equal to any in the works 
and is one of the most trustworthy, faithfuj 
and competent employes of the company. 

Mr. Tannehill was married, in Allen 
county, Ohio, to Miss Sarah H. Harley, of 
Putnam county, and to them have been born 
the foljowing children : Charles, a resident 
of Troy; Mrs. Marcellus Smith, also living 
ii! Trov; Alonzo, a druggist of Mount Ster- 
ling, Ohio: Mrs. .\. B. Sloan, of War- 
saw, Indiana: Clarence H. and William 
Elmer, liotb now deceased. Eor his second 
wife ^Ir. Tannehill chose Miss Mary Smith, 
of Columbus, Ohio. He and his family 
are active members of the Methodist church, 
and in politics he is a Kepu])lican, Prater- 



628 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



nally he is connected with the Masonic lodge 
of Troy, and witli tlie Grand Army of the 
Repubhc. His advancement in business has 
been continuous and creditable, owing to 
his well-directed etl'orts, his close application 
and his unflagging industry. He sustains 
an unassailable reputation in industrial cir- 
cles and his qualities are such as to commend 
him to the public confidence in all walks 
of life. 



HEXRY H. BRYANT. 

Henry H. Bryant is engaged in the drug 
business in Tippecanoe City and for many 
years has been connected with the business 
interests which promote the commercial ac- 
ti\-ity of the ])lace. The prosperity, welfare 
and dexelypment of a town depend upon its 
enterprising merchants and manufacturers, 
and it is said that he who conducts a grow- 
ing enterprise does more for a city than the 
one who makes munificent gifts of money.- 
Mr. Bryant is an industrious, energetic man, 
and while his life has not been characterized 
by events of startling importance it indicates 
that the pathway of industry and honor lead 
to success. 

He was born on the farm now owned ty 
the Miami Fruit Company, his birth occur- 
ring on the 17th of February, 1840. For 
many years the Bryant family has been con- 
nected with this section of the state, for 
William Bryant, the grandfather, was 
through a considerable period a well-known 
farmer in Miami county. His last days, 
however, were passed in Indiana. Archi- 
bald Bryant, the father of our subject, was 
born in this coimt}-, and when he had ar- 
rived at years of maturity marrietl Cather- 
ine Cecil Car\-er, by whom he had four chil- 
dren, namely : Henrv H. ; Marv, who died 



in childhood; Eliza, the wife of Jnhn .Si- 
mons : and Jerome, who died in infancy. 
Our subject also had one half brotlier and 
two half sisters, — Xancy, Thomas and Bar- 
bara. Throughout his business career the 
father carried on fanning, his life's labors 
being ended in death in 1849. His wife, 
long surviving him, passed away in 1873. 
at the age of sixty-eight years. 

Mr. Bryant, of this review, spent his 
early boyhood days on his father's farm, 
and when a lad of twelve summers began 
working as a farm hand for Mr. Held in 
Elizabeth township, with whom he remained 
for two years, receiving his board and cloth- 
ing in compensation for his services. He 
was connected with the agricultural interests 
until 1859, when he began selling" fruit trees, 
his time being thus occupied for two years. 
In May, 1861, however, lie put aside all 
personal considerations in order to respond 
to his countrj-'s call for troops, enlisting as 
a private in Company G, Tenth Ohio In- 
fantry, at the first call, for three-months 
volunteers. He was mustered in at Camp 
Dennison and on the expiration of his term 
received an honorable discharge. He then 
returned to Tppecanoe City, but in the fol- 
lowing August enlisted as a member of the 
bai.d connected with th^ Forty-second Ohio 
Infantry. The regiment was sent to east- 
ern Kentucky and he continued as one (^f 
its musicians until March. 1862. when he re- 
turned home on a thirty days' furlough. 
During his absence at the north the order 
was issued for the discharge of regiment 
bands and he therefore continued at home 
until May. 1864, when he once more enlisted, 
becoming sergeant of Company A. One Hun- 
dred and Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry, un- 
der a call for one hundred-day men. Under 
command of Colonel John \V. Woodward, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(329 



the regiment went to the defense of Wash- 
ington and remained in the vicinity of the 
capital city until discharged. 

When his term had expired, Air. Bryant 
again came to Tippecanoe City and was en- 
gaged in house painting and paper-hanging 
until 1867, at which time he went to Ne- 
braska, cultivating a farm near Browns- 
ville, that state, for two years. He also en- 
gaged in painting and paper-hanging at 
Brownsville until December, 1872, when he 
once more came to Tippecanoe City, follow- 
ing those pursuits here until 1888. He then 
entered into partnership with James H. 
Kinna and U. J. Favorite in the operation 
of a flouring mill, which they successfully 
conducted until 1897, when Mr. Bryant sold 
out and entered into partnership with Will- 
iam E. Ten Eick in the drug business. They 
conducted a well-appointed store and re- 
ceived a liberal patronage. 

On the 30th of October, 1873, Mr. Bry- 
ant was united in marriage w'ith Miss Sarah 
A. Turner, of Tippecanoe City, by whom 
he had one son, Charles F., who is clerking 
in a drug store. In addition to his residence 
and store, Mr. Bryant owns fourteen acres 
of land within the corporate limits, which he 
has laid out in t(jwn lots. For two years 
he has served as a member of the city council, 
and, while in oltice or out of it, has ever given 
his support to those measures which he be- 
lieves calculated to prove a public benefit. 
He exercises his right of franchise in sup- 
port of the men and measures of the Repub- 
lican party, and is a member of the D. M. 
Rcuzer Post, G. A. R. He enjoys meeting 
w.th his old comrades of the blue as they 
thus recall the incidents and scenes of the 
civil war. when the\' loyally followed the 
starry banner on the battlefields of the south. 
Mr. Bryant is to-day as true to his duties of 



citizenship as when in the military service 
and is recognized as one of the representa- 
tive business men of Miami county. 



GEORGE SMITH. 

"We build the ladder by which we rise," 
is a truth which is cetainly applicable to Mr. 
Smith, who for many years was numbered 
among the leading citizens of Miami county. 
He was a type of the progressive public-spir- 
ited men of the age, the spirit which has given 
America the pre-eminence along its various 
business lines ; and the undaunted enterprise, 
indomitable perseverance and resolute pur- 
pose which were numbered among his char- 
acteristics enabled him to rise from a po- 
sition of comparative obscurity to an emi- 
nence which commanded the admiration of 
the business world. 

Mr. Smith was born in Lincolnshire, 
England, August 13, 1816, and was a son of 
William and Mildred Smith, who emigrated 
with their family to the new world. They 
were the parents of seven children. When 
our subject was thirteen years of age he be- 
gan earning his own livelihood by herding 
sheep and afterward working at anything 
that he could get to do that would yield to 
him an honest hving. In 1838 he crossed 
the Atlantic to .\merica upon a sailing ves- 
sel which dropped anchor in the harbor of 
New York after a voyage of four weeks. 
By packet, steamer, canal and wagon he 
made his way westw.ard to Ohio and for a 
short time worked as a laborer at Green- 
ville Falls, after which he secured a situation 
in a distillery east of Dayton, being em- 
ployed there for five years. On the expira- 
tion of that period he engaged in- merchaa- 
dising in Ft^irfield, Ohio, for sixteen months', 
and then, in company with his brother-in- 



630 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



law, Edward Smith, he leased a distillery, 
flouring-mill and sawmill at Greenville Falls, 
operating- those plants for three years. At 
a later date they carried on a distillery for 
two years in Casstown, Ohio, and in 1852 
they operated the first distillery at Tippe- 
canoe City. They also built a flour and oil 
mill and after eight or nine years connected 
with those enterprises ]\Ir. Smith turned his 
attention to farming. He was, however, 
proinently connected with the industrial in- 
terests of r^Iiami county and became one of 
the principal organizers and stockholders of 
the Grape Sugar Company, wliicli was cap- 
italized for fifty thousand dollars. He was 
elected its president and to his capable man- 
agement the enterprise owed its success 
For twenty years he was a director in the 
First National Bank of Troy, and his sound 
judgment and business ability contributed 
to its success. Mr. Smith was a public-spirited 
arid progressive citizen anil in manv wavs 
he aided in the moral development and sub- 
stantial improvement of the countv, with- 
holding his support from no measure which 
he believed would prove a public good. He 
frequently held offices of trust in the town- 
ship and in the city, and was a member of 
the city school board. His political supjjort 
was gi\en tlic Republican party and at all 
times he kept well informed on the issues 
of the day. 

Mr. Smith was twice married. He first 
wedded ]\liss Jane Smith, who died Octolier 
iS, 1877. Afterward he married Miss Sarah 
E. Galloway, widow of William C. Gallo- 
wa_\- and a daughter of Joseph Bennett, wb.o 
was born in Derbyshire. England, in 181 1, 
and came to America in 1840. For many 
years before crossing the .\tlantic he was a 
teacher and after taking up his abode in the 
Buckeye state he also followed that profes- 



sion. His death occurred in Tippecanoe 
City, December 21. 1891, at the advanced 
age of eighty-eight years. In the family of 
Mr. and Mrs. Smith were five children, of 
whom four died in infancy, while Mildred 
is still living, at the age of fourteen years. 
In addition to their present home in Tippe- 
canoe City, I\Ir. Smith was the owner of 
three hundred acres of valuable farming 
land, two hundred acres being located in 
^liami county, the remainder in Montgom- 
erv county. Ohio. He was a charter member 
of Tippecanoe City Lodge. F. & A. M.. and 
was a devoted member of the Lutheran 
church. He took an active interest in every- 
thing i)ertaining to the welfare of his com- 
munity, and has tended to advance its prog- 
ress along social, moral, material and intel- 
lectual lines. His record is one of which his 
family may justly be proud. WHien he ar- 
rived in Dayton, Ohio, in 1838, he had only 
a .single sixpence in his pocket, but energy 
and business sagacity enabled him to win a 
place among the leading business men of 
Miami county. At all times he was reliable 
and trustworthy in trade transactions and 
his steady advancement was an indication 
not only of his power to handle intricate busi- 
ness matters but also of the confidence re- 
po.sed in him by his fellow-townsmen. In 
his death, which occurred April 29. 1894, 
the community lost one of its best citizens, 
but his memory will long be enshrined in 
the hearts of those who knew him. 



GEORGE PEARSON. 

A representative of the agricultural in- 
terests of Concord townshi]). George Pear- 
son was born upon the farm where he now 
resides, February 10, 1834, and is of Eng- 
lish lineage. His grandfather, Thomas, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



031 



Pearson, was one of three brothers who came 
to Xew Jersey from England. They 'were 
members i if the Society of Friends or Quak- 
ers. Thomas Pearson remo\-ecl to Soutli 
Carolina where he took up a large tract of 
land, botli for himself and for his seven sons, 
one I if wliom was Thomas H. Pearson, the 
father of our subject. The sons all came to 
Ohio in 1804. and their father, then ninety 
years of age, soon afterward f(illii\ved. Their 
land in South Carolina was located on Fa- 
gies creek, sixty miles from Charleston, but 
thiCy left that locality in urder tn establish 
homes in the fertile Miami \-allev. Being 
memliers of the Society of Friends they did 
not bear arms during the Re\-olutionary war, 
but paid heavy fines instead. After reaching 
Ohio Thomas H. Pearson, however, attended 
the regular muster of the militia and the 
family ceased to be Quakers. He estab- 
lished a home near Fidelity in Montgomery 
county. Ohio, in 1804, and a quarter of a 
century later came to the old homestead 
famu in ]\Iiami county, spending his re- 
maining days here. His death occurred in 
1884, when he had attained the veneraljle 
age of ninety-two years. He married Mrs. 
\\'illiams. whose maiden name was Rebecca 
IMartindale. Her father. Samuel !\fartin- 
dale, removed from the Newberry district of 
South Carolina to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, in 1806, and in 1827 tiiok up his alaode 
in Concord township, Miami county. He 
drove a four-horse team on the journey 
from South Carolina, and after traveling- 
four weeks arrived at Mill creek, Montgom- 
ery county, where he cleared five acres of 
land, planting it in corn. The same year he 
resided in a wagon until after the crop was 
planted, when he erected a cabin home. There 
are many interesting and peculiar incidents 
which occurred in connection with warfare, 



arifl one of these happened to the Martindale 
family. Joseph IMartindale. the grand- 
father of Mrs. Pearson, joined the Continen- 
tal army during the Revolutionary war, 
and as he was never heard from afterward 
it was supposed that he was dead. His son 
Samuel was then only nine years of age 
and had a younger brother and sister. The 
mother's health became liroken down through 
the struggle incident to pioneer life and the 
care of her three small children, and died 
about the close of the war which brought 
iridependence to the nation. As the head 
of the family Samuel Martindale worked 
and labored energetically in order to 
provide for his younger brother and sister. 
He was married in South Carolina to 
Miss Elizabeth Campbell, a daughter of 
John Campbell, whose father, accompanied 
by a brother, came to America at an early 
period in the hist<iry of this country. .\. 
third brother. Dugan Campbell, was an ad- 
miral in the British navy and died unmar- 
ried, leaxdng his vast estate to his two 
linithers in this country. Owing to hard- 
ships of pioneer life and separation from 
hcjme and family, and many times a bitter- 
ness engendered among relatives by the Rev- 
olutionary war. many family records were 
lost, and owing to one or more of these rea- 
sons the Campbell family neglected to keep 
a genealogical history. Some j'cars ago a 
faint attempt was made to establish their 
rights to the above estate, but the evidence 
that established relationship to John Campjjell 
and his uncle, the admiral, was lacking, and 
the attempt proved a failure. Samuel Mart- 
indale became the father of five children who 
reached mature years and were married. 
One of his daughters became the wife of 
Thomas H. Pearson, and with her Mr. Mar- 
tindale made his home. He was about 



632 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sixty years of age when his daughter, then 
a maiden of thirteen summers, ran to her sis- 
ter. Mrs. Pearson, exclaiming "Daddy's fa- 
tlier lias come." Slie had heard of the dis- 
appearance of tlie Re^-ohitionary patriot, and 
on seeing tiie old man approach must have 
been impressed by a strong family likeness. 
Her exclamation, however, proved true, 
for it was the long lost Joseph Martindale 
who was supiKised to have been dead fifty- 
seven years. He had heard of the Martin- 
dales in Miami county and made his way to 
this locality to find out if they were his 
children. He was then eighty-five years of 
age and had lost his second wife, by whom 
he was the father of five sons, then residents 
of Gallipolis, Ohio. At eighty-seven he was 
married a third time, and lived to be ninety- 
five years of age. Samuel Martindale served 
his country in the war of 1812. In religious 
faith the Martindales were members of the 
Christian church, and were prominent and 
highly esteemedd people of the community 
in which they made their home. 

George Pearson, whose name introduces 
this review pursued his education in the 
common schools of Concord township and 
spent his youth upon his father's farm. 
\\'hen a young man he went westward, re- 
maining for eight years in Indiana and Illi- 
nois. In 1 86 1 he returned to Troy, and 
for some time has been connected with the 
agricultural interests of this locality. He 
has two sisters, one of whom is Mrs. Will- 
iam H. Hackett. of Virginia. 

Mr. Pearson married ]\Iiss Isabel Har- 
bison, of Greenville, Darke county Oliio. 
whose grandfather was a native of Belfast, 
Ireland, and became the founder of the fam- 
ily in America, establishing a home in Lex- 
ington, Kentucky. Her father became one 
of the pioneer settlers of Eaton, Preble 



county. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have 
been born three children. Emma, who is a 
graduate of the Troy high school and 
resides at home: Frank \\'., who mar- 
ried Ella Stewart, a daughter of E. Stew- 
art, formerly of ^^liami county : and William 
H., who is a graduate of the Troy high 
school and is still with his parents. The 
family attend the Christian church and Mr. 
Pearson gives his political support to the 
Republican party, but has never sought or 
desired political preferment, his time being 
fully occupied by his business cares. He 
has so capably managed his farm that he is 
now numbered among the substantial citizens 
of the community and is regarded as one 
of the most progressive agriculturists, for 
he follows the most approved methods of 
farming and always has the latest acces- 
sories and conveniences of farm life ujxin 
his place. 



AARON CHRISTIAN. 

On a farm of eighty-four acres in Union 
township Aaron Christian makes his home 
and has there resided for fourteen years. 
He was born in Miami county, near his pres- 
ent place of residence, on the i6th of Au- 
gust, 1845, ^"tl belongs to one of the old 
families of the state. His paternal grand- 
father, Joseph Christian, was a native of 
Pennsylvania, and came to Miami county 
about 1825. He was a self-made man who 
successfully carried on agricultural i)ursuits 
throughout his active business career. He 
lived to be eighty-two years of age, and his 
life recoid was one well worthy of enuila- 
tion. He held membership in the Dunkard 
church, and was a Republican in his politi- 
cal belief. His son. Philip Christian, the 
father of our subject, was born in Bedford 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



G33 



county, Pennsylvania, in 1815. and when a 
lad accompanied liis parents on their re- 
moval to Miami comity, a settlement being 
made in Union township, where Philip 
Christian spent his remaining days. He, 
too, was a farmer, his energies being de- 
voted to the tilling of the soil throughout his 
life. In politics he was a Republican, served 
as a justice of the peace for twelve years, was 
a member of the school board for many 
years and long served as the clerk of the 
board. He was recognized as one of the 
representative and influential men of his 
township, and at his death, which occurred 
when he was se\-enty-two }-ears of age, he 
left an estate of three" hundred and twenty 
acres, which was the accumulation of an 
active and honorable business career. He 
wedded Mary Warner, who was born in 
^lontgomery county, Ohio, February 29, 
1820, and belonged to one of the pioneer 
families of the state. She was a member of 
the Dunkard church, and died when about 
se\'enty-two years of age. In their family 
were ten children, six of whom are yet liv- 
ing, namely : Harriet, the wife of Freder- 
ick Hissong, of Union township; Aaron, of 
this review ; Nancy, wife of Joseph Sandow, 
of Union township; Samuel, who follows 
farming in the same township ; Susan, the 
wife of Eli Metzger, of Indiana; and ISIary, 
the wife of John Metzger, also of Indiana. 

Aaron Christian remained at home upon 
the farm through the years of his minority, 
and to the public school system of his county 
is indebted for the educational privileges he 
received. In 1864, when eighteen years of 
age, he responded to the country's call for 
troops, enlisting as a member of Company 
A, Eighth Regiment of Ohio Cavalry, and 
was connected with that command until 
July 30, 1865, when the country, no longer 



needing his services, granted him an hon- 
orable discharge at Clarksburg, Virginia. 
During the greater part of the time he was 
under command of General Sheridan and 
participated in the engagements at Lexing- 
ton, Otter Creek, Lynchburg, Liberty and 
Beverly. He was very fortunate in that he 
was never wounded or taken prisoner. 

After his return from the war Mr. Chris- 
tian remained at home for about a year and 
was then married. In order to establish a 
home of his own he purchased sixty acres of 
farm land and thereon devoted his atten- 
tion to agricultural pursuits for thirteen 
years. Selling that property he removed 
to Darke county, where he purchased a farm 
of lifty acres, upon which he lived from 1880 
until 1886. In the latter year he purchased 
hi-s present farm of eighty- four acres, and 
has since made it his place of residence. The 
greater part of his possessions represent his 
own earnings, and his life has been an active 
and useful one, in which industry has been 
the foundation on which he has builded his 
prosperity. 

On the 2d of Sei)tember, 1866, occurred 
tlie marriage of Mr. Christian to Miss Lydia 
Bolinger, a native of Union township, born 
September 2^, 1842. a daughter of David 
and Ruth (Mendenhall) Bolinger — her fa- 
ther from Bedford county. Pennsylvania, 
and her mijther a nati\-e of Ohio. Mr. 
and Mrs. Christian are the parents of nine 
children, but Jesse, the last child, died at the 
age of ten months. The others arfe still liv- 
ing, as follows : Emma, widow of Albert 
Clemment ; Rachel, wife of Joseph A. Mark- 
ley; Sarah, wife of Jesse Kleppinger, a 
farmer of Union township; Austin, who fol- 
lows farming in the same township ; Callie, 
wife of William Harshbarger, of Union 
township; Dora, wife of Charles D. Koog- 



G34 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ler. of Moiitjjfimery county. Ohio ; and Philip 
and Minnie B., both at home. The parents 
hold nieml)ership in the Christian church, of 
which our suljject is serving as treasurer. 
He takes an active interest in its work, and 
is a leading member of the Republican party, 
firm in his advocacy of its principles and at 
all times doing what he can to promote its 
growth. He is now serving for the third 
year as a township trustee, and for several 
years has been a school director. He is 
recognized as one of the progressive farmers 
of his community, and well deserves repre- 
sentation in this volume. 



SAMUEL S. YATES. 

Samuel Sayres Yates is now living a re- 
tired life, enjoying a rest which he has truly 
earned and richly deserves, for through 
many years of an active business career he 
was identified with the- agricultural inter- 
ests of Miami county. His birth occurred 
in Lost Creek township, on the boundary 
line of Brown township. April 20, 1830. His 
parents were Nezer Swain and Priscilla 
(Sayres) Yates. The father was burn in 
Cape May county, New Jersey, Xo\-ember 
20, 1 801, and the mothei-'s birth occurred in 
Pennsylvania, March 6, 1807. They were 
married April 24. 1825, and the mother's 
death occurred May 31, 1847, while Mr. 
Vates survi\ed until 1874. He was again 
married, his second union being with Pa- 
melia Reed, who died in 1864. The ma- 
ternal grandparents of our subject were 
Thomas and Frances (Dye) Sayres, and the 
latter was a member of the Dye family that 
was established in Miami county during the 
earliest epoch of its development. The 
Sayres were also numbered among the pio- 



neers of Staunton township, but the Yates 
family came a little later. Xezer S. Yates 
made the journey to Ohio in company with 
his parents, Thomas and Phcebe Yates, who 
cast in their lot with the early settlers. They 
took up their abode on a farm in Lost Creek 
township, where the sut)ject of this review 
was born, and there the grandfather died 
in the prime of life. The grandmother lived 
to a very advanced age. Their son, Xezer 
S. Yates, remained under the parental roof, 
and after the father's death became the pos- 
sessor of the old homestead. L'pon his 
farm of one hundred and sixty acres he 
made extensive and substantial improve- 
ments, continuing in possession of the old 
place until his death, when it was sujd, its 
inirchaser, however, being a member of the 
Sayres family. Mr. Yates was a very 
prominent and influential citizen of the com- 
munity, served as trustee of Lost Creek 
township and was actively interested in all 
measures tending to prove a public benefit. 
In politics he was a stalwart Jacksonian 
Democrat, unswerving in his support of the 
principles of the party. In religious faith 
he was an old-time Baptist and belonged to 
the Lost Creek clnn-ch until the division. 
Later in life he joined the Lena Baptist 
church and died in the faith of that denomi- 
nation. Firm in his convictions, he held 
tenaciiiusl}- to his \-iews and in his life ex- 
emplified his faith. Of his family of twelve 
children, six were sons. There are two sons 
now living, in 1900, S. S., of this review, 
and Thomas, who has been a resident of 
Goshen, Indiana, since 1853. There are 
also four daughters living: Frances, wife of 
Jacob Long, of Brown township; Sarah, 
wife of Robert W'eatherhead. of Howell 
countv, Missouri; Priscilla, widow of Dallas 
Miller, of Elkhart county, Indiana: and 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



635 



Mary, wife of John Pence, of Elkhart coun- 
ty, Indiana. 

Samuel S. Yates was reared on his fa- 
ther's farm, his attention being given to the 
labors of the field and meadow through the 
summer uKjnths, while in the winter season 
he pursued his education in the common 
schools. Among his schoolmates was 
Phfjebe A. Shanks, who was born in Brown 
township, October 4, 1830. Their friend- 
ship ripened into love and they were mar- 
ried March 9,' 185 1. The lad}- is a daughter 
of Peter and Leah ( Schenck ) Shanks. Her 
father was born in what is now Cincinnati, 
August 15, 1795, anil was a son of Joseph 
and Mary (Clawson) Shanks, the former 
of German and the latter of Holland and 
Welsh parentage. Peter Shanks was reared 
to farm labor in Montgomery county, Ohio, 
and when seventeen years of age enlisted for 
service in the war of 1812 under Ca^Jtain 
Richard Sunderlanil. His command was 
stationed at Detroit, Michigan, when peace 
was declared. About i8i7,]\Ir. Shanks en- 
tered one hundred and sixty acres of land 
on section 29, Brown township, and in the 
midst of an unbroken forest erected a hewed- 
log house and liegan the de\-eloi)ment of the 
farm. He placed his land under a very 
high state of cultivation and was one of the 
enterprising farmers of the neighborhood. 
On the loth of May, 1821, he married Leah 
C. Shanks, a native of New Jersey. His 
death occurred in his ninety-second year and 
his wife died ]\Lay 13, 1839. Nineteen 
years later ]\Ir. Shanks wedded Mrs. Martha 
J. (^IcCarr) Nef¥, who died April 27, 1861. 
The parents of our subject, as also the sec- 
ond wife, were consistent members of the 
Baptist church. There were eight children 
by the first marriage and two by the second, 
but only four are now living. The oldest 



son, Thomas, resides in Huntington, In- 
diana; JNIrs. Yates and Mary A. Miller, 
widows of Peter Miller, are living in Con- 
over and their half sister, Lizzie A., is the 
wife of O. P. Wolcott; of Brown township, 
Miami C(junty. One son of the family, 
Daniel Shanks, remained on the old family 
homestead until his death, when he was 
about fifty-five years of age. His widow 
and children stdl reside in Miami county. 
The old Shanks homestead is now the prop- 
erty of John Sayres. 

After his marriage ]Mr. Yates of this re- 
\ie\v located on a farm adjoining his father's 
and operated that property for two years, 
after which he removed to Brown township. 
He li\-ed upon se\-eral different farms in this 
locality, but since 1865 has maintained his 
residence at his present home and has added 
to his land from time to time until he owns 
two hundred and thirty acres where he now 
resides and two farms adjoining, both of 
which are operated by his son, S. F. Yates. 
He paid twenty dollars per acre for the first 
land which he purchased and paid eighty- 
two and a half dollars per acre for his pres- 
ent farm. Since 1873 ^J^''- Yates has pur- 
chased no land, but instead has given his 
income to his children at a time when it 
was beneficial to them. When he started out 
in life on his own account he owned a horse, 
a cow and a cash capital of three hundred 
dollars, but by deternfined purpose and un- 
fiagging industry, supplemented by the able 
assistance of his wife, he steadily increased 
his possessions, and, after twenty years of 
married life, he found he was worth about 
twenty thousand dollars. There had been 
much sickness in the family and other diffi- 
culties to be overcome, but he worked on 
with resolute purpose and failed not to gain 
that financial reward which should ever 



636 



GEN-EALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



crown honorable and consecutive endeavor. 
He made valuable improvements upon the 
farm, laid many rods of tiling and developed 
a property which is known as one of the 
most desirable country s'eats in Brown town- 
ship. Fifteen years ago he retired to private 
life, the income from his farms being suffi- 
cient to supply him with all the necessaries 
and many of the luxuries of life. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Yates were born six 
children : Alice J., wife of G. W. Brecount, 
of Conover, by whom she has one child; 
Florence E., who died at the age of sev- 
enteen years; Mary A., wife of Joseph Wol- 
cott, of Brown township, by whom she has 
two sons : Samuel Franklin, who wedded 
Ahvilda While and has two children; Clara 
E., who became the wife of James Buckles, 
who died seven months later, after wdiich she 
married Isaac M. Wolcott, of Brown town- 
ship, by whom she has one son; and Earl A., 
a practicing physician at Kirkwood, Shelby 
county, who was graduated in the Colum- 
bus Medical College and has practiced for 
two years. His wife is Mattie, daughter of 
Dr. H. B. Denman, of Lena. 

Mr. Yates has always been an advocate 
of Democracy. During the ci\il war he 
was elected as captain of a company of home 
militia. He has filled the office of town- 
ship trustee for six years and in 1886 he 
was elected a justice of the peace, serving 
for fourteen consecutive years. His de- 
cisions were fair and impartial, and that he 
has the entire • confidence of the public is 
shown l)y his long continuance in office. Al- 
though firm in his opinions in what he be- 
lieves to be right, he is never aggressive 
and accords freely to others the right which 
he reserves to himself of having their own 
views upon the various questions of public 
interest. In 1850 he was made a member of 



the Baptist church at Honey Creek, and in 
1885 he helped organize the Lena Baptist 
church. For more than thirty-five years he has 
served as deacon and has often been a dele- 
gate to the various church meetings, and 
his life has been an honorable and upright 
one, in harmony with his professions. 



JOHN CLARK. 

More than a century ago \^'ashington 
said : "Agriculture is the most useful as 
well as the most honorable calling to which 
man can devote his energies;" and this is 
as true today as when uttered. No one line 
of business has contributed so largely to 
the general prosperity of the world as farm- 
ing; and it is a fact that the majority of 
men who have become most prominent in 
public life have been those who spent their 
early life upon a farm. John Clark, resid- 
ing on section 25, Monroe township, is a 
worthy representative of the agricultural in- 
terests of Miami county. He was born on 
what is now known as the HoUingsworth 
farm, a mile and a half south of Tippecanoe 
City, on the 4th of September, 1831, his 
father being John Clark, Sr., whose birth 
occurred in Frederick county, Maryland, 
near the city of Fredericksburg, in 1797, 
his parents being Thomas H. and Peggy 
(Blickenstaff) Clark. He was the only 
child and his father died during his infancy. 
In company with his mother, when thirteen 
years of age, he came to Ohio, the journey 
being made by team. They traveled with a 
company composed of several families, and 
on reaching their destination the mother and 
son located on a tract of land near Coles- 
ville. where they erected a log cabin. John 
Clark worked at anything which he could 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



G37 



get to do that would contribute to tlie sup- 
port of himself and mother. In 1817 he 
married Harriet Jenkins, and the young 
couple began life in a very primitive style. 
His possessions consisted of one horse and 
about fifty cents in money. Soon afterward 
he built a flatboat at the mouth of Honey 
creek, which streams flows into the JNIiami 
river. He would secure pork and flour and 
loading it on his flatboat would take it to 
the New Orleans market, where he would 
sell these products and then walk back to 
his home in Ohio. In that way he got a 
start in life, and the capital which he ac- 
quired he invested in land, becoming owner 
of the farm now owned by Dr. Crane, on 
the west bank of the canal, about a mile 
south of Tippecanoe City. He there erected 
a log cabin in the midst of the forest and 
began clearing away the heavy timber. The 
next farm which he owned was the one upon 
which our subject was born. About 1830 
he began investing in land in the Miami val- 
ley, on what is now known as Clark's island, 
and at one time owned all but about fifty 
acres of that island, his possessions aggre- 
gating more than one thousand acres. This 
was covered with a heavy growth of walnut, 
hickory and oak trees. 

Mr. Clark resided upon the Hollings- 
worth farm until 1838, when he purchased 
the land upon which Tippecanoe City is now 
located, then known as the Robert Evans 
farm and comprising a tract of one hundred 
acres. In 1839 he took up his abode thereon 
and in 1840 he laid out the city, clearing the 
land from Daw street to Walnut street, on 
the north, and from Canal to the railroad 
east and west, the tract covering about two 
blocks north and south and about six blocks 
east and west. He first laid out Main street, 
then north First street and afterward Sec- 



ond street. He built a home on the south- 
east corner of First street, and in 1850 
erected the residence in which his grandson, 
S. C. Clark, now resides. There in that 
dwelling the founder of Tippecanoe City 
died in March, 1857. ^t the time of his 
death he owned about twelve hundred acres 
of land in Miami county, and was recognized 
as one of the most prominent, influential and 
cespected residents in this section of the state. 
In 1840, during the William Henry Harri- 
son campaign, he was a recognized leader of 
the Whig party, and was a man of marked 
influence in public afl:airs. As long as Tip- 
pecanoe City shall stand his name will be 
honored as its founder, and no history of 
Miami county would be complete without 
the record of his life. He was one of the 
honored pioneers who looked beyond the 
exigencies of the present into the future and 
recognized possibilities that are seen by the 
few. He budded not for his own genera- 
tion alone, but for future ages, and in the 
establishing of Tippecanoe City he laid the 
foundation of one of the enterprising centers 
of the state. 

Mrs. Clark was to her husband a faith- 
ful companion and helpmate, and with him 
she experienced all the hardships and priva- 
tions of his early life. Her capable man- 
agement and unflagging industry contribu- 
ted in no small degree to his success in later 
years. She long survived her husband, dying 
in 1885 at the advanced age of eighty-four 
years. They were the parents of eight chil- 
dren, namely: Levi, deceased; Issachar, 
who died in Kansas City, Missouri; Morde- 
cai, who served two terms as county commis- 
sioner, and afterward filled out an unexpired 
term in the ofifice; Elizabeth, deceased wife 
of Dr. H. H. Darst ; Asa, deceased ; John, of 
this review; Harriet, wife of J. H. Long, a 



638 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



real estate agent of Dayton, Ohio; and one 
child who died in infancy. 

Reared amid the wild scenes of frontier 
life, John Clark has been familiar with the 
history of Miami county, and of Tippecanoe 
City through many years. He was a lad of 
iiine summers when his father came to the 
farm which became the site of the city, and 
here he was reared and married, obtaining 
_l'iis education in the public schools. When 
twenty-four years of age he began farming 
on his own account, and was thus engaged 
until after the inauguration of the civil war, 
when, on the 9th of August, 1862, he re- 
sponded to the country's call for troops, en- 
listing as a private in Company D, Xinety- 
fourth Ohio Infantry. He then went to 
Tate's Ferry, Kentucky, where a skirmish 
occurred. Later he participated in the bat- 
tles of Perryville, ]\Iurfreesboro, Resaca, the 
Atlanta and Chattanooga campaigns, includ- 
ing the battles of Chickamauga, Missionary 
Ridge and the various engagements which 
led up to the surrender of Atlanta. He also 
took part in the battle of Jonesboro and the 
celebrated march to the sea under Sherman, 
the battle around Savannah and the last im- 
portant battle of the war at Benton, Xorth 
Carolina. His regiment formed a part of 
the Fourteenth Army Corps. He went to 
the front as a member of the regimental band 
and ser\-ed in that capacity for a year, when 
the organization became a brigade band. 
During much of his service he was on detail 
duty during the engagements, assisting the 
surgeon in the field hospital, and after the 
surrender of Lee he received an honorable 
discharge in May, 1865. Returning to Tip- 
pecanoe City, Mr. Clark resumed farming, 
although he made his home in the town until 
1881, when he removed to a farm on Clark's 
island. There he resided until the winter of 



1884. when he removed to the farm upon 
which he now makes his home. He owns 
two hundred and twenty-seven acres of val- 
uable land on Clark's island, all of which 
is under a high state of cultivation and yields 
to him a golden tribute in return for the care 
and labor which he bestows upon it. 

On the 4th of September, 1885. occurred 
the marriage of Z\Ir. Clark and ^liss Amanda 
Kinna, of Frederick county, Maryland. 
The\' now have four children : Charles 
Sumner, who is living in the old home in 
Tippecanoe City, where he is engaged in tlie 
livery business; Ward Beecher, who died 
in 1863; Grace, widow of Frank R.liode- 
hamel ; and John F., who is living in Coles- 
\ille, Miami county. Mr. Clark has taken 
quite an active part in public affairs, and for 
nine years he served as trustee of ^Monroe 
township. He was also a member of the 
city council of Tippecanoe, and has been a 
member of the school board. Politically 
he is a Republican, and socially is connected 
with the Royal Arcanum and D. M. Rouzer 
Post, G. A. R. .\.s a veteran of the civil 
war, as an industrious business man, and as 
a representative of one of the honored pio- 
neer families of Miami county, he well de- 
serves representation in this volume. 
Through sixty-nine years he has witnessed 
the growth and development of ^liami coun- 
ty, and has ever supplemented its progress by 
his well directed efforts. 



XATE IDDIXGS. 

Xate Iddings is an attorney and capital- 
ist of Bradford and one whose success is the 
outcome of his own efforts. Absolute ca- 
pability often exists in specific instances, but 
is never brought into the clear light of the 
utilitarian and practical life. Hope is of the 





jJ^A-^Wl^ £ c:zzidM^4 




^ 



(^u^rt YU.^luv^y< y/-^i}&^ ^yC^ 






GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



C41 



valley, while effort stands upon the mountain 
top ; so that personal advancement comes not 
to one who hopes alone, but to the one whose 
hope and faith are those of action. Thus 
is determined the full measure of success to 
one who has struggled under disadvanta- 
geous circumstances, and the prostrate medi- 
ocrity to another whose ability has been as 
great and opportunities wider. ■ Then he 
may well hold in high regard the results of 
individual effort and personal accomplish- 
ment, for cause and effect here maintain 
their functions in full force. Untiring en- 
ergy and keen judgment have resulted in 
bringing to Mr. Iddings prosperity which 
many a man might well envy and his ex- 
ample should serve to encourage others who 
are forced to start out empty handed as he 
did. 

The Iddings family was of Scotch line- 
age and in his life he has shown forth many 
of the strong characteristics of that race. 
His grandfather, Joseph Iddings, became 
one of the pioneers of Ohio, locating in 
Montgomery county, just across the line 
from Miami county. Later he entered one 
hundred and sixty acres of land in Newton 
township, of the latter county, and upon the 
farm which he there developed he spent his 
remaining days. Their children were : 
William D., of Newton .township, who mar- 
ried Christina Munn ; John, who died in 
Newton township ; Davis ; Benjamin, who is 
living in Newton township, at the age of 
eighty-six years, and Sarah, who died in 
childhiiod. Davis Iddings, the father of 
our subject, was born on the old homestead 
in Newton township, December 2, 18 12, and 
in his youth early became familiar with the 
duties and labors that fall to the lot of the 

agriculturist. He attended the subscription 
37 



schools, receiving good educational privi- 
leges for that day. After arriving at man's 
estate he purchased one hundred and twenty 
acres of land, near Pleasant Hill, and after 
his marriage located on that farm. He mar- 
ried Sarah Hill, daughter of Nathan Hill, 
and during his remaining days devoted his 
energies and time to the improvement of 
his property. He was a man of very do- 
mestic tastes, his interests centering in his 
family, and it seemed that he could not do 
too much to promote the happiness and wel- 
fare of his wife and children. He was an 
intelligent, highly esteemed man, and in 
politics was a stanch Democrat, always able 
to support his position by logical arguments. 
He attended the Christian church, and died 
May 12, 1897, respected by all who knew 
him. His wife, who was born July 24, 
1816, passed aw-ay January 11, 1896. Their 
children were as follows: Alfred H., who 
wedded Cynthia De Bray, who died in Day- 
ton, in 1899, in which city he is a practic- 
ing physician; Nate, the second of the fam- 
ily; Maria, the wife of John Jay, of Pleas- 
ant Hill ; and Jefferson Davis, who is re- 
siding on the home farm. He married 
Minerva A. Cox, and after her death wedded 
Miss Cavanaugh, who only lived about a 
year, while the third wife was Ella Terry. 
Nate Iddings, whose name introduces 
this review, was born on the old homestead 
farm, March 17, 1841, and spent his boy- 
hood days under the parental roof. He pur- 
sued his education in the public schools of 
the neighborhood until seventeen years of 
age, after which he spent three years in teach- 
ing. On the expiration of that period he- 
became a student in the Farmers' College, 
at College Hill, and later took up the study 
of law under the direction of Henry Snow 



642 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and Alexander Long. In 1862 he was ad- 
mitted to the bar, but did not begin practice 
at that time ; instead he turned liis attention 
to 'mercliandising at Fort Jefferson. Darke 
county, Ohio, and later did some legal work 
in connection with his mercantile interests. 
At the end of three years he located in Brad- 
ford, where, on the 13th of May, 1866, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Xancy 
Patty. Their union has been blessed with 
one son, Frank B., who was born May 16, 
1878. He attended the public schools until 
sixteen years of age, when he entered the 
Princeton- Yale school, of Chicago, and at 
the present time he is a student in Antioch 
College, of Greene county, Ohio. 

After removing to Bradford Air. Iddings 
took up the study of the Graham system of 
shorthand and was appointed court stenog- 
rapher of ]\liami county, at Troy, by Judge 
Williams. For twenty years he held that 
position, attaining wonderful speed and be- 
coming a most expert reporter. He re- 
ported the first cases ever recorded in the 
county, among them the famous Mitchell 
murder case. After the trial Mr. Iddings 
and others made an effort to have the con- 
demned man reprieved, and submitted all of 
the testimony to Governor Foster. After 
filling the position of court reporter for 
twenty years, Mr. Iddings resigned, on the 
2d of March, 1899, and was admitted to 
practice in the United States courts in the 
pension and treasury departments. When 
Judge C. D. Wright was on the bench in the 
common pleas court of Miami count}', he 
had a church trial from Piqua which he 
was desirous of getting off his hands. He 
appointed Mr. Iddings as judge, telling him 
it was a small affair. When the newly ap- 
pointed judge arrived at Piqua he foiuid six 



lawyers and more than one hundred wit- 
nesses in attendance at the city hall. The 
trial lasted a week, at the end of which time 
the new judge handed up a voluminous 
amount of testimony with his decision in 
favor of the young p.eople of the congrega- 
tion. This decision was promptly reversed 
by Judge Wright, but before it could be 
heard by the circuit court a new election 
was held and Judge Iddings" decision was 
sustained by a very large majority of the 
congregation. It was this service that gave 
him the title of "Judge" Iddings. He is a 
man of resourceful business ability, whose 
efforts have touched many lines of enter- 
prise. In 1890 he was made president of 
the Bradford Bank and has since filled that 
position, his capable management making 
it one of the most reliable institutions in 
Miami county. He is also part owner of 
the grain elevator of Bradford and has ex- 
tensive real estate interests, having made 
large investments in property that now yield 
to him a good income. Xot all of the 
credit for the success of the \arious enter- 
prises with which he has been connected does 
Mr. Iddings want to take to himself. His 
wife was always with him in the advance- 
ment of their interests. They had but one 
child of their own, but they always had chil- 
dren in the house. At one time six of the 
children of her sister, Filena Gulicks, made 
their home with them, and were educated 
and cared for until they got homes of their 
own. In 1896 her sister, Lucinda Hill, the 
eldest of the family, who was residing in 
Conway Springs. Kansas, came to her and 
found a home. The following from the 
Bradford Sentinel tells the sad story: 

"Lucinda Hill passed away in a peace- 
ful Christian death, October 7, 1897, at the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



643 



home of her sister and brother-in-law, Mr. 
and Mrs. Nate Iddings, of Bradford. She 
was born on tlie Iddings farm at Pleasant 
Hill, Miami county, Ohio, on the 9th day of 
January, 1829, and died aged sixty-eight 
years, eight months and twenty-eight days. 

"She was the oldest daughter of Charles 
Patty. She married Obed Hill and moved 
to Conway Springs, Kansas. They had one 
son, an invalid, who died before he arrived 
at the age of majority. She was stricken 
with paralysis in 1883, and from that time 
was a helpless invalid, not able to get her 
hands to her mouth, but her kind husband at- 
tended faithfully to her until 1893, when 
he was stricken with paralysis that rendered 
him helpless. He died May i, 1895. Short- 
ly after the death of her husband she was 
brought to the home of her sister, Mrs. 
Nate Iddings, where she remained until her 
death. For more than two years she had 
been unable to leave her bed. But in her 
last earthly home she had many kind hands 
to administer to her wants, many loving 
hearts to sympathize with her in her suffer- 
ing, and many beautiful flowers, brought by 
the hands of little children, to cheer her. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Iddings, anxious that 
the best possible care should be given her 
and that no want should go unsupplied, se- 
cured the services of Miss Nora Cromer, 
who for more than two years has been at 
her bedside, faithful and untiring in her 
care and attention to the invalid sister. She 
dedicated her life to her Savior and Lord 
when she was a girl of eighteen years of 
age. She identified herself with the Chris- 
tian church immediately after entering upon 
a religious life and was a faithful member 
for fifty years. There was only one thing 
for which she expressed her sorrow and 
that was her inabilit}- to compensate the 



kind friends for their loving care and at- 
tention during all these months of her suf- 
fering." 

"TVIiss Nora Cromer, who has been with 
the family for eight years, married L. A. 
Dye, July 6, 1898, and with her husband, 
is still living with Mr. and Mrs. Iddings. 
Mr. Iddings is five feet and ten inches 
in height, weighs one hundred and sixty-five 
pounds, has blue eyes, dark brown hair and 
a long, flowing beard, by which he is known 
and recognized all over the county. He has 
often said that in all his travels he never 
saw a man with as long a beard as he pos- 
sessed. He is a member of the Masonic 
fraternity, and, politically, he is a Democrat, 
giving an earnest support to the men and 
measures of the party. For twenty years he 
has served as school director and the cause 
of education has found in him a warm friend. 
He is a member of the International Associa- 
tion of Shorthand Writers and did a great 
deal to promote its interests. As a citizen 
he is public spirited and progressive, with- 
holding his support from no measure which 
he believes will prove of benefit to the com- 
munity. His business career has been 
marked by a very high degree of success, 
his efi^orts having been so carefully directed 
along well defined lines of labor that he has 
achieved a handsome competence. He has 
ever had strict regard for ethics of com- 
mercial life, and it is by honorable labor 
that he has gained his prominent position in 
financial circles. He has had the ability to 
recognize opportunities and the will to take 
advantage of them. His acquaintances in 
Miami county are very numerous and no 
man is held in higher regard or enjoys the 
friendship of a greater number of the citi- 
zens of this community than does Mr. Id- 
dings. 



644 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



JOHN COX. 

John Cox was born in Warren county, 
Ohio, near FrankHn, on the 5th of March, 
1831, his parents being John and H. (Shinn) 
Cox, natives of New Jersey. The fatlier 
was an early settler of Warren county and 
there took up a claim from the government 
and de\eloped a farm upon which our sub- 
ject spent the days of his boyhood and youth. 
He remained with his parents until twenty- 
two years of age, when he went to Edin- 
burg, Indiana, where he continued for five 
years, after which he returned to Warren 
county. Two years later he came to Mi- 
ami county, locating in Spring Creek town- 
ship, in the spring of 1861. He there pur- 
chased eighty acres of land and devoted his 
time and attention to its cultivation and im- 
provement until 1888, when he came to his 
present home in the same township. He 
here owns fourteen acres and is practically 
li\ing a retired life. He has elsewhere in 
the county, however, a valuable farm of 
eighty acres and the income from this prop- 
erty, together with the capital which he ac- 
quired by his own well-directed efforts in 
former years, now provides him with all 
of the comforts and many of the luxuries 
of life. 

Up to the time of his retirement he was 
actively connected with agricultural inter- 
ests, save for the period of his short service 
in the civil war. On the 14th of June, 
1864, he enlisted in the Union army, be- 
coming a sergeant of Company E, One Hun- 
dred and Forty-seventh Ohio Volunteer In- 
fantry. He was mustered in at Camp Den- 
nison and with his command was sent to 
the defense of Washington against the in- 
vasion of the Confederate forces. His 
term of enlistment was nne hundred davs. 



and on the expiration of that period he re- 
ceived an honorable discharge, in Novem- 
ber, 1864. 

Mr. Cox was married, September 28, 
1853, to Miss Lydia Hall and to them have 
been born six children, four of whom are 
yet living, namely : Emma, wife of J. D. 
Buchanan; Annie T.. deceased; Ida, at 
home; Flora, wife of George Lang; Lydia 
K., widow of John Alexander, and Enoch. 
Mr. Cox is a member of the Baptist church 
and has served as trustee of Spring Creek 
township for nine years, his long continu- 
ance in office being an indication of his 
ability and fidelit}-. His life has been an 
active, useful and honorable one and through 
his long connection with the agricultural in- 
terests of Miami county he was known as a 
representative farmer, whose retirement 
from labor gives him a richly deserved rest. 



JOSEPH BLACK. 

A representative of the farming inter- 
ests of Union township, 'Sir. Black is also 
numbered among the natives sons of Ohio. 
He was born in ]\Iercer county, on the i6th 
of March, 1848, his parents being George 
and Delilah (Coate) Black. His paternal 
grandfather was George Black, a native of 
i'ennsylvania, who emigrated to the Buck- 
eye state in pioneer days. His son, George 
Black, Jr., the father of our subject, was 
born in Miami county, in 1824, and during 
his boyhood went with his parents to Mercer 
county, where he died at the early age of 
twenty-three years. His wife was born in 
Union township, Aliami county, and was a 
daughter of Joseph Coate. She went to 
Mercer county with her parents and died in 
Shelby county, INIarch 5, 1866, at the age 
of forty years. Of the Methodist Episcopal 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



645 



church she was a member and lier life was 
in harmony witli her professions. By lier 
marriage to Mr. Black she became the 
mother of three children, Init the first-born 
dieil in infancy; Sarah Jane, wlio ma''- 
ried Charles Hague, died in 1848, leav- 
ing two boys : William and Lome : the only 
surviving child of that marriage is Joseph 
Black, of this review. After the death of her 
first husband, Mrs. Black, became the wife 
of William Jones, a native of Miami county, 
and they had two children : Caleb, a drug- 
gist and medical practitioner of Paris, Ohio, 
and Ella, wife of W. \Villiams, a -resident 
of \'an Wert county, this state. 

Joseph Black was only nine months old 
when his- father died antl he remained at 
home with his mother until 1866. In the pre- 
viouii year he had offered his services to the 
government, but was rejected on account of 
his youth, his mother withholding her con- 
sent to his enlistment. The day following 
his mother's death Mr. Black came to Tip- 
pecanoe City, Miami county, and soon se- 
cured work at chopping cord-wood near 
\\'est Milton. After a short time, however, 
he secured a situation as a farm hand and 
was thus employed near Piqua for about 
three years. He then engaged in farming 
on the shares for two years, and afterward 
rented property in Union township for six 
years. During that time he acquired some 
capital and with this he purchased sixty- 
six acres of land, his present home, taking 
up his abode thereon in 1878. He still owns 
sixty-six acres, which is a valuable tract, 
for it is highly cultivated and improved with 
substantial buildings and all modern con- 
veniences. 

Mr. Black was married to Miss Saman- 
tha Wyneings, of Staunton township, and 
six children grace their marriage : Effie, wife 



of Charles Harshberger ; Clarence, a resi-- 
dent farmer of Union township: Lulu, 
Chester, Olney and Mildred L. 

In his political views Mr. Black has been 
a Republican since he gained the right of 
franchise and in local affairs he is quite 
active, doing all in his power to promote the 
growth and insure the success of the party, 
althougli ne has never sought office for him- 
self. His wife is a member of the Method' 
ist Episcopal church and he contributes very 
liberally to its support. His success in life 
is entirely attributable to his own efforts, for 
he started out in life empty-handed and has 
steadily worked his way upward, overcom- 
ing by determined purppse the ditficulties 
and obstacles in his path. He is a man of 
fine appearance, large and well proportioned, 
is genial and jovial in manner and has a 
great many friends in the community where 
he makes his home. 



SAMUEL R. DEETER. 

The fitting reward of a well spent life 
is an honored retirement in which to enjoy 
the fruits of fomier toil. Mr. Deeter is one 
wdio has been enabled to put aside business 
cares, having through former years of 
activity won a comfortable competence that 
now enaljles him to rest from his labors. 
He was born December 28, 1829, in Newton 
township, Miami county, and is a son of 
Jacob and Elizabeth ( Reed ) Deeter. His 
paternal grandparents were David and 
Elizabeth (Stutzman) Deeter, natives of 
Pennsylvania. They were married in the 
Keystone state, but became residents of Ohio 
and died at Pleasant Hill. 

Jacob Deeter, the father of our subject, 
was born in Pennsylvania, in 1800, and dur- 
ing his boyhood accompanied his parents on 



640 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tlieir eniifration to, the Buckeye state. 
Eventually a settlement was made in Newton 
township, Miami county. When they 
reached the Ohio river on their journey to 
this state they huilt a flat-boat and thus pro- 
ceeded d(jwn the stream to Cincinnati. The 
grandfather entered land in Newton town- 
ship. There the father of our subject car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits throughout a 
long period, but for some years prior to his 
death lived retired in the town of Pleasant 
Hill. He passed away in 1865. His wife, 
who bore the maiden name of Elizabeth 
Reed, was born in Virginia, in 1810 and 
was a daughter of John Reed. Her par- 
ents removed to Newton, Miami county, 
during her girlhood, and here she was mar- 
ried. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Deeter were born 
tea children, namely : Mary, wife of William 
Mikesell, of Pleasant Hill; Samuel R. ; Ma- 
linda, wife of David Munich, of Pleasant 
Hill; Frederick, also of Pleasant Hill; David 
and Jacob, who died in childhood ; Isaac, of 
Pleasant Hill ; Sarah, wife of Henry Martin- 
dale, of Dayton ; Elizabeth, who became the 
wife of Washington Whitmer and died at 
Pleasant Hill, and Mrs. Christina Long- 
iiecker, of that town. 

The educational privileges which our 
subject received were very limited, for he 
did not attend school to any extent after he 
was fourteen years of age. His father was 
in poor health and for fi\-e years Samuel re- 
mained at home, doing the greater part of 
the work of the farm. At the age of nine- 
teen he was apprenticed to William Hol- 
singer to learn the carpenter and cabinet- 
maker's trades, and on attaining his ma- 
jority he came to Covington, where he was 
employed for a time in making chairs. Sub- 
sequently he went to Pleasant Hill, where he 
entered the employ of Mr. Stutzman, whose 



Inisiness he afterward purchased and then 
entered into partnership with his bnitlier, 
Frederick Deeter. They continued in the 
undertaking business for five years. At 
that time a hearse was a rare thing in this 
section of the state, a spring wagon being 
used to convey the dead to the place of inter- 
ment ; but the Deeter Brothers purchased a 
hearse and officiated at most of the funerals 
of the neighborhood. They also took con- 
tracts to build houses, and in that business 
met with prosperity. 

At the end of five years our subject sold 
his interest in the business to his brother 
and followed carpentering for a time, but 
later purchased seventy acres of land. He 
operated that for a year, when his health 
failed him and he rented his farm. He then 
began work at the carpenter's trade and also 
engaged successfully in raising and moving 
buildings and in purchasing and selling land. 
He now owns two hundred and forty-five 
acres of land, a part of which is located in 
Darke county. In 1895 ^'^^ took up his abode 
in Covington, where he owns a pleasant 
home, and has since lived retired, having no 
business interests aside from the supervision 
of his property. 

Mr. Deeter was married, in 1855, to 
Miss Susannah Freshower, who was born 
on the farm now owned by our subject. 
She is a daughter of George and Xancy 
( Burkhart) Freshower, and by her marriage 
has become the mother of nine children, 
namely: Elizabeth, who was born Xovem- 
ber 16. 1856, and is the wife of George 
Mohler, of Boyd; Ella F., who was born 
November 28, 1858, and is the wife of Wil- 
kinson Pearson; ^lalinda, who was born in 
January, 1861, and became the wife of Sam- 
uel McBride, her death occurring in New- 
ton township at the age of twenty-eight 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



647 



years; William F., who was born January 
30, 1863, and married Emma Fox; Jacob E., 
who was born ]\Iarch 11, 1865, ^'''^ is a resi- 
dent of Covington; Vina C, who was born 
December 2S, 1867, and is the wife of W^ill- 
iam Castle, of Dayton; Charles S., who was 
born March 9, 1870; Lillian, born Novem- 
ber 20, 1875, ^^^'^ Emma, born October 6, 
1882. 

Mr. Deeter is a deacon in the Progressive 
Dunkard church and is a consistent Chris- 
tian gentleman. His political support is 
given the men and measures of the Republi- 
can party, and he is very earnest in his ad- 
vocacy of its principles. His manner is 
kindly and courteous and his genial dis- 
position has won him a large circle of 
friends. He owes his success in life not to 
a fortunate combination of circumstances or 
to the aid of influential friends, but to his 
own well-directed eitorts, and his retire- 
ment from business cares is certainly well 
merited. 



EDWARD BARR McCURDY. 

Edward Barr McCurdy, one of the en- 
terprising and wealthy farmers of Miami 
county, is the only child of Robert and Em- 
marency (Hill) McCurdy. The father was 
born in Coleraine, Londonderry, Ireland, 
and during his boyhood came to this country 
with his parents, Samuel and Elizabeth 
(Barr) McCurdy. The father had three 
brothers who preceded him to America and 
all settled in Miami county. Robert 'left 
three children, who are living in this coun- 
ty, namely : A. H., S. J. and R. J. Edward 
has the following children : William, who 
was killed at Chattanooga; John, who was 
also in the army; James and two daughters. 
James McCurdy, the third brother, had three 



sons and three daughters. The sons are : 
John A., who is now representing Miami 
county in the state legislature ; A. H. and 
Xinian, all three having been soldiers of the 
L^nion army during the civil war. 

Robert McCurdy, the father of our sub- 
ject, was reared in Miami county and when 
a young man he began clearing- the land 
owned by his father and then settled upon 
the farm where he now resides, his home 
being pleasantly located on the Covington 
pike four miles from Troy, where he owns a 
splendid farm, comprising two hundred and 
nineteen acres of valuable land, upon which 
is a substantial residence and commodious 
outbuildings, all in a state of good repair. 
There are also several houses and barns for 
tenants. Mr. McCurdy has likewise made 
judicious investments in other property and 
is one of the wealthiest farmers in Concord 
township. He married Miss Emmarency 
Hill, a daughter of John A. and Olivia 
( Stilhvell) Hill, who came to Miami county 
at an early day from Catskill, New York. 
He was a most highly respected citizen, a 
prominent supporter of the Democratic 
party, and his death occurred after he had 
passed the eightieth milestone on life's 
journey. Mr. and Mrs. McCurdy take an 
active interest in the church and social life 
of the neighborhood and their own home 
is noted for the generous hospitality which 
is dispensed to friends and visitors. 

Edward Barr McCurdy, whose name in- 
troduces this review, was born on the old 
homestead, February 1 1 , 1 876, and pursued 
his preliminary education in the district 
schools, after which he continued his studies 
in Troy. He is a young man of intelligence 
and enterprise who takes an active part in the 
work of the farm, his ambition and industry 
making his business career a prosperous one. 



648 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



He has served three years as national \'ice- 
president of the Enquirer Chib. He is a 
recognized leader in jKilitical affairs and, 
though only twenty-four years of age. he is 
a member of the Dennjcratic central commit- 
tee of tiie county. He labors untiringly 
and effectively in support of his party and 
at the last election succeeded in transfo'uu- 
ing the usual Republican majority of twenty- 
five in his precinct to a Democratic majority 
of three. He is a close and earnest student 
of the questions of the day and his support 
of the party arises from earnest conviction 
that its principles are best calculated to pro- 
mote the welfare of the state and nation. 
In his social relations he is an Odd Fellow. 
The family attend the Presbyterian church, 
although Mrs. McCurdy is a member of the 
Methodist church. The frank, genial and 
jovial manner of Mr. McCurdy has made 
him popular in his native town and he cer- 
tainl}- deserves representation in this \-olume. 



D.WID A. KESSLER. 

David A. Kessler follows farming in 
Miami county, where his birth occurred on 
the 28th of July, 1839. His father, Henry 
Kessler, was born in Monroe township, Mi- 
ami county, February 21, 1813, which fact 
indicates that the family has been identified 
with the histiiry of this locality since pioneer 
days. The father was reared in his native 
township, and after his marriage removed 
to Union township, purchasing a farm near 
Kessler Station. This was the propert\' now 
owned by our subject — a tract of one hun- 
dred and eighty acres, which Henry Kessler 
placed under a high state of cultivation. As 
the years passed he added to his landed pos- 
sessions until his property covered a con- 
siderable area, and this he left to h!s chil- 



dren. His life's labors were ended in death 
January 12. 1878, the community thereby 
losing one of its valued citizens. He was 
an earnest member of the Methodist Episco- 
pal church and was first a Whig and after- 
ward a Republican in his political affiliations. 
He married Serene Goings, who was born in 
\\'est \'irginia, November 15. 1816, and 
about 1S34 came with her parents to Ohio. 
She. too. belonged to the Methodist Epis- 
copal church and died in the faith of that 
denomination, January i, 1898. In the fam- 
ih' of this worthy couple were twelve chil- 
dren, as follows: John \\'., a farmer of Mi- 
ami county: Mary A., wife of S. Bufiing- 
ton; Da\id A.: Susan E., wife of J. Pear- 
son; Thomas J., who is living in Union 
township; Rebecca E., wife of Henry Ear- 
hart; one who died in infancy: Michael M., 
who is living in Auglaize county. Ohio; 
Martin S., a farmer of Union township; 
Charles \\ .. who also is living in the same 
t(.iwnshii): Sarah D.. who was born in 1857 
and died in 1859. and one who died in 
infancy. 

• David A. Kessler spent the days of his 
boyhood and youth with his parents, and to 
the public schools of the neighborhood was 
indebted for the educational pri\ileges which 
he recei\-ed. His attention has long lieen 
given to agricultural pursuits, and marked 
energy! ])romptness and enterprise character- 
ize his business career. 

On the 4th of December, 1858, Mr. Kess- 
ler was married to Miss Lydia C. Pierce, 
who was born in Union township. July 13, 
1839. Their marriage has been blessed with 
ten children : Sarah J., wife of L. E. Younce ; 
Gaynor H. and Charles E.. who are resi- 
dent farmers of Union township: Ettie. wife 
of .\dam Smallenberger ; Delia, wife of 
' Fra'.ik Fagan ; Da\ id B., a farmer in Union 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



649 



township; ^Slarcellus, a telegraph operator 
and station agent on the Chicago, Hamilton 
& Dayton Railroad: and George F., Gussie 
and Dollie M.. all at home. The son, David, 
is a railroad agent at Kessler Station. 

On the membership roll of Stillwater 
Lodge, No. 165, I. O. O. F.. appears the 
name of David A. Kessler, who is a stalwart 
representative of the order, and in his life 
e.xemplifies its beneficent principles. His 
wife is a member of the Christian church. 
In politics he is an unflinching advocate of 
the principles of the Republican party, and 
served as township trustee for ten years and 
as a member of the school board for twenty 
years, discharging his duties with marked 
promptness and fidelity, enjoying the con- 
fidence and respect of his fellow men in an 
unusual degree and is widely known for his 
sterling worth and fidelity to principle. 



CAPTAIN JAMES SOWRY. 

The deeds of bravery upon the fields of 
battle have been the theme of story and of 
song since the earliest ages, and while 
memory remains to the American people 
they will ever hold in grateful remembrance 
the "boys in blue" who fought for the preser- 
vation of the Union when secession at- 
tempted its destruction. In early life a 
soldier in the English army, Captain Sowry, 
afterward served with the American forces 
in the Mexican war, and in the civil war 
joined the Union troops, winning the title 
by which he was ever afterward known. 
He was born in Yorkshire, England, on the 
31st of March, 1820. The following record 
of his life is largely taken from the Cincin- 
nati Tribune, which was published July 21, 
1895. His parents belonged to that rugged 
race of Britons, wdio for more than two hun- 



dred years have been noted for their inde- 
pendence, nati\e enterprise and loyalty to the 
crown, and whose sons for that period of 
time have composed the flower of the English 
army. 

His father being a woolen manufacturer, 
the son early in life w^as inducted into the 
same vocation, for wdiich his robust health 
and ingenuity rendered him well qualified. 
Of this work, almost from the beginning, 
he evinced a knowledge much in advance of 
his years, and at once grasped the require- 
ments of the situation so that in a few 
months' time he had mastered air the me- 
chanical intricacies and was competent to 
take charge of the largest factories — this, 
too, before he was eighteen years of age. 
It was during such ser\-ice that he developed 
that accurate preception of facts, determina- 
tion of purpose and versatility of talent 
which have characterized all his subsequent 
career. At a very early age he also de- 
\eloped a desire and the incipient qualities 
for a military life, and so striking were the 
evidences of this bent of his mind that it at- 
tracted the attention of the home military 
and eventually secured from them a con- 
sideration that enabled him to enlist in the 
■ regular army before he was legally eligible 
to such a place. 

While 3'et under the age of eighteen and 
before he had attained his full stature, the 
young Englishman enlisted in the Seventh 
Regiment, English (irenadiers, a body of 
troops which was composed of the tallest 
men in the Queen's dominion, many of 
them standing six feet and from one to four 
inches. *On account of his deficient height 
he was compelled to occupy a place in the 
rear ranks. Immediately after his enlist- 
ment he was sent to Ireland for the regula- 
tion six months' discipline, and such was the 



650 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



knowledge lie had already acquired of mili- 
tary tactics that he was appointed drill cor- 
poral and served as such during the entire 
term. 

While undergoing discipline in Ireland 
his regiment was orded to Gibraltar to await 
further orders to proceed to China, and as 
soon as he was released he joined it and took 
up his line of duty. The trouble with China 
having l)een adjusted in the meantime, the 
regiment was held at Gibraltar. There be- 
ing no active duty on the lonely rock, the 
young soldier found the life there too monot- 
onous for his ardent nature. He permitted 
his father to purchase his discharge, and, 
after a service of two years and seven days, 
he returned to England to engage again in 
manufacturing. He remained in the woolen 
mills about three years, or until November, 

1844, when he severed his allegiance to the 
British crown and sailed for "the land of 
the free and the home of the brave." 

Soon after landing in New York he 
pushed his way westward, and in j\Iarch, 

1845, found himself in the then little city of 
Dayton, Ohio. He had been called there 
by Messrs. Beckle & Giddings, two gentle- 
men of the place, who were on the point of 
establishing a woolen-mill. They had erected 
the building and purchased the machinery, 
but were not sufificiently skilled to adjust the 
same and place it in running order. The 
English manufacturer and soldier soon had 
the mill in first-class condition, and accepted 
the position of superintendent of the plant. 
He remained in that position until another 
important era dawned in his life and he 
entered upon his second exi^erience as a 
soldier. 

War with Mexico had been declared and 
troops were called for. No sooner had the 
word reached Mr. Sowry than his whole be- 



ing was fired with military ardor and he 
declared he would enlist at the very first op- 
portunity. Lutheran Giddings, one of his 
employers, at once raised a company and of- 
fered its services to the government. The 
service was accepted and himself commis- 
sioned captain. As Company B it was as- 
signed to the First Regiment, Ohio Volun- 
teer Infantry. As the reader readily con- 
jectured, young Sowry was the first to enlist. 
The regiment was ordered to New Orleans 
and thence to Brazos, Santiago. Here it 
went into camp, and as nearly all the men 
were without experience in military duties 
it was an absolute necessity that thev be 
drilled before going into battle. Here the 
talent of our subject was again called into 
active use. His military experience had be- 
come known to the officers of the regiment 
and he was appointed drillmaster. How 
well he discharged the duties of that function 
is a matter of history. His fame as a tac- 
tician spread throughout the arm}', and 
General Taylor himself spoke of his ability 
in complimentary terms. It would occupy 
far too much space to follow the career of 
Captain Sowry through this war. His first 
acti\'e service was at Alonterey. antl the 
writer has written evidence of his soldierly 
cjualities during that conflict and of his cool- 
ness and bravery under fire. "No man," 
recites that evidence, "whether private or 
officer, did himself more credit." 

Soon after the siege of Monterey the 
brave English-American was stricken with 
the Mexican fever and was compelled to retire 
from active duty. One who was his con- 
stant companion in his sickness leaves on 
record a statement that when the regiment 
left him, although scarcely able to stand 
alone, he begged, implored and finally prayed 
that he be permitted to accompany it. The 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(351 



fe\er clung to him with stubliorn pertinacity 
for many weeks and disqualified him for anv 
but the lightest duties ; but there was no 
time, says his companion, that he would not 
eagerly have shouldered a musket antl 
joined the regiment had he been permitted. 
He did not entirely recover his health dur- 
ing the remainder of his stay in the land of 
the Aztecs, but every duty that was in his 
power to discharge in his debilitated condi- 
tion received the promptest and most cheer- 
ful attention. In every act performed. 
Vvhether on the field, in the camp or on the 
picket line — whether voluntary or at the 
order of his commanding officers — there 
were exhibited a military pride, a cheerful- 
ness and a patriotic devotion that won for 
him the admiration of both officers and pri- 
vates. 

He was mustered (lut with honor and re- 
turned to his home to commence anew the 
battle of life in a private capacity. For the 
third time he took up the vocation of his 
bovhootl. He came to West Milton, in 
1850, and has made this place his home to 
the present tune. He eneaged in a number 
of manufacturing enterprises and always 
succeeded in his ventures. He was enter- 
prising and industrious and carefully prose- 
cuted his labors until again he engaged in 
military service. 

\\'hen the cannon at Fort Sumter 
sounded the first note of the rebellion the 
loyal heart of Captain Sowry was stirred 
to its profoundest depths. A feeling was 
awakened which he had never before ex- 
perienced in military life. He had joined 
the English army because of his admiration 
of the "art of war," and studied military tac- 
tics as an art. Although knowing well what 
was likely to come in such a life, and feeling 
fully qualified and prepared for any emer- 



gency connected therewith, he had seen 
some of the realities which test the courage 
of a soldier during the first two years and 
a half of his experience in the profession 
of arms. When he entered the American 
army his intuition warned him that the field 
of Mexico would not be as barren of results 
as the rock of Gibraltar and that he would 
find opportunity of passing from what had 
thus far Ijeen a theory into a practical reality. 
He was not disappointed in his anticipations. 
He was permitted to witness and participate 
ir. a life and death struggle between two na- 
tions. But that was a war of conquest, and, 
although many lives were sacrificed, it was 
of short duration. Now, however, there 
was upon the country a struggle such as 
might cause the stoutest heart to quail. It 
was to be a war for supremacy and a fratri- 
cidal war, the most stubborn and relentless 
of contests. For the second time Captain 
Sowry found an opportunity to serve his 
adopted country. He lost no time in seeking 
a place where his services could be available 
and where he could enroll himself at the 
earliest possible moment. He thought not 
of official position, as was the case with so 
many, and made no efi^ort whatever to secure 
such a place. 

He offered himself to his country as he 
was, ready for any capacity in which it was 
deemed proper to place him, and on the loth 
of October, 1861, he enlisted in Company 
E. Forty-eighth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry. He was soon afterward elected 
second lieutenant, and at the battle of Shiloh 
was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant. 
The two-days fight at Shiloh, or Pittsburg 
Landing, being varied in character, afforded 
Captain Sowry an excellent opportunity to 
display his military skill. At the head 
of his company he was in the thickest of the 



652 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fight, watching every mo\emeiit of the en- 
emy and encouraging his command. At this 
time he was regarded as a company com- 
mander and gladly hailed as such all 
along the line. It was here that he won 
his first distinction from the superior officers 
of the regiment and from which time he 
enjoyed their entire confidence until the close 
of the war. One instance of his watchful- 
ness, his keen perception and coolness in 
emergencies occurring here, must not be 
omitted. 

During the hea\y fog which enveloped 
the field the Captain discovered that all the 
regiments except his own had fallen back, 
leaving the Forty-eighth alone. He dis- 
covered also that the enemy was making 
every effort to flank the regiment and in a 
few minutes would surround them. He 
hastened to Colonel Sullivan, who had not 
yet become aware of the situation, and. 
after saluting him, made known his errand 
as follows : "Colonel Sullivan, the troops 
have fallen back on the right and left, leav- 
ing us alone. With all courtesy I advise 
■ you to fall back or in a few minutes we will 
be surrounded and captured." The Colo- 
nel at this moment caught sight of the enemy 
moving rapidly toward them, and he gave 
orders to fall back at "double quick." As 
soon as tlie regiment had gained a safe posi- 
tion the colnnel approached Captain Sowry 
and thus addressed him : "Lieutenant 
Sowry, yi)U are a lirave man. you have this 
clay saved the regiment, and also my life. 
Receive my grateful thanks." A few days 
subsecjuently our hero received his commis- 
sion as captain of Company E, Forty-eighth 
Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry. 

The history of the army of the Cumber- 
land includes his history. He was in all 
the battles in which his division was engaged. 



liesides many skirmishes not recorded in his- 
tory. He was at the capture of Corinth, 
the first attack on Vicksburg. the second 
battle of Corinth and Arkansas Post. After 
the last battle his division, on February 13, 
1863, was ordered into camp on the Miss- 
issippi. His first service was at Milhken's 
Bend. Then followed the battles of Magno- 
lia Hills, Raymond, Chr.mpion Hills and 
Black River Bridge, and the siege of Vicks- 
burg. At the latter place he again exhib- 
ited all the qualities of a veteran soldier and 
a brave, considerate officer. After the bat- 
tle of \'icksburg. Captain Sowry's command 
was transferred to die Gulf Department 
and ordered to Matagorda bay. After re- 
maining two months it returnetl to New 
Orleans and thence went up Red river. At 
Sabine Cross Roads his regiment was cap- 
tured and sent to Camp Tyler. Here for 
six months and fifteen days the regiment 
was held in an open field, without shelter 
and with very little food. Again the spirit 
of a true soldier shone forth from the brave 
and generous Captain. Daily he mingled 
with his men, counseling patience, invent- 
ing amusements and giving them all the 
encouragement the dreary situation would 
afford. On the 3d of October. 1864, he, 
with his men, was paroled, sent back to 
New Orleans and exchanged. 

An incident happened when they were 
captured that has no parallel in the history 
of the war. The color-bearer, when he saw 
there was no chances of escape, took the 
flag from the staff and hid it in his haver- 
sack, sprinkling the meal he received as ra- 
tions on top of it and at the earliest oppor- 
tunity brought the flag to the captain. They 
buried it for a time, but being fearful it 
would mold and spoil they dug it up and 
after ripping the lining in the coat of Cap- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



653 



tain Gunsaulis, he being tiie only one who 
had a coat, Captain Sowry raveled his stock- 
ings in order to secure thread to sew it in. 
It was carried in this way until their ex- 
change, and thus the flag was saved. 

Thus ended the active serx'ice of the 
Captain. He had never received or asked 
for a furlough until after his exchange. He 
then went home for a few days, but returned 
to the regiment, which in the meantime had 
been consolidated with the Eighty-third 
Regiment, Ohio \'olunteer Infantry. He 
remained until near the close of the war and 
was mustered out January i8, 1865. 

At three different times during his serv- 
ice he could have been promoted, but he 
steadily refused any such honor. One reason 
he gave for not accepting a higher position 
is that he promised his men, when they vet- 
eranized February 28, 1864, that he would 
remain their captain tn the end. Another 
reason assigned is his modest, retiring na- 
ture. Although brave almost to reckless- 
ness, he is as modest and unassuming as a 
school-girl. Again, not having more than 
a limited education, he did not feel himself 
a proper associate of educated officers ; but 
perhaps no officer was e\'er more respected 
by those under his command ; and even at 
this date, thirty-five years after the war, the 
members of his company residing here have 
great \-eneration for him. 

On returning to his home Captain Sowry 
worked in the woolen mills at West Milton, 
in the capacity of superintendent, for three 
years. He then operated a mill on his own 
account for some time and afterward wove 
carpets in his own home, continuing his act- 
ive connection with business affairs until 
1898, when he retired to pri\-ate life, having 
in the meantime acquired a comfortable com- 
petence. He now owns a farm of fortv 



acres, and his wife is also the owner of a 
forty-acre farm. He also has other capital, 
and as the result of his former labors is now 
enabled to enjoy all of the comforts of life. 
On the 1st of August, 185 1. Captain 
Sowry was united in marriage to Mrs. Esther 
Hoover, and they have two children : James 
E. who rents and operates his father's farm, 
and Thomas, a resident of West Milton. 
In his political x'iews Captain Sowry has 
been a stanch and inflexible adherent of the 
Republican party since its organization and 
done all in his ])ower to promote its growth 
and insure its success. He became one of 
tlie charter members of Duncan Post, No. 
477, G. A. R.. of West Milton, and has been 
honored with the office of commander. He 
has now reached the advanced age of eighty 
years. His record covers a long period, but 
at all times his life has' been honorable and 
straightforward, commanding the respect 
and confidence of those with whom he has 
been brought in contact. He is universally 
respected by his neighbors and fellow citi- 
zens, and long after he had passed the seven- 
tieth anniversary of his birth he was an 
important factor in all public demonstrations 
of a militar}- character, and when proces- 
sions form the feature of the day he is in- 
variablv chosen to take command. 



JOHN PATTERSON. 

Eew indeed are those who have passed 
the age of four-score years and can claim 
Ohio as the state of their nativity, but Mr. 
Patterson is among the number, his birth 
having occurred on the old family home- 
stead in Shelby county April 15, 1819. The 
Pattersons were among the early settlers of 
that section of the state. John Patterson,, 
the grandfather of our subject, was born 



654 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in county Antrim. Ireland, and was a farmer 
by occupation. He died in tlie land of his 
birth, at the age of fifty-two years, leaving 
three sons, — John, Robert and James. The 
first named was the father of our subject. 
Robert, the second son, came to the United 
States in 1817 and took up his abode in 
Loramie township, Shelby county, where he 
entered land from the government. Few 
were the settlers who at that time had taken 
up their abode in that section. He mar- 
ried Miss Jennie Brown, and throughout his 
remaining days carried on farming in 
Shelby county, his death occurring on 
his old homestead there in 1847. James 
Patterson, the thijd son, came to the United 
States at an early day, locating in New 
York city some time prior to the war of 
181 2. He was a cooper by trade, but dur- 
ing the second war with England held a 
government position in New York city. As 
his financial resources increased, he invested 
his money in New York real estate and be- 
came a very wealthy man. He died there 
in 1834. 

John Patterson, the father of our suliject, 
was born in county Antrim, September 20, 
1767," and was reared in the usual manner of 
farmer lads in that time and place. In 181 2 
he sailed for the United States, but the ves- 
sel on wiiich he had taken passage was over- 
hauled i>n the high seas by a British man- 
of-war and he with others was taken aboard 
the British ship. Although much against 
their wishes, they were forced to serve under 
the English flag. Mr. Patterson communi- 
cated with his brotlier James, of New York, 
and the latter appealed to the government, 
after which an eff'ort was made to secure the 
release of John Patterson, but without avail. 
After the close of the war, however, he 
landed in the eastern metropolis and re- 



mained with his brother for some time. In 
181 7 he started for Ohio with a one-horse 
Dearborn wagon. On the 17th of March, 
181 7, he reached Loramie township, Shelby 
county, and soon after entered two and a 
c|uarter sections in the township. The 
following year he married Miss Elizabeth 
Anderson^ who was born in county Derry, 
Ireland, near tlie town of Coleraine, a 
daughter of William and Martha Anderson. 
Her parents came with their family to the 
United States, landing at Baltimore, whence 
they made their way to Pliiladelphia. They 
were very jwor and for three years Mr. An- 
derson worked in Cumberland county, Penn- 
sylvania, making pikes. In this way he 
earned the money to bring himself and fam- 
ily to Ohio. He arrived in Loramie town- 
ship, Shelby county, on the 3d of October, 
1817, and thus became one of the pioneer 
settlers of that locality. 

Unto John and Elizabeth (Anderson) 
Patterson were born eight children, namely : 
John, whose name introduces this review ; 
William, who is a prominent farmer in 
Washington township and married ^Margaret 
Crozier, who is now deceased ; Martha, who 
became the wife of William Levering and 
died in Washington township, Miami coun- 
ty ; Jane, also deceased ; Robert, who resides 
in California; Alexander, who married 
Catherine Cox and li\-es in Shelby county; 
James, of Shelby county, who married Eliza- 
beth Walls and after her death wedded Ann 
Lynn; and Elizabeth, who became the wife 
of Dyer Levering and died in Wapakoneta, 
Ohio, in 1865. The father of this family 
passed away in 1849 and the mother's death 
occurred in 1874. 

John Patterson, whose name begins this 
record, first opened his eyes to the light of 
day in a little log cabin, the country round- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



655 



about aljounding in wild game, and he early 
became familiar with the- use of the gun. 
When a child he frequently rode on horse- 
back behind his father to Piqua, which was 
then a little hamlet containing four log 
cabins. Many a time he has worked all day 
with an ax felling forest trees, and in all de- 
partments of farm work he soon became aljle 
to do his share. He started to school when in 
his ninth year. As there was no school near 
his home, his father sent him to board with 
iiis uncle Robert, that he might attend school 
in that neighborhood. The little luiilding 
in which he first conned his lessons was a rude 
log structure with greased-paper windows 
and furnished after the primitive style of the 
times. The teacher was John Buffington, a 
man very severe who believed in the maxim 
that if we spared the rod we would spoil the 
child. The school was conducted on the sub- 
scription plan. Mr. Patterson enjoyed such 
educational privileges as were there afforded 
from 1828 until 1830, when the appropria- 
tion gave out and the school was not again 
opened until 1S39. He is practically a self- 
educated man, but experience, reading and 
observation have made him well informed. 
He remained at home until his marriage, 
which occurred May 28, 1846, the lady of 
his choice being Miss Mary Ellen Hunter, 
a daughter of Joseph and Jane (Eaton) 
Hunter. She was born January 9, 1815. 
After their marriage, Mr. Patterson rented 
the Russell farm in Miami county for three 
years and then purchased his present farm of 
two hundred and forty acres. This tract was 
entered in 1808 by Mr. Houston, who sold 
it to Mr. Widney, of Franklin county, and 
from Mr. Widney our subject purchased 
it. Soon after he took up his abode there 
he began dealing in stock and successfully 
carried on that business for twenty years. 



His unflagging industry, keen discernment 
and sound practical judgment brought to 
him success, and he is now the possessor of 
a comfortable competence which for some 
years has enabled him to li\e retired and 
to enjoy the fruits of his former toil. 

In 1893 Mr. Patterson was called upon 
to mourn the loss of his wife, who died on 
the 31st of December of that year. She 
was the mother of two children : William, 
who married Mary L. Myer and is living 
in Washington township; and Mary Eliza- 
beth, at home. Mr. Patterson has traveled 
extensively in the western states, going as 
far as the Pacific coast. Throughout his 
life he has given his support to the Demo- 
cratic party, believing most firmly in its prin- 
ciples. He is a member of the Presbyterian 
church, and his life has been an upright one. 
His veracity is above question and his ca- 
reer has at all times been worthy of emu- 
lation, so that in the evening of life he re- 
ceives the veneration and respect which 
should ever be accorded old age. 



WILLIAM ASHWORTH. 

Faithfulness to duty and strict adher- 
ence to a fixed purpose in life will do more 
to advance a man's interest than wealth or 
advantageous circumstances. The success- 
ful men of the day are those who have 
planned their own advancement and have 
accomplished it in spite of many obstacles, 
and with the certainty that it could not have 
been attained except through their own 
efforts. This class of men has a worthy 
representative in Mr. Ashw^orth, who be- 
gan life under unfavoralile circumstances 
in a little shoe shop, but to-day occupies a 
position of distinction in connection with 
the commercial interests of Miami county. 



656 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Born ill Middletcni. Lancasliire. Eng- 
land, on the loth of February. 1836. he is 
a son of George and Betty ( Nutt ) Ash- 
worth. Tlie father was a native of the 
same locaHty. In the family were three 
sons: William and Thomas, who were 
born in England : and John, whose birtli 
occurred in Monroe township. Miami coun- 
ty. In the land of his nativity George Ash- 
worth learned the baker's trade, \\bich he 
followed in England until 1839, when with 
his family he came to America, crossing the 
Atlantic on a sailing vessel, which, after a 
voyage of six weeks, reached the harbor of 
Philadelphia. Although not then four 
years of age, Mr. .\slnvorth of this review, 
has a faint remembrance of the trip. The 
family landed at Philadelphia, but came at 
once to Tippecanoe City, where they ar- 
rived on the 3d of November. 1839. The 
town at that time was kmjwn as Hyattsx'ille. 
The father learned the shoemaker's trade of 
William Cutler, under whom lie worked for 
a year. At the end of that time he removed 
to a farm in Concord township. Miami 
county, but after two years returned to 
Tippecanoe City, where he engaged in shoe- 
making until his death, which occurred July 
2^, 1849. when he was only thirty-six years 
of age. His wife, long survi\-ing him. 
passed away April 3. 1876. at the age of 
sixty-four years. 

Mr. Ashworth is familiar with the his- 
tory of pioneer life in Miami county. At 
the time of his arrival there were only five 
iiousee where Tippecanoe City now stands, 
these being occupied by the Clark, Krise, 
Shyrock, Favorite and Cottoral families, 
and Mr. Clark also owned a little store. 
Mr. Ashworth obtained his education in the 
public schools, but his pri\ileges were very 
limited, for when eleven years of age he 



began work in his father's shoe shop, and 
was thus employed until the latter's death. 
In 1853 he went to Dayton, where he 
served an apprenticeship for two and a half 
years under J. T. Kinney, a harness-maker, 
receiving sixty-two dollars for his services 
during tliat period. On the expiration of 
that time he came to Tippecanoe City and 
began tlie nursery business upon an acre of 
ground — his mother's home. His first 
crop was that of currants and gooseberries, 
and on four square rods of land he culti- 
vated fruit to the \alue of eighty dollars. 
In 1857 he purchased six acres, which was 
the nucleus of his present extensive farm. 
Upon this little tract his residence is now 
located. He increased his farm as oppor- 
tunity offered, and in connection with the 
nursery business he engaged in raising vege- 
tables until 1862. 

On the 24th of August, of that year, 
Mr. Ashworth enlisted as fifth sergeant in 
Company D, Ninety-fourth Ohio Infantry, 
being mustered in at Camp Piqiia. By 
train he went to Lexington. Kentucky, on 
the 28th of August, and the first engage- 
ment in which he participated was at Perr}-- 
ville. October 8. He afterward took part 
in the battle of Stone River, which began 
on the 24th of December, 1862. lasting three 
days. The army then went into camp at 
Murfreesboro. where lie remained until June 
24, 1863, when a skirmish occurred at Tun- 
nel Hill. The regiment was attached to 
the Fourteenth Army Corps, under General 
Thomas, and their next movement was to 
flank Bragg at Tullahoma. Not long after 
this Mr. Ashworth was detailed to return 
to Miami county on recruiting service, and 
on the 27th of July. 1863. arrived at his old 
home, where he remained until November. 
He then rejoined his regiment and partici- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



657 



pated in the siegeof Chattanooga, after which 
the troops moved to Grasville, Georgia. In 
March, 1864, lie was sent back to the field 
hospital in Chattanooga, on acconnt of ill- 
ness, and there remained nntil December, 
1864, when he rejoined his regiment at 
Goldsboro, North Carolina, making the trip 
by way of the water ronte. He was on the 
transport Ajax, which encountered a terri- 
ble storm off Cape Hatteras. A few days 
after rejoining his regiment he participated 
in the running fight with Johnston's army, 
which continued until the time of Lee's sur- 
render. His command was then near Ra- 
leigh, where Johnston surrendered his forces 
to General Sherman. 

Mr. Ashworth received an honorable 
discharge June 15, 1865, and with a cred- 
itable military record he returned to Tippe- 
canoe City, where he has since engaged in 
the nursery lousiness in company with his 
brother John, under the firm name of \V^ 
&' J. Ashworth. They own the Fair view- 
Nursery, to which they have added from 
time to time until the property now com- 
prises one hundred acres. The output of their 
nursery finds a ready sale on the market, 
and their shipments are very extensi\'e. Mr. 
Ashworth of this review has held the office 
of superintendent of the Cemetery Associa- 
tion since its organization in 1874, and has 
been a director in the Tippecanoe National 
Bank from its organization, in 1884. 

On the 24th of December. 1857, occur- 
red the marriage of our subject and Miss 
Sarah Wilson, of Monroe township, by 
whom he had two children, George and 
John, both of whom died in infancy. Mrs. 
Ashworth was born in Lancaster county, 
Pennsylvania, February 22. 1841, the 
daughter of George and Sarah (Thompson) 
Wilson, both natives of Lancaster county. 

38 



They were married in 1834 and came to 
Ohio in the autumn of 1844, stopping in 
Clark county, and in 1849 came to Miami 
county, settling in Monroe township, one 
mile south of Tippecanoe City, wdiere they 
resided until his death. May 31, 1867, his 
wife surx'iving him until December 17, 
1892. 

In politics Mr. Ashworth is a stanch 
Republican, and for five terms, or ten years, 
he has served as a member of the city coun- 
cil, giving his support to many measures 
and movements which have contributed to 
the substantial development and welfare of 
the community. W^ith no special advan- 
tages or oportunities to aid him in early 
life, he has steadily worked his way upward 
until he has become an important factor in 
business circles in his adopted county. His 
life has indeed been a busy and useful one, 
and he enjoys the esteem of all with whom 
he has been brought in contact. He mani- 
fested his loyalty to the government upon 
southern battlefields, and he is just as faith- 
ful to-day to the starry banner, which is the 
emblem of the republic. 



ALBERT MILLER. 

Albert Miller, who is the foreman of the 
Tippecanoe Building & Manufacturing Com- 
nany. was born in the city which is still his 
home on the nth of May, i860. His father, 
Joseph Miller, was a native of Baden, Ger- 
many, and in 1848 left that country, sail- 
ing for America. After a voyage of forty- 
eight days the vessel in which he took pass- 
age dropped anchor in the harbor of New 
York, and almost immediately afterward he 
made his way to Dayton, Ohio, where he 
worked at the cooper's trade for eight years. 
On the expiration of that period he came to 



058 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Tippecanoe City, where he engaged in the 
hotel business, conducting the Hotel Henn 
until his death, which occurred on the 13th 
of July, 1870, when he was forty-four years 
of age. He married Miss Annie Zimmer- 
man, who also was born in Germany and 
spent ninety-nine days on the voyage to the 
new world. Their marriage occurred in 
Dayton, Ohio, in 1853. and was blessed 
with seven children, but three died in in- 
fancy. Those still living are Josephine, the 
widow of Conrad Bolte. of Tippecanoe City ; 
Joseph, who is employed by the Davis Whip 
Company, of Tippecanoe City; ]Mary, the 
wife of John Henn, the proprietor of the 
Hotel Henn ; and Albert, whose name intro- 
duces this review. 

In the public schools of Tippecanoe City 
Albert Miller acquired his literary educa- 
tion and prepared for his business career by 
a course in the Queen City Commercial Col- 
lege, of Cincinnati. At the age of eighteen 
years he began work for the Trupp-\\"eekley 
Manufacturing Company, with which he 
was connected for two years as an employe, 
and he then became a partner in the business 
and was made foreman. In 1895 the com- 
pany was reorganized under the name of the 
Tippecanoe Building & Manufacturing Com- 
pany, with which he has since remained as a 
stockholder and foreman. This is one of 
the leading industries of the city and Mr. 
Miller has contributed in no small degree to 
its success by his capable management. He 
is a man of excellent business and executive 
ability, of unflagging industry and resolute 
purpose, and these qualities have enabled him 
to promote his individual success and to in- 
sure prosperity to the interests under his 
charge. 

In 1886 Mr. Miller was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Josephine Fortner, who died 



two years later. On the 28th of January, 
1889. he married Miss Emily Huber, daugh- 
ter of Fred Huber, and they now have four 
interesting children : Mary. Fredia, Leo 
and Bernard. In his political views, Mr. 
Miller is a Democrat, and is a member of 
the Catholic church. He is recognized as 
one of the enterprising business men of 
Tippecanoe City, a position to which he has 
attained by !iis own efforts. He began life 
in the humble capacity of an employe and 
has steadily worked his way upward, win- 
ning advancement through close application 
and painstakng care in the discharge of the 
duties imposed on him. 



LEVI AMMON. 

At the time of his death, Le\-i Ammon 
was regarded as a leading merchant and 
business man of Georgetown, a position 
which he well merited, for his career was 
characterized by unflagging industry, capa- 
ble management and the most unfaltering 
honesty. He was born in Berks county, 
Pennsylvania, November 9, 181 3. His 
father, George Ammon, was also a native 
of that county, but the grandfather was of 
German birth. On emigrating to the new 
world he took up his abode in Berks county, 
where he followed farming and lived to a 
ripe old age. During the Revolutionary war 
he loyally served his country, enlisting as a 
private. The son. George Ammon, spent 
his entire life in the county of his nati\ity 
and was a millwright by trade. He died 
in 1814, in early manhood, but his widow 1 
lived to an advanced age. In her maiden- 
hood she was. Miss Beard, a daughter of 
Captain Beard, who was a nati\e of tlie 
Keystone state, a farmer by occupation and 
served on ^^'ashington's staff in the Revo- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



659 



lutionary war. His father came from Ger- 
many. 

Levi Ammon was one of the two chil- 
dren born to George Ammon and his wife. 
He was only about a year old when his 
father died, and when a little lad of seven 
he was bound out to a Mr. Baker, of Penn- 
sylvania, learning the shoemaker's trade. 
At the age of sixteen years he left the man 
to whom he had been apprenticed, then 
worked at his trade for about two years and 
bought his time from Mr. Baker. At the 
age of eighteen he came west, settling in 
Liberty, Montgomery county, Ohio, where 
he followed shoemaking. Subsequently he 
was engaged in shoemaking for twenty-five 
or thirty years and was very successful, but 
lost the greater part of his property by going 
security for a friend. In i860 he came to 
Miami county and purchased a farm of 
eighty acres near Georgetown, of which 
thirty acres had been cleared. He continued 
its further development and improvement 
until 1S65, when he engaged in merchan- 
dising in Georgetown, successfully conduct- 
ing his store until his death, July 9, 1898. 
Li 1864, however, he lost two thousand dol- 
lars by again going security. On this ac- 
count he sold his farm and in 1865 purchased 
the store which is now conducted by his 
sons. In April, 1869, he admitted his three 
eldest sons to partnership in the business, 
and in 1872 his son Charles was made a 
partner. They carried a stock of general 
merchandise and also dealt in leaf tobacco 
and were the pioneers in the buggy business 
in Georgetown. 

Mr. Ammon was married to Miss Mar- 
garet C. Bierley, who was born in Maryland 
and came with her parents to Ohio during 
her girlhood. She was a daughter of John 
Bierley, who settled in Liberty, this state, 



where he owned a large mill and at one 
time was a wealthy man, but he, too, lost 
the greater part of what he had made by 
going security. He afterward worked at 
the shoe-making trade in Liberty, where 
Mrs. Ammon spent her girlhood days. She 
is still living, at an advanced age. By her 
marriage she became the mother of four- 
teen children, seven of whom died in early 
life. The others are as follows : Mary is 
the wife of Charles Welbaum, of Union 
township ; Jane died at the age of thirty-nine 
years; George H., who was born April 5, 
1844, ^"d was the eldest son that reached 
maturity, was considered one of the most 
capable business men in the county, but his 
career was terminated by death x\pril 9, 
1898; Edwin M., who was born May 7, 
1848, is now conducting a store in Gor- 
don, Ohio, married Amanda Faulkner and 
they have two sons. Earl and Roy, who 
are both in their father's store; William, 
who conducts the store in Potsdam, mar- 
ried Miss Mary Mast, of West Milton, and 
they have a son, Harry D., now a student 
in the high school in Dayton, Ohio ; Belle 
A. is the wife of G. P. Ditmer ; and Charles, 
who resides with his mother, is also a member 
of the mercantile firm. 

The subject of this review was an active 
Prohititionist for many years and when he 
purchased his store he would not sell drinks 
as the other merchants did at that time. 
He was most earnest in his advocacy of the 
cause of temperance and both he and his 
wife are leading and influential members of 
the United Brethren church. He con- 
tributed most liberally to the building of 
the house of worship and was an earnest 
and active Christian gentleman. Industry 
was one of his chief characteristics and it 
was supplemented by honesty in all life's 



660 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



relations. Thus he won a creditable success 
and was very prominent in business circles. 
His death was the occasion of universal re- 
gret throughout the community and his loss 
was deeply mourned not only by his imme- 
diate family but also by many friends. 

For more than a third of a century the 
name of Amnion has been prominent in 
connection with the business interests of 
Potsdam. At the time of his father's death, 
the firm name of Levi Amnion & Sons was 
assumed, and when George, the eldest 
brother, died they settled the business 
among themselves. When their father 
died, the four sons purchased their sister's 
interest in the estate, and, without emplnying 
a lawyer, satisfactorily arranged their busi- 
ness affairs, taking the name by v,-hicli they 
are now known. The three sons who are 
now in partnership never had any division 
of the business, for what belongs to one be- 
long to all. The relation between them 
has ever been most harmonious and they 
own property in West Milton, Troy and 
Dayton, and about eighteen hundred acres 
of land comprised within inipro\-e(l farms in 
Miami and adjoining counties. They also 
(leal in good horses and are very prominent 
and reliable business men, whose reputation 
in commercial circles is unassailable. 



CHARLES EDGAR ASPINALL. 

Among the native sons of Miami county 
now actively interested in its business affairs, 
and well known as a reliable citizen of ster- 
ling worth, is Charles E. Aspinall. He was 
born April i, 1869, on the old homestead 
farm of the family in Newberry township 
antl traces his ancestry back to England. 
His grandfather, William Aspinall, was a na- 
tive of that land and his wife and three 



children came to America about 1830, land- 
ing at Xew York city. He spent a short 
time in Philadelphia after which he removed 
to Greene county, Ohio, and subsequently 
settled on a farm of three hundred and 
twenty acres in Newberry township, above 
Clayton. He sold that tract three years 
later and purchased eighty acres on section 
21, Newberry township, and there success- 
fully carried on agricultural pursuits until 
his death, in i86j. His wife, who bore the 
maiden name of Miss Brown, survived him 
until 1895, passing away at the advanced 
age of eighty-three years. 

Richard Brown Aspinall. the father of 
our suliject, was reared in the Buckeye state. 
He ilid not manifest a very studious dispo- 
sition in youth, preferring to aid in the work 
of the farm. After the death of his father 
he remained for one year on the old home- 
stead with his mother and then started out 
to make his own way in the world, being em- 
ployed as a farm hand in the neighborhood 
of his home. On the 9tli of August, 1862, 
prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he offered 
his services to the government and was en- 
rolled among the "boys in blue" of Company 
I. One Hundred and Tenth Ohio \*olunteer 
Infantry. He served on detached duty most 
of the time and was ill in a hospital for nine 
months, spending part of that time in Cum- 
berland, Maryland, after which he was sent 
to a regimental hospital at ]\Ioorev!lle. He 
then was taken in a wagon with the regiment 
until able to take his place in the line of 
march. He participated in the battle of 
\\'incliester and received an honorable dis- 
charge at Columbus, July 25. 1S65. 

Returning to his home, ]\Ir. Aspinall en- 
gaged in farming on a tract of forty acres 
which he had ]nirchased in 1864, while in 
the army. About 1895 '^^ bought another 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



eoi 



tract of forty acres and is now the owner of 
a valuable farm, which adds materially to 
his income. Here he has successfully car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits, and is now 
recognized as one of the leading farmers of 
the community. He married Miss Hattie 
E. Rain, a tlaughter of Francis and Sarah 
(Roney) Rain. They had ten children, 
namely : Frank, who died in infancy ; Sarah 
E., wife of Charles Helmich, of West Mil- 
ton ; Charles E.,of this review ; Harry Brown, 
who died at the age of twenty years ; Cora 
Belle, wife of Warren B. Crampton, of Cov- 
ington ; Benjamin Lee, at home; George 
Luther Lorin, who is a student in school ; 
Emma L., Carl and Bertha. 

Mr. Aspinall, whose name introduces 
this review, spent the days of his childhood 
and youth upon the old homestead farm 
and early became familiar w4th the va- 
rious duties that fall to the lot of the agri- 
culturist. He did not desire, however, to 
make farming his life work, and in conse- 
quence, on attaining his majority, he left 
home and began to learn telegraphy, in De- 
cember, 1889, under the instruction of Will- 
iam Sowers, the operator at Summit. After 
mastering the business he was employed as 
an e.xtra man at different places along the 
Panhandle line. His ability and faithful- 
ness were soon recognized and he was given 
the position of operator at Covington, where 
he acceptably served until October, 1899, 
when he was placed in charge of the Coving- 
ton tower, his present position. He is an ex- 
pert operator, very careful and accr.rate, 
and well merits the confidence of the cor- 
poration by -which he is employed. 

On Christmas day of 1894 Mr. Aspinall 
was united in marriage to Miss Sarah C. 
Myers, of Washington township, a daugh- 
ter of Joseph and Mary ( Brinkman ) Myers. 



One daughter now graces their union, Edith 
Josephine. Li politics Mr. Aspinall is a 
stanch Republican and socially he is con- 
nected with the Lidependent Order of Odd 
Fellows, the Royal Encampment and the 
Sons of Veterans. A consistent member of 
the Christian church, he is highly esteemed 
as a young man of many excellent qualities, 
and both he and his wife occupy an en- 
viable position in social circles and enjoy 
the warm regard of many friends. 



SAMUEL HILL. 

No family has been more widely known 
in Miami county than the Hill family, and 
he whose name introduces this review was 
one of its worthy representatives. He was 
born August 19, 1825, in Newton township, 
his parents having made the first settlement 
there. Hjs father, John Hill, was a native 
of Maryland, and emigrated to Ohio about 
the year 1803, locating on Stillwater creek, 
south of Pleasant Hill, in Newton township. 
He served during the war of 18 12 as a cap- 
tain at Fort Green\-ille. His father, Thomas 
Hill, was of English descent, and married a 
Miss Williams. After a settlement was 
made in Miami county representatives of the 
name took an active part in reclaiming the 
wild land for purposes of civilization and in 
aiding in the progress and upbuilding of this 
section of the state. 

Amid the wild scenes of the frontier 
Samuel Hill was reared, and after attaining 
his majority he was married, on the 12th of 
September, 1844, to Miss Elizabeth Weaver, 
whose birth occurred in Petersburg, High- 
land county, January 4, 1826. \^'hen three 
years of age her father, Henry Weaver, and 
his wife, who bore the maiden name of Susan 
Winters, located with their familv near West 



662 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



]Milton, on a tract of land inherited Ijy tlie 
latter. The conntry was wild and the w(jrk 
of improvement seemod scarcely begun in 
this section of the state, but the father made 
a clearing and soon built a house of logs 
which in those days were considered a vory 
fine residence, for it had two doors, other 
cabins having but one. It contained but 
one room, which, however, was very large, 
one end of it being occupied by three beds. 
Over these on poles hung the family washing. 
Later Henry Weaver sold that farm and pur- 
chased one hundred and sixty acres of land 
near Gettysburg, Darke county, and to this 
was added an adjoining farm which was 
give4i him by his father. He operated a 
large sugar camp on his farm and in this the 
children were employed, making sugar and 
molasses. I\Irs. Hill was marrried when 
nineteen years of age. She- was a \ ery pop- 
ular young lady and the Weaver home was 
the scene of many social gatherings which 
were attended by the lads and lassies for 
miles around. The cabin also served as a 
house of worship, in which religious services 
were held before churches were built in the 
neighborhood. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hill 
remained upon their farm until 1878, when 
they traded it for property in Covington, 
and a year later established a home there, 
Mr. Hill being a successful hotel-keeper of 
the town for twenty years. His business 
'and executive ability won him prosperity, 
and his genial manner made him a popular 
host and won the warm friendship of many 
of his guests. He formed a very wide ac- 
quaintance and enjoyed the respect of all 
who knew him. His death occurred De- 
cember 22. 1892. after which his wife con- 
ducted the hotel until October, 1899, when 
she rented the property to Doctor Gaines. 



She displayed excellent business qualities, 
and although now well advanced in years she 
is a bright, active and energetic lady and an 
entertaining conversationalist. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hill were born the 
following children : Susan, wife of Captain 

C. R. Mans: Elijah \\'., who was born Jan- 
uary 31, 1848; Thomas E., who married 
Miss Cole: Xancy Belle, wife of Captain S. 

D. Palmer, the present mayor of Covington ; 
Sarah, who died at the age of six years; and 
Mary, wife of John J. Mohler. Of this 
family Elijah \\'. is a resident of Covington. 
He learned the trade of a harness-maker at 
Gettysburg, followed farming for a time, 
and was engaged in merchandising in Shelby 
county, Ohio. He was married September 
2. 1872, to Josephine Flomerfelt, of Darke 
county, and they became the parents of six 
children: Musolla, wife of W. A. Reed, of 
Piqua; Daisy, who died at the age of six 
years: Grace G. ; Herbert H., Eva. Ethel and 
Leslia L., at home. 

'1 he father of this family is now engaged 
in the manufacture of medicines in Coving- 
ton. He is a member of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church, the Independent Order of Odd 
Fellows, the F. & A. M.. the Knights of 
Pythias fraternity. Knights of the Golde:i 
Eagle and the Sons of \'eterans' association, 
and in politics he is a stanch Democrat. 
Such in brief is the historv of the Hill fam- 
ily, a family well worthy of representation 
in the annals of ^liami countv. 



FRANCIS M. WALL. 

Francis M. Wall, of Concord township, 
was born in Greene county. Ohio, on the 22(1 
of June. 1848. His father, David Wall, 
was born near Milton. Pennsylvania, and 
when a 3-oung man went to Greene county. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



663 



Oliio, wliere lie carried on agriculture until 
his death, which occurred un 1867. when he 
was fifty-nine years of age. During the 
civil war he enlisted in a battery raised at 
Xenia, Ohio, and participated in the en- 
gagement at Pittsburg Landing. Soon after- 
wards, however, he was taken ill and on ac- 
count of his disability received an honorable 
discharge. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Amanda A. Sliingledecker, was a 
native of Greene county, Ohio, where her par- 
ents located in pioneer days, coming to the 
Buckeye state from Pennsylvania. She was 
the- mother of two sons, the second being 
Jasper Newton Wall, now a resident of 
Bluffton, Indiana. 

Francis M. Wall, whose name introduces 
this review, pursued his education in the pub- 
lic schools and during his youth worked on 
his father's farm, early becoming familiar 
with all the labors that fall to the lot of the 
agriculturist. At the age of nineteen years he 
responded to his country's call for troops, 
enlisting, in 1865, in the One Hundred and 
Eighty-fourth Ohio Infantry, in which he 
served for nine months. He suffered an at- 
tack of the measles and also injured his knee 
in such a manner that as the years went by 
it grew worse and worse until finally he was 
forced to have his left leg amputated. He 
was one of the most robust young men who 
entered the army from his native town. 
To thus go through life deprived of the 
opportunities and pleasures incident to a 
sound body is a sacrifice to country that is 
seldom fully appreciated or rewarded as it 
deserves. 

Mr. \\'all removed to Fletcher, ^liami 
county, in 1867, and on the 5th of November, 
of that year, he married Miss Harriet Hill, 
a native of that town and a daughter of 
John A. and Olivia (Stillwell) Hill, w^lio at 



an early day removed from Catskill, 
New York, locating at Fletcher, Miami 
county. Mr. Hill was widely and favorably 
known as a valued and enterprising citizen 
antl in political affairs he was an active 
Democrat. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Wall have been born 
two children : Robert Earl, of Concord town- 
ship, who married Arabella North, daughter 
of Joseph and Sarah North, of the same 
township; and Emma Alta, who is with her 
parents and has proved of great assistance 
to them, for her mother is in poor health. 
Mr. Wall devotes his energies to agricul- 
tural pursuits, and the neat and thrifty ap- 
pearance of the place indicates his personal 
supervision and excellent business ability. 
He is public-spirited and progressive, mani- 
festing a deep interest in everything pertain- 
ing to the welfare and prosperity of the 
communitv. 



THOMAS C. BROWN. 

Thomas C. Brown is extensively and 
successfully engaged in farming and in the 
breeding of blooded stock. He owns one of 
the finest stock farms in the county and in the 
capable control of his business affairs has 
gained a place among the most substantial 
citizens of his community. 

His parents were Benjamin F. and Mary 
C. (Hilliard) Brown, and on the maternal 
side he is descended from one of the oldest 
families in Miami county. The Browns, 
too, were early settlers ; and the father of 
our subject, Benjamin F. Brown, was born 
on the old family homestead, in what is now 
Washington township, December 11, 181 1. 
There he was reared to manhood, attending 
the subscription schools. He became a well- 
to-do farmer, inheriting a share of the old 



664 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



homestead, after wliich lie purcliased the in- 
terest of the other heirs. Thus he became 
the owner of one hundred and six acres of 
vakiable land, which had been entered by 
his father, and to this he added a tract of 
one hundred and twenty-six acres. He 
married Miss Mary C. HiUiard, who was 
born on the old Milliard farm, Spring Creek 
township, that property now being included 
within tho corporation limits of Piqua. 
Her father, Joseph Hilliard, came to the 
Buckeye state from Pennsylvania. Her 
grandfather, John Hilliard, made a tempor- 
ary location at Will Creek, and, as soon as 
he believed it to be safe to venture into the 
forest beyond, and not incur tlie danger 
of death at tho hands of the savages, he 
came to Miami county and entered the land 
now comprising section 30, Spring Creek 
township. There he cleared a little tract and 
built a log hut. and on the 4th of April, 
1797, he moved into that rude cabin with his 
family. Being an aged man, he could not 
endure the hardships of pioneer life and his 
health soon failed him. He was laid to 
rest in a lovely spot in the midst of the for- 
est, hie being the first death and first burial 
in that part of the county. 

Benjamin F. Brown, the father of our 
subject, made farminp- his life work and died 
on the old homestead May 2, 1887. He was 
a very energetic and enterprising man, pos- 
sessed of much natural ability, and was 
highly esteemed as an honored citizen who 
withheld his support from no measure which 
he believed would prove of public benefit. 
He took a very active interest in township 
affairs and donated the ground on which 
was erected what is now known as the Brown 
school. He held public office throughout the 
greater part of his life, serving as county 
commissioner from 1856 until 1862, and 



again from 1870 tmtil 1876. In that ca- 
pacity he largely promoted the welfare of 
his towni and county, doing all in his power 
to secure advancement along social, edu- 
cational, material and moral lines. In early 
life he \'ote(I with the Whig party, and on its 
dissolution he joined the ranks of the new 
Republican party, continuing under its ban- 
ner throughout the remainder of his life. 
He died May 2, 1887; and his wife, a devout 
member of the Baptist church, passed away on 
the 1 6th of March, 1897. They had four 
children : Joseph H., who served on the iron- 
clad Carondelet on the Red river expedition 
under Porter, was taken ill with typhoid 
fever and died in 1864; Nancy J., the wife 
of Alanson Hamilton, of Piqua ; Thomas C. 
and Clara F. are the other members of the 
family. 

'1 homas C. Brown was born upon the 
old home farm, March 29, 1845, and was 
there reared to manhood, amid pleasant sur- 
roundings and good home influences. 
Having" acquired his preliminary education 
in the Brown school-house, he afterward 
pursued his studies in the high school of 
Piqua and was for one term a student in the 
commercial college at Dayton. The work 
of the farm occupied his time and attention 
when not engaged with his school studies, 
and proved an excellent preparation for his 
life work. After his marriage he rented 
the home farm for a time and now owns that 
property. In connection with the cultiva- 
tion of the fields, he has carried on stock- 
raising, and is one of the leading stock- 
dealers of Miami county. His large barn, 
built in octagon shape, is one of the most 
extensive and best equipped in this section 
of the state. He has every convenience 
necessary to promote his stock-raising in- 
terests. He has raised some very fine troc- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



605 



ting' horses and owns the stalhon Syrian, 
one of the best bred animals in Ohio, and 
also the stallion Delegate, with a record of 
2:i9>4. 

In Somervillo, Massachusetts, on the i6th 
of February, 1876, Mr. Brown was united 
in marriage to Aliss Alice E. Sawyer, who 
was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts, 
a daughter of Seth Sawyer, a well known 
hotel proprietor of that place. Mrs. Brown's 
childhood homo was very near Bunker Hill 
monument and during her girlhood days 
she often romped and played upon the old 
historical battle ground. By her marriage 
she became the mother of two children : 
Frank B., who died at the age of twelve 
years ; and Susan, who is now in school. 

In his political views Mr. Brown is a 
Republican who firmly advocates the prin- 
ciples of the party and does all indiis power 
to promote its growth and insure its success. 
He is a reliable business man, a genial gentle- 
man, and his home is noted for his generous 
hospitality. Throughout his entire life he 
has resided in Miami county and is both 
widely and favorably known among its 
citizens. 



JOHN McMAKEN. 

John McMaken, who is carrying on 
farming in Newberry township, was born 
near Westchester, in Butler county, Ohio, 
on the 4th of November, 1825, and w^as only 
about seven years of age when he came with 
his parents to Miami county. The family is 
of _ Scotch-Irish lineage. The ancestors 
many generations removed, lived in Scot- 
land, but on account of religious persecution 
fled to Ireland and thence crossed the At- 
lantic to the new world, a settlement being 
made in Maryland, where the grandfather 



of our subject died. The father, John Mc- 
Maken, was born in Maryland, and some 
time prior to 1825 came to Ohio, locating in 
Butler county, where he was reared to man- 
hood and was married. In 1832 he brought 
his family to what was then known as the 
Falser farm, an eighty-acre tract of land in 
JNliami county. It was mostly wild, but a 
small portion having been cleared and cul- 
tivated. Upon the place was a hewed-log 
house twenty-four feet square, which is still 
standing, but has been weatherboarded. 
This, howe\'er, was not the first home of the 
family, for previous to the erection of the 
more pretentious structure they lived in a 
little cabin built of round logs. It con- 
tained but one room and had an immense 
fireplace, in which could be burned a four - 
foot log. The logs w-ere rolled into the fire 
place on "skids." In the cabin were double 
doors, which swung on wooden hinges. 
Some years after locating in the county the 
father extended the boundaries of the farm 
by the purchase of an additional forty acres. 
He placed his land under a high state of cul- 
tivation, with the aid of his sons, and as the 
years passed became the owner of a desirable 
property. He owned a number of good 
dogs and was very fond of hunting, being 
an excellent shot. He killed deer, turkeys 
and other kinil of wild game and thus fre- 
quently replenished the family larder. He 
died about 1863, but his wife, Mrs. Lydia 
McMaken, survived him several years. 
They were acti\e and consistent members of 
the Cumberlaiul Presbyterian church, and 
Mr. McMaken was a stanch Democrat, 
who enjoyed the respect and good will of all 
with whom he came in contact. 

Amid the wild scenes of the frontier 
John McMaken, of this review, was reared to 
manhood. At the age of seven he came to 



666 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Mianai cnunty and is therefore familiar witli 
its pioneer history as well as that of later 
days. The journey to this country was 
made in covered wagons. A few da}'s he- 
fore starting Mr. McMaken, of this re- 
view, sufifered a slight accident. While on 
the way he got out of the wagon to walk and 
was left l)ehind. Traveling alone through 
dense forests was not a very safe thing for 
a boy of seven, and the family became much 
alarmed ; but soon he came hobbling up, 
much to the relief of his parents. When 
not at work he attended the neighboring 
school, but his opportunities in that direction 
were very limited. Schools were conducted 
on the subscription plan. The father said 
that the older brother, James, should attend 
school, while John should assist in the work 
of the farm, and that when James had com- 
pleted his studies he should remain at home 
to work in the fields and John should be 
given the privilege of attending school ; but 
when John's turn came he found that boys of 
his own age had advanced so far beyond him 
that he would not go, and his knowledge is 
therefore largely self-acquired. 

He helped his father clear nearly every 
acre of ground in the old home place, for 
his training at farm labor was not meager. 
He lived at home until his marriage and 
then located upon a part of his father's land, 
taking up his abode in a round-log house. 
He cultivated the land on the shares for a 
short time and then resided upon the Perry 
farm for two years, after which he rented 
what was then known as the Jim Clark farm, 
but is now the Wei)]) McMaken farm. He 
afterward purchased his present farm of 
eighty acres and in the midst of the forest 
erected his home. His time and attention 
have been luiceasingly given to the develop- 
ment and improvement of the place and he 



now has a valuable property. He began to 
build his home during the Christmas holi- 
days and moved into it on the i8th of the 
following November. His land is under a 
high state of cultivation and yields a golden 
tribute in return for the care and labor he 
bestows upon it. He can relate many inter- 
esting reminiscences of pioneer times, when 
everything was primitive and the work of 
progress seemed scarcely begun in this neigh- 
borhood. He has frequently gone coon- 
hunting at night, when they would have to 
take a pack of dogs along to keep the wohes 
from attacking them, as well as to "tree" the 
coons and other animals. In one spring Mr. 
McMaken attended twenty-six log-rollings. 
When a new settler wished to build a cabin 
he would invite all the men and boys of the 
neighborhood, and a hearty response made 
it jjossible for them to construct tlie cabin in 
a single day. Mr. McMaken owned an ox 
team, which was generally used in hauling 
the logs to the place where they were wanted. 
He has watched with interest the marked 
progress which has bosn made in the county, 
as its wild lands have been transformed into 
beautiful homes and farms, and all the ac- 
cessories and conveniences of mudern civ- 
ilization have been added, and he has en- 
dorsed all movements which he believed 
would pro\e of public good. 

Mr. McMaken was first married to Mar- 
garet Rife, a daughter of John and Cather- 
ine (Shell) Rife. She died on their farm, 
lea\'ing three children : Jane, now the wife 
of William Heckendorn, of ISTewberry town- 
ship; James Henry, who married Miss 
Reach and lives in Covington ; and John 
Lewis, of Logansport, Indiana, who mar- 
ried Annie Butt. After the death of his 
first wife Mr. McMaken wedded Miss Mar- 
tha Ullery, a daughter of John and Eliza- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



667 



beth (Dale) Ullery. They also had three 
children: Forest Lee, of Newberry town- 
ship; Charles S.. who married Minnie 
Boggs ; and Emma A., at home. 

Many years ago Mr. McMaken united 
with the Cumberland Presbyterian churcli, 
and his life has ever been in harmony with 
his profession. He exercises his right of 
franchise in support of the men and measures 
of the Democracy, Ijut has never been an 
aspirant for political honors, preferring to 
devoto his time and attention to his business 
interests in which he has met with creditalile 
success. All that he has he has acquired 
through his own efforts, his unfaltering in- 
dustry bringing him a comfortable property. 



JOHN A. BUCHANAN. 
Among the representative farmers of 
Newberry township is John Allen Buchanan, 
wdio was born December i6, 1851, on the old 
Buchanan homestead on Trotter's creek, 
in Newberry township. He was also reared 
to manhood there and acquired his education 
in the schools of the neighborhood, his first 
teacher being Lizzie Stevens, an estimable 
young lady who afterward went west with 
her parents, and was killed, together with the 
whole party, by Indians on the plains. Mr. 
Buchanan further continued his studies in 
the little town of Clayton, and when eighteen 
years of age attended his last term in school 
in district No. 13, his teacher being Mr. 
Fordyce. During the periods of vaca- 
tion he assisted in the work of the home 
farm, and early became familiar with all 
the duties and labors that fall to the lot of 
the farmer. At the age of eighteen, after 
leaving school, he began to learn the car- 
penter's trade, under the direction of John 
Loy, working southeast of Piqua. He 



served a two-years apprenticeship and after- 
ward worked at his trade for sixteen years, 
being engaged on the construction of many 
buildings in the county. 

In Newberry township, in 1873, ]Mr. Bu- 
chanan was united in marriage to Miss Mar- 
garet Jane Fulker, a daughter of Henry 
and Margaret (McDowell) Fulker. L'nto 
them have been born four children, namely : 
Otto Loy, who was educated in the schools 
of Newberry township, and has engaged in 
teaching since he was seventeen years of age, 
married Delia Routson and resides in New- 
berry township: Homer \\'illis is a school 
teacher at Maplewood : Jo Lee and Ola 
Elizabeth are at home. 

After his marriage Mr. Buchanan resided 
with Mr. Fulker, his father-in-law, for two 
years, after which he purchased fi\'e acres 
of land, which is now included within his 
present valuable and desirable farm of 
eighty acres. He worked at carpentering till 
about 1897, since which time he has carried 
on agricultural pursuits, his training in youth 
well fitting him for this work. He built his 
present beautiful home in 1878 and has made 
all the improvements upon his place, build- 
ing fences, laying tile and placing his land 
under a high state of cultivation. Every- 
thing about the farm is neat and thrifty in 
appearance and indicates the general super- 
vision of the owner, who is recognized as 
an enterprising and progressive agriculturist. 
In politics he has always been an ardent 
Democrat ever since casting his first pres- 
idential vote for Samuel J. Tilden. 



JOHN M. KERR. 

The specific history of the west was made 
by the pioneers : it was emblazoned on the 
forest trees by the strength of sturdy arms 



668 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



and gleaming ax. and written on the surface 
of the earth by the track of tlie primitive 
plow. These were strong men and true who 
came to found the empire of the west — these 
hardy settlers who builded their rude dom- 
iciles, grappled with the giants of the forest, 
andfrom the sylvan wilds evolved the fertile 
and productive fields which ha\e these many 
years been furrowed and refurrowed by the 
plowshare. The red man, in his motley 
garb, stalked through the dim, woody ave- 
nues, and the wild beasts disputed his do- 
minion. Tho trackless prairie was made 
to yield its tribute under the effective en- 
deavors of the pioneer, and slowly and surely 
were laid the steadfast foundations upon 
which have been builded the magnificent 
superstructure of an opulent and enlight- 
ened commonwealth. To establish a home 
amid such surroundings, and to cope with 
the many privations and hardships which 
were the inevitable concomitants, demanded 
an invincible courage and fortitude, strong 
hearts and willing hands. All these were 
characteristic of the pioneers, whose names 
and deeds should be held in perpetual rev- 
erence by those who enjoy the fruits of their 
toil. 

John M. Kerr is not only a representative 
of one of the pioneer families of Ohio, but 
has been himself also a resident of Miami 
county for three score years and ten. He 
was born in Monroe township. April 2, 1829, 
on the old family homestead which his grand- 
father, George Kerr, entered from the gov- 
ernment prior to 181 2. Hamilton Kerr, 
the father of our subject, was born in Ohio, 
in 1803. The land purchased by George 
Kerr has since been in possession of the 
family, being now owned by Furnas Kerr, 
a brother of our subject. Upon taking up 
his abode in Miami county he erected a log 



cabin, about twenty by twenty-four feet, 
which continued to be his home for several 
years. He then built a brick house of two 
rooms, and in that residence died in 1836. 
He was a \ery successful farmer, his enter- 
prising efforts having made him the posses- 
sor of five hundred acres of land. He mar- 
ried Miss Rhoda Furnas, a native of Monroe 
township. Miami county, and unto them were 
born four children : Xewell, who died July 
18, 1876, at the age of forty-nine years; 
John M. ; George, a farmer of Concord 
township, iliami county, and Furnas, a re- 
tired farmer who is now living in Tippeca- 
noe City. 

John M. Kerr, whose name introduces 
this review, can relate many interesting in- 
cidents of pioneer life in Miami county. 
He pursued his education in a little log 
school-house, walking a mile and a half 
through the woods in order to recite his les- 
sons in that institution. His training at 
farm labor was not meager, for he early 
learned to handle the scythe and to follow 
the plow. Until twenty-four years of age 
he assisted his father in the work of field and 
meadow and then removed to an adjoining 
farm of one hundred and si.xty acres on sec- 
tions 10 and 15, Monroe township. There 
he resided until 1889 and developed one of 
the best farming properties in the neighbor- 
hood. His richly cultivated fields and sub- 
stantial buildings indicated to the passer-by 
the thrift and enterprise of the owner. 
Upon his removal to Tippecanoe City, in 
1889, he put aside business cares and has 
since lived retired, enjoying the rest which 
he has truly earned. 

On the 17th of May, 1866, Mr. Korr 
was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Coates, 
who was born in Warren county. Indiana, 
and died in 1867, at the age of twenty 



' 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



669 



eight years and eighteen days. Mr. Kerr 
has no children of liis own, but his niece, 
now Mrs. J. F. Deitrick, lived with him fron; 
her early childhood and was to him a daugh- 
ter. He is yet the owner of a valuable 
farm of three hundred and twenty acres, 
and from his place derives a good income. 
He has been a member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity since 1859, and his membership is 
now in Tippecanoe Lodge, Xo. 74. 

In politics he is a Democrat. Having 
witnessed the entire growth and develop- 
ment of this county he is wo'.l informed 
concerning its history, and is accounted 
one of the valued citizens whose efforts 
have contributed in no small degree to the 
general prosperity and progress. His activ- 
ity in business aft'airs, combined with hon- 
orable dealing and sound judgment, brought 
to him creditable success, while his upright 
life has won for him the high regard of all 
with whom he has l)een brous'ht in contact. 



SAMUEL HOEFLICH. 

Samuel Hoeflich was born December 
31, 1S57, in Dayton, Ohio, and is of Ger- 
man lineage. His father, Charles Hoef- 
lich, was born in Tuebingen, \Vurtemberg, 
Germany, in 181 2, and was an officer in 
the French army fijr fourteen years and a 
veteran of several wars. He ran away 
from home when eighteen years of age and 
enlisted in the military service. After 
leaving the army, he followed the trade of 
book-binding for some time and then de- 
termined to seek a home in America. On 
reaching the new world, he took up his abode 
in Dayton, Ohio, where he married Mrs. 
Caeherine Kraus, widow of Andrew Kraus. 
By her first marriage she had five children : 
John A. and Christopher G., both of Cov- 



ington, and three who died in childhood. 
Mr. and Airs. Kraus came to the United 
States in 1854, and the former died in Day- 
ton. By her second marriage, the motlier 
of our subject had three children, Samuel 
being the eldest and the others were Caroline 
and Annie, who died in infancy. The fa- 
ther of tliis family was called to his final 
rest in 1863, and the mother survived him 
until 1879. 

Samuel Hoefiich, of this review, was 
only two years of age when he accompanied 
his parents on their removal to Piqua. His 
father was employed on the canal and the 
family remo\-ed from place to place in order 
to be near him at his work. When Sam- 
uel was four years old they resided in Buck- 
neck, Miami county, where the father died 
in 1863. In the spring of 1864 the widow 
remo\'ed with her family to Covington, 
where she kept her children together, work- 
ing most industriously and untiringly in 
order to provide for their support. When 
our subject became old enough he took part 
of the burden from her willing shoulders 
and aided in maintaining the family. Turn- 
ing his wages over to his mother, in time he 
became her main support, the hard work 
of former years undermining her health, and 
it became his turn to care for her who had 
so heroically labored for her children in 
years past. She had established a board- 
ing-house and also conducted a grocery 
store and saloon. JNIr. Hoeflich assumed 
entire control of the business in 1879. After 
the death of his mother, he removed the old 
building in which she began business, to 
another location and erected on the site the 
present brick store and dwelling. He has 
sold out the grocery store and now conducts 
a first-class saloon, carrying also a full line 
of cigars and tobacco. 



C70 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Mr. Hoeflich was married, in 1884, to 
Miss Lizzie M. Popp, who died Marcii 4, 
1895. Tiieir children were Carl J., horn 
Decemher 17, 1885; George Lafayette, born 
Octoher 2, 1887; and Cleo Catherine, born 
July I, 1889. All three are now in school. 
The father was again married, January 2^, 
1897, his second union being with Anna R. 
Kriegbaum, a daughter of George Krieg- 
baum. 

Mr. Hoeflich is a charter member of 
Covington Lodge, K. of P., and also be- 
longs to the Improved Order of Red Men. 
His marked musical talent lias rendered 
him a favorite in musical circles and for 
fifteen years he was a member of the Third 
Ohio Regiment band. He is also a mem- 
ber of the Covington Union band, of Cov- 
ington, which worn a most excellent repu- 
tation. Holding membership in the Lu- 
theran church, he has served as the leader 
of the choir, both in church and Sunday 
school. He is a man highly esteemed, is 
affable in manner and has hosts of warm 
friends in his communitv. 



ELMER E. THOMSON. 

Elmer E. Thomson is a leading under- 
taker and embalmer of Miami county, and 
is a representative of a family that for many 
years has been prominently connected with 
the business interests of this section of the 
state. In tracing the genealogy of our sub- 
ject we find that he is descended from a 
long line of sturdy, intelligent and honor- 
able ancestors, and that in both the lineal 
and collateral branches representatives have 
been prominent in the history of the nation. 
His paternal grandfather was born in Vir- 
ginia and served in the war of 181 2. When 
he went to the front he left his wife, whose 



maiden name was Catherine Tullis, and his 
two children, in Troy, Ohio, rejoining them 
at that place when his services were no 
longer needed in defense of American inter- 
ests. He was a prominent factor in public 
affairs in his section of the state and after- 
W'ard entered the land upon which the town 
of Muncie, Indiana, now stands, becoming 
one of the pioneer settlers in that locality. 
He ser\ed as keeper of the Miami county 
jail, and it was in that building, at the south- 
east corner of Main and Plumb streets, in 
Troy, that Joel T. Thomson, the father of 
our subject, was born. Mr. Thomson often 
referred in a jocular manner to the fact that 
he was born in a jail. In his native city he 
became an active and influential business 
man. In 1840 he established there a fur- 
niture store to which he gave his constant 
personal attention for fifty 3'ears, or until 
the time of his death, which occurred in 
1890, when he had attained the age of sev- 
enty-three years. He enjoyed exceptionally 
good health, was strong and vigorous and 
thus was well fitted to meet the arduous du- 
ties of business life. He advocated aboli- 
tion principles at a time when it required 
great personal bravery to announce oneself 
as a friend and protector of the colored 
people. He made his home a station on the 
underground railroad, and thus assisted 
many a dusky fugitive on his way to free- 
dom, beyond the reach of southern masters. 
On the breaking out of the civil war he closed 
his furniture store and carried on only the 
undertaking department of his business in 
order to allow his three employes to enter 
the L'Uion ranks. All three served in many 
sanguinary batttles, but returned unharmed 
at the close of the war and are yet living, 
being numbered among the \-aIiant heroes 
to whom the Union owes her preser\'ation. 



J 



I 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



671 



However, many brave soldiers from Miami 
county gave up their lives on the battle- 
fields of the south. Eighty-two of the num- 
ber were brought to their homes, and Mr. 
Thomson ufficiated as undertaker at eighty - 
one of these soldier funerals. During the fif- 
ty years of his business career he acted as 
undertaker at over eleven thousand funerals 
in Miami county. During all those years 
he enjoved the esteem and confidence of his 
fellow men and was often honored with po- 
sitions of trust in administering the affairs 
of the town of Troy. In early manhood he 
was united in marriage to Miss Mahala 
Helen Gilkerson, who is still living in Troy, 
and who came to this state with her parents 
from West Virginia, then a part of Virginia. 
She traces her ancestry back to the Virginia 
pioneer and explorer, the famous Captain 
John Smith, and on her mother's side she 
is related to the family of John Randolph, 
one of the colonial governors of Virginia 
and one of the leading spirits in the Revolu- 
tionary war, whose memory will ever be 
honored on account of his lofty patriotism, 
his unswerving devotion to his country and 
his noble character. Other members of the 
family were equally loyal and prominent, 
and well may Mr. Thomson l)e proud to 
trace his lineage to such a source. Four 
sons and three daughters were born to the 
parents of our subject, namely: Wilbur, 
who was for many years a teacher in the 
county schools, and his death, at the age of 
thirty-five years, was a great loss to his fam- 
ily and the community. Emma is now the 
wife of John H. Stafford, of Meridian, Miss- 
issippi, and the mother of Harry Stafford, — 
her only son, — who entered the Spanish- 
American war as first sergeant in Colonel 
Roosevelt's Rough Riders and took part in 
the arduous campaign of that now famotis 



regiment in front of Santiago, resulting in 
the capture of the city. Sergeant Staft'ord 
captured General Toral's pony and brought 
It as a trophy to New York. On the dis- 
bandment of the Rough Riders he enlisted 
as sergeant in the company that was sent 
to the Philippines, and while bravely fight- 
ing in the front he was severely wounded 
in the breast, but finally recovered from the 
injury. Mary, the third of the family, is 
now' deceased. Charles is a leading under- 
taker at Sidney, Shelby county, Ohio. Wal- 
ter J. was a prominent physician in Union, 
Ohio, at the time of his death, which oc- 
curred July 12. 1896. He was a surgeon 
on the pension board of Montgomery county 
for seven years, and occupied a position of 
prominence in professional circles. In poli- 
tics he was a Republican and a man of 
marked influence in the councils of his party. 
His wife has also passed away, but two 
children survive them. Our subject, Elmer 
E., is the sixth of the family, and Mrs. 
Etta Bizer, of Piqua, Ohio, who is now de- 
ceased, is the youngest. 

In early vouth Elmer E. Thomson at- 
tended the public schools of Troy and was 
graduated in the high school at the age of 
eighteen years. From early youth he was 
more or less connected with his father in 
business and very naturally was his success- 
or. He became thoroughly proficient in his 
chosen vocation, and after spending two 
years in the study of medicine with Dr. J. 
H. Green, an eminent physician of Troy, he 
took two courses of lectures in the col- 
lege at Columbus, Ohio, making a specialty 
of surgery. He introduced arterial em- 
balming in this section of the country, and 
has practiced the embalming art with great 
skill and success, having received profes- 
sional calls not only to all parts of Miami 



672 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



county but to distant parts of the state as 
well. For the last five years he has been 
a member of the Undertakers" Association of 
the United States. In 1887 he entered into 
partnership with his father, at Troy, and 
since tht latter's death, in 1890, he has car- 
ried on the business alone. On April 16 
1900, his place of business and its contents 
were destroyed by fire, since which time 
he has had quarters a few doors north on 
Market street, and with the assistance of 
new and improved inventions is better able 
than Ijefore to carry on the undertaking pro- 
fession. 

On the 1 ith of July, 1889, Mr. Thomson 
was united in marriage to Miss Carrie J. 
Riley, who is a graduate of the Troy schools 
and of Miami University, at Oxford, Ohio, 
and a lady of superior culture and refine- 
ment. For about seven years prior to her 
marriage she was a popular teacher in the 
public schools of Troy, and she still takes 
great interest in educational matters and in 
the intellectual advancement and progress 
of the town. She is especially active in 
promoting higher education and the advance- 
ment of women and is a member of the ex- 
ecutive committee of the Standard Clul), an 
association of ladies formed for mutual im- 
provement. Clifford, the only child of Mr. 
and Mrs. Thomson, is an extremely bright 
little lad of six stmimers, who has just en- 
tered school and gives promise of special 
aptitude and al)ility in matters of education. 
The parents are consistent and active mem- 
bers of the Presbyterian church, and their 
labors are effective in promoting that de- 
nominational organization of Troy. 

Mr. Thomson is a stalwart Repulilican in 
politics, and is a member of the local com- 
mittee. He was elected county infirmary 
director for Miami county, serving from 



1 89 1 until 1894, and during that time was 
clerk of the board. He is justly proud of 
the fact that no deserving person was de- 
nied the necessaries of life during that time, 
owing to his unremitting interest in this 
great work, established for the relief of 
the worthy but unfortunate people of the 
county. Mr. Thomson is a member of the 
Odd Fellows Society, the Knights of the 
Golden Eagle and the Knights of Honor, 
and has served as noble chief of the second 
order. He is a perfect specimen of physi- 
cal manhood, well developed and \"igorous, 
with a strong, pleasant face and clear-cut 
features and a cordial manner that enables 
hiiu not only to win but to retain his friends 
as the years pass by. Such in l^rief is the 
life history of Mr. Thomson. His character 
has been shadowed forth between the lines 
of this review, and in the summary of his 
career we note only a few of the salient 
])oints, — his activit}' and sound judgment 
in business affairs and his conformitv to 
the ethics of commercial life, together with 
his faithfulness to public office, his genuine 
friendship and his regard for true worth of 
character. These are the cjualities which 
make Elmer E. Thomson a valued citizen 
in wha':e\er community he has made his 
home. 



LEWIS T. SHEETS. 

The history of a state, as well as that of 
a nation, is chiefly a chrc)nicle of the lives 
and deeds of those who have conferred honor 
and dignity upon society. The world judges 
of the character of a community by those 
of its rei)resentati\-e citizens, and yields its 
tribute of admiration and respect for the 
genius or learning or virtues of those whose 
works and actions constitute the record of 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



673 



a state's prosperity and pride. It is this 
record tiiat offers for our consideration the 
history of men who for their probity, benevo- 
lence and kindly virtues, as well as their in- 
tegrity in the affairs of life, are ever afford- 
ing to the young- examples worthy of emu- 
lation. For many years Mr. Sheets has been 
regarded as one of the most prominent resi- 
dents of Tippecanoe City, and since 1896 has 
held the ofiice of mayor, to which position 
he was called by popular ballot, his fellow 
townsmen recognizing his worth and ability. 
His administration has been most progres- 
sive, and the period of his incumbency has 
been an era of substantial growth and im- 
provement in the history of the municipality. 
Mr. Sheets is a native of Tippecanoe 
City, born September 30, 1869. His fa- 
ther, Thomas J. Sheets, was born in Clear 
Spring, Maryland, September i, 1841, and 
was a millwright by trade. In 1859 he came 
to Ohio, locating in Tippecanoe City, where 
he worked on the old mill, being thus em- 
ployed until the breaking out of the war. 
On the 5th of August, 1862, he responded 
to the country's call for troops, enlisting as 
a member of the navy. He was assigned to 
th.e g'unjjoat Tyler, in the Mississippi squad- 
ron, under Commodore David Porter, and 
from time to time received promotion, be- 
coming a master mate and afterward an en- 
sign, with which rank he was discharged 
in December, 1863, on account of ill health. 
He participated in the bombardment of 
Vicksl)urg and in other important en- 
gagements of the Mississippi squadron. 
After his return to Tippecanoe City he en- 
gaged in farming and stock-raising, which 
pursuits he followed until 1874, when he be- 
came the superintendent and general man- 
ager of the Tippecanoe Wheel \Vorks. Un- 
der h.is leadership the plant was enlarged, 
39 



new machinery was added and a very suc- 
cessful business was conducted, the enter- 
prise proving a very profitable one to the 
town. 

On the 1 6th of October, 1861, Thomas 
Sheets was united in marriage to MiiS Allie 
Crane, a daughter of Dr. Crane, and to 
them were born two children, Lewis and 
Anna, the latter an accomplished young lady 
residing with her mother. Mr. Sheets was 
regarded as one of the most prominent, in- 
fluential and able men of Tippecanoe City, 
and at his death all of the stores of the 
town were closed as a tribute of respect to 
one widely known and honored. He passed 
away July 24, 1882, and all who knew him 
mourned his loss. He was very charitable 
in his opinions and was beloved alike by 
old and.young, rich or poor. As a citizen he 
was pifblic-spirited and withheld his. support 
from no movement or measure which he be- 
lieved would prove a public benefit. So- 
cially he was connected with the Grand 
Army of the Republic, of Tippecanoe City, 
and in_ politics was a stalwart Republican. 
His many excellencies of character gained 
him high regard, and throughout the com- 
munity he had a \'ery extensive circle of 
friends. 

Mr. Sheets, whose name introiluces this 
review, obtained his preliminary oducation 
in the public schools of Tippecanoe City and 
later attended Eastman's Business College, 
at Poughkeepsie, New York. Ho was thus 
well trained for life's practical and respon- 
sible duties, and when twenty-two years of 
age he became a member of the firm of 
Trupp, Weekly & Company, lumber deal- 
ers, contractors and builders. While a 
member of that firm he was also one of the 
organizers of tho Troy Bending Company, 
of Troy, Ohio, which was established in 



674 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1890. Two years later, however, he sold 
his interest in that company, but retained 
his connection witli the Trupp-Weekly 
Manufacturing Company until 1894, when 
ho disposed of his share of stock to H. J. 
Ritter. The business has since been re- 
organized under the name of the Tippe- 
canoe Building & Manufacturing Com- 
pany. Mr. Sheets is now the owner of a 
valuable farm of one hundred and fifteen 
acres in Monroe township, and also super- 
intends the cultivation of his mother's 
farm of four hundred and forty acres. He 
is a man of excellent business and executive 
ability, who carries forward to successful 
completion whatever he undertakes, and his 
keen discernment and capable management 
assures him a high degree of prosperity. 

In 1895 Mr. Sheets was elected a trial 
justice of the peace, which office he has since 
filled in a most creditable manner. In 1896 
he was elected mayor of the city, and has 
now filled the office for four consecutix'e 
years, during which time he has exercised 
his official prerogatives in behalf of many 
measures and movements toward the ad- 
vancement of the city's interests. He gave 
his support to the establishment of the new 
electric power house, owned and controlled 
by the city, and other substantial move- 
ments sprang into existence as the result of 
his labors and advocacy. In his politics he 
is a Repul)lican, unfaltering in his support 
of the party principles. A very i^rominent 
Mason, he belongs to Tippecanoe Lodge, 
No. 174, of Tippecanoe City, and is now 
n past master. He is also a member of 
iM-anklin Chapter, No. 24, R. A. M., of 
Troy, in which he is now holding the office 
of king, and belongs to the council and 
Coleman Commandery, No. 17, K. T., of 
Trov. 



A man of distinguished and forceful in- 
dividuality, of broad mentality and most 
mature judgment, he has left and is leaving 
his impress upon the industrial world, while 
his study of economic questions and matters 
of public policy has been so close, practical 
and comprehensive that his judgment is re- 
lied upon and his utterances have weight in 
those circles where the material progress 
of his native citv is centered. 



HENRY FULKER. 

Actively identified with agricultural pur- 
suits for many years, Henry Fulker is now 
living retired, enjoying a rest which he 
richly merits, for he has led a busy, useful 
and upright life. He belongs to an old fam- 
ily of German origin. His father, Peter 
Fulker, was born in Germany and was 
reared upon a farm. To escape being im- 
pressed into the army he ran away from 
home and came to the Uniteil States when 
about twenty years of age. He had no 
money when he landed in Baltimore and was 
sold in that place to pay his passage. After 
working until he had made enough to re- 
imburse the man who had paid his passage, 
he took up his abode in the vicinity of 
Hagerstown, Maryland, where he married 
Barbara Barnhart, a daughter of Jacob 
Barnhart, a native of Pennsylvania or Mary- 
land. After his marriage he operated his 
father-in-law's farm until coming to the 
west about 1835. He was accompanied by 
his wife and children, making the journey 
by wagons, and reaching his destination 
after about seven weeks of travel. There 
were several families in the party. 

Mr. Fulker purchased one hundred and 
fifty- four acres of land, adjoining the Mc- 
Dowell farm. It was mostly covered with 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



G75 



timber. The family lived with Daniel 
Babylon, a neighbor, until their own house 
could be built. Their first home was a lit- 
tle cabin built of round logs and covered 
with a clapboard roof. From an old-fash- 
ioned fireplace the smoke made its escape 
through a wooden chimney. The boys 
would cut the logs used in the fireplace and 
then haul them to the house with a horse. 
In that first cabin the family lived until 
a hewed-log house could bo built. To that 
was afterward added a brick kitchen. The 
boys cleared the land, and where once stood 
the trees in their native strength was soon 
seen waving fields of grain. The father 
died on the farm, which he secured by trad- 
ing with John Myers, his death occurring 
in Deccaiber, 1882. His wife died in June 
of the same year, at the age of eighty-eight 
years, her birth having occurred in Mary- 
land in 1794. Both were members of the 
German Baptist church, and Mr. Fulkor was 
a Whig in his political views until the or- 
ganization of the Republican party, when 
he joined its ranks. In the family of this 
worthy couple were born six children, name- 
ly: Henry, who is the subject of this re- 
view ; Samuel, who married Barbara Roda- 
haft'er and afterward wedded Mary Chris- 
tian, and mo\ed to South Dakota, but spent 
his last days near Aberdeen; Peter, who 
■died at the age of sixteen; Catherine, who 
is the wife of Henry Billingsley, of New- 
berry township; Lydia, who is the wife of 
A. Worley, of the same township ; and Eliza- 
beth, who died at the age of twelve years. 
Henry Fulker, whose name stands at the 
head of this article, was born near Hagers- 
town, Maryland, June 12, 1826. He be- 
gan his education in the subscription schools 
of his native state, and at the age of nine 
years accompanied his parents on their emi- 



gration to Miami county. He walked most 
of the way, but at times he and other boys 
of the party would hide in his uncle's wagon 
and thus steal a ride, but the uncle kept 
quite strict watch on them and would make 
them leave the wagon. During his first 
winter in Ohio Mr. Fulker had all of the 
wood to haid and chop for the family and 
became quite expert at that work, being able 
to chop a cord of wood each day, and was 
also capable of splitting one hundred rails 
a day. He aided in clearing away the 
timber on his father's land and thus getting 
it ready for cultivation. He also learned 
to cut wheat with a butcher-knife, for his 
mother had the only sickle on the place and 
could reap with the skill of a man. In order 
to gain any education he had to walk three 
miles to school. He seldom had shoes to 
wear and had to experience many of the 
hardships and trials which fell to the lot of 
the agriculturist. 

In March, 1849, Mr. Fulker was united 
in marriage by the Rev. Mr. Hershey, the 
pastor of the Lutheran church, to Miss 
Margaret McDowell, who was of Scotch 
lineage, the family having originated in the 
land of hills and heather. Mark McDowell 
was the first emigrant of the name to seek 
a home in America. He took up his abode 
in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, where 
he followed farming and also worked at the 
Vv heel Wright's trade. He was a man of fine 
physique, six feet, two and a half inches 
tall, well proportioned and with jet black 
hair and deep blue eyes. Coming to Ohio 
he entered land on Lost creek, Miami 
county, about 1820, and later gave to each 
of his sons a farm. His children were: 
Mark, who located in Guernsey county, 
Ohio, and died there ; Alexander, who made 
his home in Lost Creek township, Miami 



670 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



countv, until liis death : James, who was also 
a resident of that township and died there; 
Samueh who died on his farm in Lost 
Creek township; Luke, the father of ^Mrs. 
Fulker ; ]^Iary, who became ]\Irs. Jones and 
died in this county; Rachel, who became 
Mrs. Richardson and removed to Indiana, 
where her death occurred; Sarah, who bo- 
came the wife of Rev. Samuel Sheehan and 
removed to Illinois, where her remaining 
days were passed; Elizabeth, who became 
the wife of Samuel Deweeso and died in 
Miami county; Susie, who married Will- 
iam Deweese and died near Casstown, and 
Matilda, who became Mrs. Abbott and died 
in this county. 

Luke McDowell, the father of Mrs. 
Fulker, was born in Lancaster county, Penn- 
sylvania, and there spent the days of his 
boyhood and youth. He married Elizabeth 
Bailor, who was liorn in Berks county, 
Pennsylvania, a daughter of Mark Bailor. 
After his marriage Mrs. ^McDowell removed 
tc Ohio and located on a quarter-section of 
land which was covered with a growth of 
timber. L'pon his land he built a hewed- 
log house, 22x28 feet, and cleared his entire 
farm with the exception of eight acres. He 
was a great hunter, was fond of the sport 
and killed much wild game. His neighbor. 
Colonel George Buchanan, was rather a 
wasteful man, and when butchering one 
year he killed thirteen hogs. He was 
throwing away the heads, backbones and 
ribs, when ]\Ir. McDc_iwell went over and 
offered to heli) with the butchering if the 
Colonel would give him the meat he was 
throwing away. This was done, and the 
McDowells had enough meat to keep them 
all winter. One year Mr. ^IcDowell and 
his sons killed thirteen deer. The boys 
would track a doer and drive him up to the 



crossing, where the father would sit on his 
horse and shoot the deer as it approached. 
Seldom did he fail to bring down an ani- 
mal at which he fired. He was a stanch 
Democrat in his political views and was a 
member of the Cumberland Presbyterian 
church. He died on his farm, August 16, 
1849, at the age of seventy years, and his 
wife passed away in 185 1, when sixty years 
of age. Their children were : Elizabeth, 
who became the wife of Charles Orwan and 
after his death went to Kansas, where she 
died ; John, who married Miss Lucinda 
Perry, and afterward removed to Iowa, 
where his last days were passed ; Luke, who 
wedded Elizabeth Fahnestock and died in 
Xewberry township; Mary, wife of James 
Madison Skelton, who was a pilot on the 
Mississippi river and in 1849 went to Cali- 
fornia, where he died, his widow still liv- 
ing there; Lydia, who became the wife of 
Joseph Templeton and died at their home in 
Kansas ; Alargaret, now Mrs. Fulker ; 
David, who married Xancy Childress and 
lives in Miami county, Indiana; Sarah, who 
became the wife of Benjamin Snow, remov- 
ing to Iowa, then again to Shelby county, 
later to Covington, Ohio, where her death 
occurred ; and Jackson, wdio married Mar- 
garet Fulker and now resides in P'oweshiek 
county, Iowa. 

After his marriage, Mr. Fulker. of this 
review, rented the McDowell farm for 
eighteen months and then went to Powe- 
shiek county. Iowa, where he purchased a 
claim of one hundred and sixty acres, after- 
ward entering it from the government. 
Later he added to it a forty-acre tract. He. 
paid fiftv dollars for the claim and two hun- 
dred and fifty to enter it. He and his fam- 
ily lived in the barn until a house could be 
erected. Mr. Fulker cultivated that land 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



677 



for four years, and then sold the property 
for twenty-seven hundred dohars, after 
wliicli lie returned to Miami county and 
purchased the old jNIcDowell homestead. 
Smce that time he has erected all of the 
buildings upon the place. He erected his 
present homo in 1870 and added many other 
modern and substantial improvements. 
He continued the acti\e management of his 
farm until 1877. when he put aside business 
cares, his sons assuming the management 
of the property. The home of Mr. and Mrs. 
Fulker has been Ijlessed with five children, 
but Samuel and Barbara, the two youngest 
ciiildren, are now deceased. The others are : 
Margaret, wife of John Buchanan, of New- 
berry township; Peter Luke; and Henry \V., 
who has charge of the old home place: he 
married Emeline Fritz and has nine children 
—Esther, Iven, Dellmer, Lydia, Wilbur, 
Otto, Mary, Martha and Hobart. 

In his political views Mr. Fulker, of this 
rex'iew, is a stanch Republican, unswerving 
in his advocacy of the principles of the 
partv. On account of his removal to Iowa, 
he could not vote at the election of 1856, 
and in consecjuence cast his first presiden- 
tial ballot for Abraham Lincoln. His life 
has been one of marked industry. Ln 
former years he labored early and late, and 
his untiring efforts enabled him to triumph 
over many obstacles and steadily work his 
way upward to success. He is now- num- 
bered among the substantial citizens of the 
community and his prosperity has been 
wi.irthilv won. 



PHILIP J. DOLL. 

Philip J. Doll, who is carrying on agri- 
cultural pursuits- on section 13, Monroe 
township, where he owns eighty acres of 



land, was born in Germany, March 15, 1842, 
his parents being Conrad and Mary (Faver) 
Doll. They had three children, who were 
born in Germany, and one after their ar- 
rival in America. The father was a brick- 
maker by trade and followed that pursuit 
in his native land until the fall of 1843, 
wjien he came with his wife and children to 
the new world, taking passage on a sailing 
vessel, which after a voyage of forty-two 
days dropped anchor in the harbor of New 
York. From that city JNIr. Doll and his 
family made their way to Troy, where he 
remained for a year, and then removed to 
Cowlesvillo, where he worked in a still- 
I'.ouse. Subsequently he returned to Troy 
and, in company with his brothers-in-law, 
Henry O. and George Genslinger, he en- 
gaged in the manufacture of brick until 
the spring of 1858. He then purchased 
sixty acres of land on section 18, Monroe 
township, where his son, Frederick, now 
lives. There was a log cabin upon the place 
and he built a log barn. About thirty acres 
of the land had Ijeeii cleared and with char- 
acteristic energy he continued its de\'elop- 
ment and cultivation until his death, which 
was occasioned by accident, a falling limb 
crushing him as he was engaged in clearing 
a field. This was on the 15th of March, 
1 86 1, and he was fifty-one years of age at 
the time. He held membership in the Ger- 
man Luther-an church and was a gentleman 
of the highest respectability, and all who 
knew him esteemed him for his sterling 
worth. His wife died February 16, 1875, 
at the age of sixty-one years. They had a 
family of seven children : Elizabeth and 
Catherine, who died in Germany ; Fred, 
who is living on the old homestead ; Philip 
J., of this review: Henry, deceased: Conrad 
and George. 



678 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Mr. Doll, whose name introduces this 
sketch, was only a year old when his par- 
ents came to Ohio and was a youth of thir- 
teen when the family took up their residence 
in Monroe township. At the time of his 
father's death he and his brother, Fred, 
took charge of the home farm, where they 
remained until 1864. He then removed to 
the farm now occupied by Samuel Kessler, 
there making his home until 1876, when he 
came to his present place of abode on section 
13, Monroe township. Hero he owns and 
cultivates eighty acres of land, which he has 
placed under a high state of cultivation, 
reaping good crops as a reward of his early 
labors in the spring. 

On the 2d of Octotber, 1862, Mr. Doll 
was united in marriage to Miss Rachel 
Webb, who was born in Monroe township 
on the 1st of August, 1844, her parents be- 
ing Joseph and Annie (Huntsinger) Webb. 
Her father was born near Fredericksburg, 
Maryland, and died when his daughter was 
very small. The grandfather was William 
Webb. His wife bore the maiden name of 
Lila Truitt. .\fter the death of her husband 
she and her cliildren came to Ohio, locating in 
London, and while there the mother died, 
leaving two sons, Josiah and Isaac N., aged 
eight and nine years, respecti\-ely. On foot 
they made their way to Miami county, and 
Josiah became an inmate in the home of 
James Kerr, with whom he remained until 
he was apprenticed to William Collins to 
learn the blacksmith's trade. He afterward 
purchased his employer's shop and con- 
ducted business therein for o\-er fifty years. 
He died December 21, 1897, at the age of 
seventy-seven years, and his wife passed 
away December 19, 1890, at the age of 
sixty-eight years. They had a family of six 
children, namelv: Mrs. Doll; Marv D., wife 



of Eben Sutherland, of Troy; William W., 
a farmer of Concord township; Annie I. S., 
wife of Clark Brown, of Newton township; 
Alice L., wife of Franklin L. Elifritz ; and 
Martha, wife of John Goodenough. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Doll have, been born 
ten children, as follows: \\'illiam C, who. 
died November 29, 1899; John J., who is 
living at home; Annie E., wife of John 
Lehman; Albert R., who resides near 
Frederick; Emma E., wife of Henry Oburn, 
of Concord township; Margaret A., wife 
of Charles Moist, of Kessler Station ; Alinnie 
P.; Charles Frederick, at home; Harrison, 
and Walter C, deceased. 

Mr. Doll has made all the improvements 
upon his farm and has also contributed to 
the development and progress of his section 
of the county. He aided in building Doll's 
pike, which extends from the Tippecanoe 
& Milton pike to Troy pike. He withholds 
his support from no measure or movement 
which he beliex'es would prove a public ben- 
efit, gives his political support to the Demo- 
cratic party and is a consistent member of 
the Christian church, to which his wife also 
belongs. They are most highly respected 
citizens and enjoy the friendship of a large 
circle of acquaintances. 



JACOB SLNKS. 

Before Ohio was admitted to the Union| 
representatives of the Sinks family came to 
this state. The grandfather, who resided 
in North Carolina, started westward and 
crossing the mountains with a team arrived I 
in Ohio in 1798. He was the first one to 
make a location north of Dayton and he 
had to cut his way through the woods to 
the farm which he selected. His home was 
located about twelve miles from Dayton, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



679 



where he secured a tract of government 
land, upon whicli ho erected a log cabin. 
He was accompanied by his son, Andrew 
Sinks, the father of our subject, who was 
born in Nortii Carolina, but spent a part 
of his youth in this state. After arriving 
at years of maturity he married Miss Emily 
Yount and then located upon a farm where 
Jacob Sinks was born and reared. They 
lived in true pioneer style and experienced 
many of the hartlships and privations of 
frontier life. The mother often rode to 
Dayton on horseback to procure a sack of 
flour or meal. The father continued the 
arduous task of developing the land and in 
course of time he became the owner of 
an extensive and valuable farm. He died 
at the advanced age of eighty-six years. 
They were consistent members of the Chris- 
tian churcli and in that faith reared their 
family. They had twelve children, namely : 
Elizabeth, Enoch, George, Frederick, Ale.x- 
ander, Henry, Rosanna, Andy Y., Noah, 
William, Ira and Jacob. All of the chil- 
dren reached mature years and were mar- 
ried. The four youngest are still living. 

Mr. Sinks, of this review, was born in 
Butler township, Montgomery county, on 
the 1st day of March, 1832, and spent his 
boyhood days in the usual manner of farmer 
lads, aiding in the work of the fields and 
meadows through the summer months, 
while in the winter season he pursued his 
education in the common schools of the 
neighborhood. He remained in Butler 
township, Montgomery county, until twen- 
ty-three years of age, when he was married 
and began the operation of a saw-mill, which 
he conducted for a year of two. He then 
purchased a farm of eighty acres in Mont- 
gomery county, just across the township 
line from Miami county, and lived there 



until 1S92, when he came to Tippecanoe 
City. He still owns one hundred and five 
acres of land in Butler township and a 
valuable tract of eighty acres in Monroe 
township, Miami county. He successfully 
carried on farming for a number of years, 
but now he is retired, enjoying a rest which 
he has truly earned and richly deserves. 

Mr. Sinks was married, January 25, 
1855, to Miss Phoebe Macy, and they had 
three children : Emma, wife of George 
Smith; Perry, who is still living on his fa- 
ther's farm, and Ella, wife of Eli Saunders, 
of Tippecanoe City. The mother died in 
1863, and in 1865 Mr. Sinks was again 
married, his second union being with Miss 
Elizabeth Tenney, by whom he had two 
children, Lettie and Nellie, both now de- 
ceased. His second wife died in 1870, and 
on the 3d of October, 1872, Mr. Sinks mar- 
ried Clarissa Macy, a sister of his first wife. 
They have one child, Annie, who married 
Luther Weaver. Mr. Sinks is a member 
of the Christian church, and in politics has 
always been a Republican, unswerving in 
his support of the principles of the party. 
He has witnessed almost the entire growth 
of this county and in the community where 
he has resided has been known as a worthy 
citizen. His prosperity has resulted from 
his well-directed efforts and he certainly de- 
serves the rest which has come to him in 
his declining years. 



GEORGE W. CRUSE. 

George W. Cruse was born in Piqua, 
December 17, 1838, and spent the first 
eight years of his life in that city. He 
then accompanied his parents on their re- 
moval to a farm in Spring Creek township, 
where he was reared to manhood, the duties 



680 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1 



and labors of the fields becoming familiar 
to iiim througiiout the time he remained 
under the parental roof. At the age of 
nineteen he began farming for himself, and 
has made that pursuit his life work. After 
the inauguration of the civil war he put 
aside all personal considerations, enlisting 
on the 2d of August. 1862. as a private of 
the One Hundred and Tenth Ohio Infan- 
try, for three years. He participated in the 
battles of Winchester and Mine Run. and 
then went into winter quarters. The fol- 
lowing year he took part in the battle of the 
Wilderness, and was with Grant's command 
at Spottsyl\-ania Court House and at Cold 
Harbor. His regiment was attached to the 
Army of the Potomac, and in the winter of 
1 864- 1 865 he was detailed for service at the 
headfiuartors of the Sixth Army Corps as 
a mounted police, remaining with that corp, 
of the headquarter's train until honorably 
discharged, July 2, 1865. He was always 
found at his post of duty, faithfully perform- 
ing" the tasks assigned him. 

Upon returning to Spring Creek town- 
ship Mr. Cruse resumed farming and was 
identified with its agricultural interests until 
1900. with the exception of three years 
which he passed in Kansas. He was a gen- 
eral farmer, and the success which he 
achieved has resulted from earnest and 
steady application. He has never engaged 
in speculation, but has depended upon hon- 
orable and resolute purpose to bring him 
the necessaries of life. 

On the 2i\ of August. 1868, occurred 
the marriage of Mr. Cruse and Miss Joseph- 
ine H. Statler. by whom he has six chil- 
dren, namely: Delia I., Alberta M., Earl 
S., Clyde E.. Forest C. and Helen B. In 
February. 1900, Mr. Cruse retired from 
farming and with his familv moved to 



Picjua, where they will enjoy the comforts 
of city life the remainder of their days. 
They have a pleasant home and are well 
and favorably known in the conmuinity. 
In politics Mr. Cruse is a Democrat, and 
socially is connected with the Ancient Order 
of United Workmen. As a citizen he is as 
true to-day to his duties as when he fol- 
lowed the stars and stripes upon the battle 
fields of the south in defense of the Union. 



JOHN G. HAGAX. 

John G. Hagan is employed as a sheet 
roller in the rolling mills of Piqua. It is 
the most responsible position in the me- 
chanical department of the rolling mills and 
Mr. Hagan is considered an expert work- 
man, having a thorough understanding" of 
the business and performing his duty with 
accuracy and promptness. He was born on 
the Susquehanna river, in Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania. September 3. 1856. his 
parents being Thomas and Jane (Allen) 
Hagan, both of whom were born and reared 
in county Tyrone, Ireland, where their mar- 
riage was celebrated on the 4th of Jul}-, 
1855. Their wedding tour consisted of the 
voj-age to America, and. after twenty-nine 
days spent as passengers on the Great West- 
ern, they arrived at New York in Septem- 
ber of that year. Tiiey located first at 
Trenton. New Jersey, whence they removed 
to Columbia, Pennsylvania, and afterward 
to F'lainfield, that state. The father was a 
boilermaker by trade and followed that busi- 
ness until his death, which occurred in 1864, 
at the early age of thirty-six years. In his 
early manhood he was a member of the Pres- 
byterian church, but afterward joined the 
Baptist church. His widow is still living, 
at the age of sixty-six years, her birth hav- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



681 



ing occurred on the ist of January, 1835. 
She is a member of the Disciples church. 
Tlie parents of our suljject were of English 
and Scotch extraction and had "a family of 
three children, namely : John ; Margaret 
Jane, wife of John \'eller, of Newcastle, 
Pennsylvania, and William A., who died 
March i, 1891, at the age of twonty-nine 
years. 

Air. Hagan, whose name introduces this 
record, was reared in Newcastle, Pennsyl- 
vania, and when but a boy secured employ- 
meat in the rolling mills. His work has 
always ])een along that line and steadily he 
has advanced step by step, mastering the 
business in all its departments. In No- 
vember, 1889, he came to Picpa, where he 
has since made his home, and throughout 
this period he has held the responsible po- 
sition of a sheet roller in the Piqua Rolling 
Mills. 

On the 27th of November, 1879, Mr. 
Hagan was married to Miss Salina Moes- 
ley, who died June 17, 1893, leaving a fam- 
ily of two children, Edna Pearl and Joseph 
T. In his political views Hr. Hagan is a 
stanch Republican and takes a deep interest 
as a citizen in the welfare of his party. 
He servod as a member of the school board 
of Newcastle, Pennsylvania, in 1888, re- 
signing the position at the time of his re- 
moval to Piqua. Socially he is connected 
with the Independent Order of Odd Fel- 
lows, belonging to Shenango Lodge, No. 
195, and Lawrence Encampment, No. 86, 
both of New Castle. He also holds mem- 
bership in Livincible Lodge, No. 176, K. 
P., of Piqua; Picjua Lodge, No. 523, B. P. 
O. E. ; Warren Lodge, No. 24, F. & A. M. ; 
Piqua Chapter, No. 31, R. A. M. ; Cole- 
man Commandery, No. 17, K. T. ; the Tribe 
of Ben Hur, of Piqua, and the Amalgamated 



Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers. 
He is a consistent and faithful member of 
the Disciples church and is a man of sterling 
worth, reliable under all circumstances, 
faithful to every trust reposed in him. He 
enjoys the confidence and highest esteem of 
his fellow^ men and is widely and favorably 
known in Piqua. 



ALONZO B. CAMPBELL. 

Among the citizens, who, in the midst of 
a useful business career, have been called 
from life's activities, amid the universal re- 
gret of the community with wdiich they were 
identified, is Alonzo B. Campbell, who for 
some time was engaged in the grain business 
at West Milton, where he owned an ele- 
vator. He was recognized as a progressive 
and public-spirited citizen and one which 
the town could ill afford to lose. His birth 
occurred in Montgomery county, Ohio, on 
the i8th of November, i85i,and his boyhood 
days were spent on the home farm, while 
his education was acquired in the district 
schools of the neighborhood and in the high 
school at Eaton. When a young man he 
taught several terms of school, after which, 
in connection with his brother, Thomas, he 
conducted a dry-goods store in Arcanum. 
About the time of his marriage he aban- 
doned mercantile pursuits and returned to 
the old homestead, where he remained for 
two years. He then came to West Milton, 
purchased his brother John's interest in the 
elevator and grain business at this place, 
where, in connection with his brother, Jesse 
K. Campbell, he carried on operations until 
the time of his death. He was quite suc- 
cessful and was known as a very reliable 
and trustworthy business man, whose la- 
bors were diligently prosecuted. 



682 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



On the 29th of March, 1877, occvirred 
the marriage of Mr. Campbell and Miss 
Florida R. Mills, who was born near Alex- 
ander, Montgomery county, Ohio, a daugh- 
ter of Jewett and Mary (Acton) MiUs. 
The father was born in Kentucky and came 
to Ohio with his parents during his boy- 
hood. Sul)se(|uently he devoted his atten- 
tion to agricultural pursuits in Montgomery 
county, but at the present time he is living 
retired from active business cares in his 
pleasant home at Pyrmont. He votes with 
the Republican party and in his religious 
affiliations is a [Methodist, having long held 
membership in that church. He is now 
eighty-four years of age and receives the 
veneration and respect which should ever 
be accorded those who stand upon the down- 
ward slope of life and whose career has ever 
been honorable. His wife was a native of 
Maryland and is still living, at the age of 
eighty-two years. She, too, is a member of 
the Methodist church. Her parents were 
natives of England. Mr. and ]\Irs. Mills 
had a family of ten children. They are 
quite active old people and have a large 
circle of friends in the community where 
they now reside. Mrs. .Campbell spent her 
girlhood days upon the home farm with her 
parents and was roared amid the refining 
influences of a good home. She now has 
two children, Jesse A., who pursued a com- 
mercial course of study in Dayton, Ohio, 
and is now filling the position of bookkeeper 
in the Gas & Coke Company of that city, and 
Nellie, at home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Campbell held member- 
ship in the United Brethren church, and 
socially he was connected with the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows in early life. 
He exercised his right of franchise in sup- 
port of the men and measures of the Republi- 



can party, and at all times kept well informed 
on the issues of the day, thus being enabled 
to give intelligent allegiance to the principles 
which he advocated. His was an honorable 
and upright career, in which he gained the 
confidence and respect of his fellowmen. He 
passed away January 27, 1890, and left to 
his family a good property and the price- 
less heritage of an honorable name. 



LEVI HOUSER. 

Levi Houser. now deceased, was born in 
Spring Creek township May 20, 1823. and 
upon the old homestead farm remained un- 
til twenty years of age. He was reared to 
agricultural pursuits, and on lea\-ing the pa- 
rental roof he went to Dayton, where he 
worked on a farm with his uncle for two 
years. On the expiration of that period, 
with the capital which he had acquired 
through his industry and economy, he pur- 
chased eighty acres of land in Spring Creek 
township, and from that time forward made 
his home upon the property. In addition to 
the cultivation of the fields he purchased 
cattle and sheep, and was numbered among 
the extensive and successful stock dealers 
until his death. His busmess affairs were 
energetically prosecuted and always cliar- 
acterized by the utmost reliability. 

On the 29th of ISIarch, 1849. Mr. 
Houser was united in marriage to Miss 
Christina \Miitney, who was born in War- 
ren county, Ohio, September 29, 1829, and 
came to Shelby county with her parents, 
Francis and Abigail ( Blanchard ) Whitney. 
Mr. and Airs. Houser were married in 
Shelby county and their union was blessed 
with five children. Ephraim, the eldest, now 
living in Piqua. married Sophia Blalock and 
thev had two children, Lee and Flossie 



^ 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



68:3 



The mother died, and by his second wife. 
Jennie, who was a sister of his first wife, he 
had fonr cliildren, — Clyde. Nellie, Harry 
and Bessie. Martin, the second son of the 
family, now operates the home farm. He 
married Annie Schoemaker. and they have 
two children, Wilson and Gracie. Maggie 
is the wife of John Brennar, who is living in 
Staunton township, and they have two chil- 
dren li\'ing, Oscar and Earl, while Harry 
died in infancy. Samuel married Jennie 
Hammond and they have two children. 
Forest and Edith, .\higail is the wife of 
Harvey Anderson, a farmer of Spring 
Creek township, and their children are Ber- 
tha and Annie L. 

When Mr. and Mrs. Houser took up 
their abode upon the farm where the widow 
now resides it was a tract of heavy timber 
land, but Mr. Houser cleared away the trees, 
plowed the land, and in due course of time 
garnered abundant harvests. Their first 
home was a log cabin, but in later years it 
was replaced by a more commodious and 
modern residence. As the years passed by 
all the accessories and conveniences of the 
model farm were added, and the property 
became a very valuable one, Mr. Houser 
continuing the cultivation of the fields until 
his death. He was for thirty-eight years a 
consistent member of the Baptist church, 
and in his life exemplified his religious 
faith. His political support was given the 
Republican party, and he served as town- 
ship trustee, supervisor and school director 
for many years, discharging his duties with 
marked promptness and fidelity. He died 
May 6, 1884 and his remains were interred 
in the Fletcher cemetery. In bis death the 
community lost a valued citizen, bis neigh- 
bors a faithful friend and his family a lov- 
ing husband and father. Mrs. Houser is 



now the owner of an eighty-acre farm in 
Spring Creek township and also has fifty- 
six acres in Staunton township, so that she 
is well supplied with life's comforts. She, 
too, is a consistent and faithful member of 
the Baptist church, and the many excellencies 
of her character have gained her warm re- 
gard. 



PETER HETZLER. 

Peter Hetzler was numbered among the 
pioneer settlers of Miami county who came 
to this section of the state when it was an 
unbroken wilderness, and clearing away the 
forest trees which stood in their primeval 
strength he established a home and developed 
a farm, thus laying the foundation of the 
present progress and prosperity of the coun- 
ty. Mr. Hetzler was born in Northumber- 
land county, Pennsylvania, in 1795, and 
was a son of Jacob Hetzler, who was born 
in Germanv and l^ecame the founder of the 
family in America. He married Elizabeth 
Bullinger and with bis family removed from 
the Keystone state to Hamilton county, 
Ohio. By the marriage of this worthy 
couple ten children were born, John and 
Peter, the two eldest, being residents of 
Pennsylvania. The others were George, 
Jacob, Pulser, Christian. Joseph, Rebecca, 
Annie and Kate, all natives of Ohio. 

On the old homestead farm in Hamilton 
county, this state, Peter Hetzler was reared 
to manhood, sharing in all the hardships and 
trials of pioneer life which fell to the lot of 
the family. He was married, in that county, 
to Sarah Cox. and in 1820 came by team to 
Miami county with his family. They drove 
two teams and had to cut their way through 
the forest, for no roads had then been laid 
out. The family slept in a wagon until a log 



684 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



caliin could be erected. Tlie first liome was 
a little log building of one room. It bad 
greased-paper windows and was beated by 
means of tbe buge fireplace. The Indians 
■were encamped near their farm when Peter 
Hetzler located here, but they generally 
maintained pleasant relations with tbe white 
settlers. Mr. Hetzler secured his land from 
the government, entering one hundred and 
sixty acres, for which be paid a dollar and 
a quarter an acre. Not a furrow had been 
turned or an improvement made upon the 
place, but with characteristic energy be be- 
gan its development. He cut away the trees, 
cleared away tbe stumps and then plowed 
his land and planted bis crops, which in 
course of time yielded good harvests. 
Throughout his life be carried on agricult- 
ural pursuits and established a good home, 
becoming one of tbe substantial citizens of 
his community. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hetzler became the par- 
ents of eight children : George, who died in 
1840; Elizabeth, widow of Joel Redden- 
baugh and a resident of Shelby county ; 
Rosana. who died in 1896; Joseph, a farmer 
living in Shelby county; Jacob; Julia A., 
who became the wife of Elias Snodgrass 
and died October 5, 1877; Peter J., who is 
living in Shelby county; and Christian. 

Tbe father of this family always bore his 
part in the work of improvement and prog- 
ress in Miami county, and lived to witness 
the greater part of its wonderful develop- 
ment. He saw its wild lands transformed 
into beautiful homes and farms, while roads 
were laid out, railroads built, industries es- 
tablished and all tbe improvements of the 
older east introduced. He was a member 
of the Baptist church and served as one of 
its deacons. Throughout his entire life be 
gave his political support to tbe Democracy, 



Init never sought or desired office for himself, 
preferring that bis attention should l;)e given 
undividedly to bis business affairs, in which 
be met with creditable success. During the 
last five years of his life he was paralyzed, 
and on tbe 12th of September. 1894. death 
ended his labors, when he was ninety-nine 
years of age. His life record deserves an 
honored place in the pioneer annals of the 
county and it is with pleasure that we pre- 
sent this sketch to our readers. His two 
sons, Jacob and Christian, reside on section 
3. Spring Creek township, where they own 
eighty acres,— tbe original farm which was 
entered from the government by their father 
four score years ago. 



EPHRAIM PEARSON. 

Epbraim Pearson is a retired farmer 
living in Covington, the fruits of his former 
toil enabling him at tbe present time to rest 
from arduous business cares. He was born 
on the old Pearson homestead in Newton 
township, Miami county, in 1834. His fa- 
ther, Wilkinson Pearson, was born June 30, 
1803, and when two years of age was 
brought l\v bis parents to i\Iiami county, 
where he followed farming throughout his 
entire life. He was reared in the faith of 
the Society of Friends or Quakers, to which 
he adhered until middle life, when be joined 
tbe Christian church. He died April 13, 
1882, and his remains were interred in 
Pleasant Hill cemetery. 

His wife, who bore tbe maiden name of 
Elinor Leavell. was born October 21, 1805, 
and was a daughter of Robert and Sarah 
(Perry) Leavell, who were among the pio- 
neer settlers of this section of Ohio, com- 
ing here at tbe dawn of the nineteenth cen- 
turv, while tbe Indians still inhabitated the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



685 



wilderness, througli which flowed the l3eau- 
til'ul Stillwater river. They advanced far into 
the country infested Ijy the redskins, but on 
account of the hostilities of the red men they 
were obHged to abandon their log cabin and 
return to the more thickly settled country 
of Ludlow creek, where their daughter, 
Elinor, was born. After the Indians were 
compelled to leave their hunting grounds 
to the hardy pioneers, who bv degrees 
pushed forward in the forests, where with 
gleaming ax they would fell the sturdy trees 
to make a small clearing in order that a 
log cabin might be erected, Mr. and Mrs. 
Leavell again took up their abode on Pan- 
tlier creek, where they had formerly endeav- 
ored to establish a home. There Mrs. Pearson 
grew to womanhood, sharing with her fam- 
ily the hardships and trials which come to 
those who settle on the frontier, and also en- 
joying the pleasures and privileges known 
to the early residents of a new locality. On 
the jd of March, 1824, she ga\-e her hand 
in marriage to Wilkinson Pearson and was 
to him a faithful companion and helpmate 
on life's journey for fifty-three years, their 
mutual love and confidence increasing as 
the days passed by. On the 13th of April, 
1882, she was called upon to mourn the 
loss of the husband of her youth, whose 
hair was now white with the snows of many 
winters. He left to his family the priceless 
heritage of an untarnished name and his 
memory is cherished by all who knew him. 
He was familiarly known throughout the 
community as Uncle W'ilk, and his wife 
was lovingly called Aunt Nelly. Her 
gentle manner, her kindly words and her 
many estimable characteristics won her the 
esteem and love of young and old, rich and 
poor, and no one in the entire commimity 
had more friends than this worthy couple. 



She died November 6, 1898. Her children 
were : Elmira, who became the wife of James 
Knouff and died at Greenville, Ohio: Al- 
fred, who died near Pine Village, Indiana; 
James, who was a member of Company A, 
One Hundred and Forty-seventh Infantry, 
during the one-hundred-day ser\'ice and died 
at Covington; Ephraim, of this review; 
Richard, who served for three years during 
the Rebellion as orderly sergeant of Com- 
pany B, One Hund'red and Tenth Ohio 
Infantry, and was discharged with the rank 
of captain after a long and faithful service, 
in which he was five times wounded ; Job, 
who was killed at the battle of Cold Harbor; 
Catherine, who became the wife of Cor- 
nelius Dye and died at Columbus Grox'e, 
Ohio, and her remains are interred in 
Highland cemetery at Covington ; and Ann 
Rebecca, who died in 1865. 

Ephraim Pearson, whose name intro- 
duces this record, received but limited ed- 
ucational privileges, being permitted to at- 
tend school for only a few weeks during each 
winter, and when any special work was to 
be done upon the farm he was forced to 
remain at home and assist. He aided his 
father in the development and cultivation 
of the old homestead until his marriage, 
after which he culti\-ated his father-in-law's 
farm one year. He afterward located upon 
his own farm in Newton township and suc- 
cessfully carried on agricultural pursuits 
until the spring of 1883, when he rented his 
property and took up his abode in Coving- 
ton, where he has since lived a retired life, 
enjoying a rest which he has truly earned 
and richly deserves. During the war he put 
aside business considerations to serve under 
the call for one-hundred-day men in Company 
A, One Hundred and Forty-seventh Infan- 
try. For a time he was stationed at Ar- 



68(3 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



lington Heights, and was honorably dis- 
charged at Camp Dennison at the expiration 
of his term. 

On Feljruary 22,, 1854, ]\Ir. Pearson was 
united in marriage to Miss Nancy Caldwell, 
who was born in Newton township, January 
I, 1836, a representative of one of the well 
known and honored families of the county, 
and to them have been born four children : 
James \\'., a resident of Nowton township; 
Harvey Edward, who died at the age of 
two years; Alfred Ellis, who is living in 
Troy; and Hannah A., wife of George 
Maier, by whom she has one child, Harley 
W. Mr. and Mrs. Pearson have a large 
circle of friends and acquaintances in this 
community, for their sterling traits of char- 
acter have gained them the high regard of 
all with whom they have been brought in 
contact. The success of his life is due to no 
inherited fortune or to any happy succession 
of ad\-antageous circumstances, but to his 
own sturdy will, steady application, tireless 
industry and sterling integrity. 

Mr. and Mrs. Pearson united with the 
Hopewell Christian church, of Pleasant Hill, 
in 1859, and since coming to Covington 
have been devoted members of the church 
here. Mr. Pearson was a deacon of the 
Hopewell church for years and served as 
a trustee of the Covington church. Mrs. 
Pearson is a member of the Ladies' Aid and 
Alissionary Societies. Mr. Pearson has al- 
ways been a stanch Republican, casting his 
first vote for Fremont. He served as a 
trustee of Newton township for three years 
and in the same capacity in Newberry town- 
ship for twelve years. He was urged to 
accept another term, but declined. He 
served one term in the Covington town 
council and four years on the soldiers' relief 
committee. Pie is a member of Lono-ston 



G. A. R. Post, No. 299, and served therein 
as quartermaster and chaplain. Mr. and 
Mrs. Pearson were charter members of the 
Grange and remained with them until their 
removal to Bradford. 



HENRY BROKAW. 

When the destruction of the Union was 
threatened by the secession of the south, 
Henry Brokaw was among those who re- 
sponded to the country's call for troops and 
loyally aided in preserving the nation intact, 
so that not one state should be taken from the 
splendid galaxy that forms the republic. In 
times of peace he is as true and loyal as when 
upon the battle fields of the south he fol- 
lowed the stars and stripes, and such a man 
well deserves mention among the repre- 
sentative citizens of Miami county. He was 
born in Spring Creek township, this county, 
June 20, 1844, on a farm now owned by 
Josiah Fry. His father, James Brokaw, 
was born in Staunton township, this county, 
in 1822. The grandfather was a native of 
New Jersey and with a team he and his 
family made the journey westward to Ohio 
at an early day. Reaching this county he 
secured a claim of eighty acres of govern- 
ment land and thereon erected a log cabin. 
At the time of their reniDval there were 
three children in the family, but the birth 
of others increased the number to eight, wiio 
were named as follows : Eliza, Henry, 
Sarah, Mary, Martha, James, Caroline 
Michel and Ellen, and with the exception of 
Caroline and ]Martha all were married and 
reared families. The grandfather died at 
the age of seventy-two years. He was an 
earnest Christian man, who took an active 
part in church work antl did all in his power 
to promote the ^Master's cause among his 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



687 



fellow men. James Brokaw, the father of 
otir subject, having arrived at years of ma- 
tm-ity, married Margaret Sims, daughter of 
Jose])h Sims and a sister of e.x-Governor 
\\'aucup, of California. This marriage was 
blessed with three children namely: Henry; 
Joseph, a resident farmer of Spring Creek 
township, IMiami county, and James M., 
who is proprietor of a men's furnishing 
goods store in St. Joseph, Missouri. 

In the usual manner of farmer lads 
Henry Brokaw was reared and early became 
familiar with the duties and labors of the 
farm. After the inauguration of the civil 
war, however, he left the plow and shoul- 
dered his rifle, preparatory to aiding in the 
defense of the Union. He enlisted in 1862, 
as a private in Company E, One Hundred 
and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and at 
the battle of Winchester was taken prisoner. 
After being incarcerated in Libby prison for 
thirty days he was transferred to Belle Isle, 
and a few days afterward was sent to a 
tobacco house then used as a prison by the 
Confederates. Subsecjuently he was paroled 
at Richmond and sent to Annapolis, Mary- 
land, and on being exchanged he rejoined 
his regiment. He participated in many of 
the most important battles of the war, in- 
cluding the engagements at Locust Grove, 
Mine Run, Wilderness, SiX)ttsylvania, 
Gaines Mills, Cold Harbor, Bermuda Hun- 
dred, Petersburg, Monocacy, Charleston, 
Smithfield, Flint Hill and Cedar Creek, 
and at Washington, D. C, received an hon- 
orable discharge in 1865. 

When the war was over and the country 
no longer needed his ser\'ices Mr. Brokaw 
returned to Spring Creek township, where 
he has since been engaged in farming and 
in dealing in timber. He was married, Jan- 
uary 14, 1867, to Sarah E. Baker, and they 



have eight children, namely: James M., 
Joseph E., William H., Charles E., Mary 
G., Frank E., Nora F. and Mettie M. All 
are yet living with the exception of William 
H. The family home is situated just across 
the Miami river from Piqua and occupies 
an attractive location. The farm comprises 
one hundred, and twenty-seven acres of rich 
land, which is improved with all the ac- 
cessories of the model farm, indicating the 
practical, progressive spirit of the owner. 
Mr. Brokaw also has two other tracts of 
eighty acres each, and from his well de- 
veloped fields he secures a good income. In 
his political views he is a Democrat, and for 
si.x years has served as assessor of Spring 
Creek township, but his time and attention 
have been more largely given to his business 
affairs, in which he has met with signal suc- 
cess, gaining that sure reward of honorable 
and well directed labor. 



HARRY J. RITTER. 

The department of biography is crowded 
with the lives of men distinguished in war, 
politics, science, literature and the profes- 
sions. All the embellishments of rhetoric 
and the imagination have been assayed to 
captivate, stimulate and direct into these 
"upper walks of life" the youthful mind and 
ambition of the country. The result of this 
system is manifest and by no means for- 
tunate. The ranks of the professions are 
filled to overflowing. Thousands of young 
men of respectable abilities, entirely capable 
of achieving competence and character in the 
useful and more unpretending employments, 
are annually lured into professions for which 
they are entirely unsuited, and in which they 
can never succeed. To instill into the minds 
and hearts of the young respect for great 



688 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



attainments and re\-erence for great virtues, 
and to excite the generous emulation, liy 
holding up, as examples for admiration and 
imitation, the lives of the wise, the great and 
the good, is commendable and right. But 
the field of example should be extended, and 
lessons of industry, energy, usefulness, 
virtue, honor, the true aims of life and the 
true sources of happiness, should be gathered 
and enforced from all the various provinces 
of human labor, ho\ve\-er humble. Our 
countrv is eminently in need of increasing 
intelligence in commerce, agriculture and 
mechanism. Those great dix'isions of labor 
should be rendered not only lucrative and 
respectable, as they are. but honorable and 
attractive to the young in all classes of so- 
ciety. The lives of eminent merchants, 
farmers, manufacturers, mechanics. — of all 
who by honest lalxir have achieved distin- 
guished success in the different occupations, 
shotild be written and commended to the 
young men of the republic. The path of 
labor and usefulness should be indicated as 
the highway to honor. 

Mr. Ritter is recognized as one of the 
most prominent business men of ]\Iiami 
county, and in the active affairs of life has 
not only won prosperity but has gained the 
honor and esteem of his fellow men. He 
was born near Reading. Pennsylvania. 
March 29. 1848, and is a son of Israel Ritter. 
When seven years of age he accompanied his 
father on his removal to Reading, where 
he remained until he entered Pennsyh'ania 
College, at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, at- 
tending school until 1864. at which time 
he responded to his countrv's call for troops. 
He was then si.xteen years of age. but a patri- 
otic spirit prompted his enlistment and he 
joined the signal corps, his duties calling him 
to Virginia. West Virginia and [Maryland, 



He served until August 5. 1865, when he 
received an honorable discharge at Green- 
castle. Pennsylvania, and with a creditable 
military record returned to his home. The 
duties in the service of the signal corps 
are of the most delicate, arduous and oft- 
times dangerous nature and are of the great- 
est importance. 

Upon again reaching Reading Mr. Ritter 
entered the business college at that place 
and graduated in 1866. He then accepted 
a clerkship in a hardware store, where he 
remained for a year, after which he removed 
to Carroll county, Missouri, where, in com- 
pany with his brother-in-law, he engaged 
in the stock business for one and a half 
years. On the expiration of that periotl he 
returned to Pennsylvania and, with head- 
quarters at Reading, began dealing in horses, 
making a specialty of trotting" stock. His 
time was. thus occupied until 1871. when he 
went into the oil fields near Titusville Penn- 
syhania, becoming connected with the im- 
portant industry of the development of the oil 
wells. He, however, continued his opera- 
tions as a dealer in horses until 1874. when 
he came to Tippecanoe City and tmik charge 
of Colonel John R. Woodward's stock farm 
in Bethel township. Miami county, continu- 
ing as the manager until the fall of 1876. 
The Colonel died in 1876 and Mr. Ritter 
look entire charge of the stock farm, breed- 
ing and developing trotting horses until 
1881. Fie then came to Tippecanoe City, 
and in the sjiring of i88j went to Europe 
as a purchasing agent of the well known 
firm of f^nvell Brothers, horse importers of 
Shadeland, Penns}l\ania. He was with 
that firm for eight years, during which 
period he crossed the water sixteen times, 
traveling through England. Ireland. Scot- 
land, Belgium, Erance, Germany and the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(389 



Shetland Islands, in which countries he pur- 
chased fine horses, shipping them to America. 

In the spring of 1890 Mr. Ritter again 
came to Tippecanoe City, and in 1894 he pur- 
chased the business of C. Trupp & C(.impany 
and re-organized it under the name of the 
Tippecanoe Building & Manufacturing Com- 
pany. He became its principal stockholder, 
also general manager, secretary and treas- 
urer, and in these capacities he has since 
been connected with what is now one of the 
most extensive and important industries of 
this section of the county. The company 
do a large contracting and building busi- 
ness, operate lumber yards, a planing mill 
and sawmill, and also manufacture novelties. 
Employment is furnished to about sixty men, 
and the output of their plant is very ex- 
tensive, its products being sold in many parts 
of the country. Air. Ritter is also a director 
in the Monroe Building & Loan Association, 
and is the manager and president of the 
Tippecanoe City Inter-urban Telephone 
Company, which was organized in January, 
1899. He is also a director in the Troy 
Buggy Works Company, of Troy, Ohio. 
He is recognized as one of the most promi- 
nent business men of this section of the state, 
possessing resourceful ability, keen discern- 
ment and unfailing diligence, which qualities 
enable him to carry forward to successful 
completion whatever he undertakes. 

On the 14th of October, 1879, Mr. Ritter 
was united in marriage to Miss Ada L. 
Woodward, a daughter of Colonel John 
Woodward, who was born in Bethel town- 
ship, Miami county, December 10, 1835, 
and was a son of William Woodward, whose 
birth occurred in Williamsport, Pennsyl- 
vania, and who was one of the pioneer set- 
tlers of Miami county. The Colonel was 
married, October 14, 1856, to Miss Marcella 

40 



Bell, and to them were born two children, 
W^illiam B., who is interested in a large, 
lumber yard at Washington Court House, 
and Mrs. Ritter. During the civil war Col- 
onel Woodward responded to the country's 
call for troops, enlisting in September, 1861, 
as the captain of Company C, Seventy-first 
Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He participated 
in the battle of Shiloh and remained at the 
front until August, 1862, when he returned 
to his home. In 1864 he aided in organizing 
and raising the One Hundred and Forty- 
seventh Ohio Regiment for one hundred 
days' service and was chosen lieutenant- 
colonel. At the close of the war he received 
an honorable discharge, and, returning to 
the farm in Miami county, remained there 
until his life's labors were ended in death. 
Mr. and Mrs. Ritter have one son, Harry 
Woodward, who was born February 19, 
1886. 

In his social relations Mr. Ritter is con- 
nected with D. M. Rouzer Post, G. A. R., 
of Tippecanoe City, and is a past com- 
mander. He also belongs to Tippecanoe 
Lodge, No. 174, F. & A. M. ; of Franklin 
Chapter, R. A. M. ; the Coleman Com- 
mandery, K. T., of Troy, and the Royal 
Arcanum lodge, of which he is a past regent. 
In his political views he is a Republican, 
firm in the support of the principles of the 
party. For se\'en years he has served as 
a member of the school board and for four 
years was its clerk. He has also been a 
member of the board of aldermen of Tippe- 
canoe City, and in that capacity labored 
earnestly and effectively to promote the best 
interests of the community. He has for 
many years been a member of the Lutheran 
church, and at all times he gives his support 
to the measures which are calculated to pro- 
mote the material, social, educational and 



690 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



moral welfare of his community. His life 
has indeed been well spent, and his success 
is the merited reward of his own efforts, 
for he started out upon his business career 
in the humble capacity of a clerk. In man- 
ner Mr. Ritter is genial and kindly, his un- 
failing courtesy being manifest in his busi- 
ness as well as social life, and his employes 
never see any traces of the overbearing task- 
master in him. He inspires personal friend- 
ships of unusual strength, and all who know 
him have the highest admiration for him be- 
cause of his many fine qut^lities of mind and 
heart. 



ISAAC MUMFORD. 

One of the native sons of Ohio, Isaac 
Mumford was born in Pike township, Clark 
county, on the 28th of February, 1847, his 
parents being George and Ruth Ann 
(Martin) Mumford, whose history appears 
elsewhere in this volume. The first twelve 
years of his life were spent in the county of 
his nativity, and he then came to Elizabeth 
township, Miami county, remaining with his 
father until twenty-five years of age. His 
boyhood days were passed in the usual man- 
ner of farmer lads, the duties of the school- 
rue im occupying his attention during the 
winter months, while in the summer season 
he assisted in the work of the farm. When 
twenty-five years of age he was married, 
the lady of his choice being Miss Almira 
Tower, daughter of Jonathan and Eliza- 
beth (Graham) Tower, of Anderson, Indi- 
ana, They began their domestic life on their 
present farm, which was given Mr. Mum- 
ford by his fatlier. It was the old Arthur 
Vandevere place, and had been in the posses- 
sion of the Vandevere family from the 
earliest period of development in this section 



of Ohio. It comprises one hundred and 
forty-seven acres of rich land, the greater 
part of which is now under the plow, the 
well tilled fields yielding to him a golden 
return for his efforts. Mr. Mumford fol- 
lows ad\-anced methods of farming, under- 
stands the necessity of rotating crops and 
cultivates his land and garners his harvests 
with the aid of the latest improved ma- 
chinery. The home of Mr. and Mrs. Mum- 
ford has been blessed with three children, 
all of whom are now married : \Valter, 
who wedded Hattie Buchanan, operates the 
home farm, and has one child, John Isaac, 
born February i, 1900; Clara Belle is the 
wife of H. V. Shroyer, of Bethel township, 
and has two children, Marie and Hazel; 
Addie May is the wife of Mack Snider, of 
Alcony, and has one child, Myra Alice, born 
February 16, 1900. Mr. Mumford and his 
family attend the Umversalist church at 
Alcony, and in social circles they occupy an 
enviable position. In politics he is a Re- 
publican, having always cast his ballot for 
the men and measures of that j)arty. He is 
frequently seen in its conventions and takes 
a deep interest in its growth and success. 
For nine years he has served as constable, 
discharging his duties in a very creditable 
manner, and in the spring of 1900 was "re- 
elected for a term of three vears. 



LEVI CLARK. 



At a period in the pioneer de\'el(ipment 
of Miami county Levi Clark was born, in 
Monroe township, November 22, 18 18, his 
birth occurring near the site of Tippecanoe 
City, although it was many years thereafter 
when the town was founded. He was the 
son of John Clark, one of the first settlers 
of Miami county. It was his father who, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



691 



after purchasing a tract of one hundred acres, 
laid out thereon the httle village which is 
now known as the enterprising and progres- 
sive Tippecanoe City. Upon a farm our 
subject was reared, early becoming familiar 
with all the duties and labors that fall to the 
lot of the agriculturist. He remained with 
his father until nineteen years of age, when 
he removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, and near 
that place served a three-years apprenticeship 
in the tanner's trade, during which time he 
was allowed the privilege of attending school 
<luring the winter season. When his ap- 
prenticeship was completed he went to Car- 
lisle. Ohio, where he worked at tanning for 
two weeks, after which he returned to Miami 
county and engaged in farming near Tippe- 
canoe City, there making his home until 
1869, when he removed to the home in which 
his daughter now resides. 

Mr. Clark was married, on the 13th of 
February, 1840, to Miss Clarinda Ramsey, 
who was born, reared and married in the 
same house, her birth occurring October 
20, 1 82 1. In their family were ten chil- 
dren: Taylor, who died in 1852; Sarah 
and Irvin, who are also deceased ; three who 
died in infancy; Maria, the widow of Will- 
iam Wilcox, of Dayton, Ohio ; Leander ; 
Asa, of Troy; and Frank A., who is living 
in Toledo, Ohio. 

Although Mr. Clark devoted the greater 
part of his life to agricultural pursuits in 
Miami county, this work was twice inter- 
rupted, once when he went to California, 
■attracted by the discovery of gold on the 
Pacific slope. This was in 1852. He made 
the overland journey and was engaged in 
prospecting and mining in the Golden state 
for fourteen months. During the civil war 
he left the plow in order to serve for one 
hundred days in the Union army, becoming 



a member of the One Hundred and Forty- 
seventh Ohio Infantry, which was called to 
the front in defense of Washington. How- 
ever, he gave most of his attention to the 
cultivation and improvement of his farm and 
was very successful in his work. He left 
to his widow a valuable property of one hun- 
dred and fourteen acres when death claimed 
him on the 27th of February, 1874. His life 
was quiet and unassuming, but was char- 
acterized by those qualities which ever insure 
respect. For his sterling worth he was 
highly esteemed and he was widely known in 
Miami county, where he made his home for 
so many years. 



JOHN W. WIDNEY. 

Throughout his entire life Mr. Widney 
has resided in Miami county and well may 
he be proud of the fact that he is a native 
son of the locality whose material interests 
and substantial improvement have been 
largely promoted through his efforts. He 
was born in \\'ashington township Novem- 
ber II, 1840. His father, Stephen Widney, 
was a native of Franklin county, Pennsyl- 
vania, his birth occurring in 1806. The 
ancestry, however, can be traced back to the 
Emerald Isle, of which the grandfather, 
John Widney, was a native. In 17S4 he 
determined to seek a home across the At- 
lantic and sailed for the new world, reach- 
ing an American harbor after a voyage of 
forty-five days. He was accompanied by 
three sisters and two brothers, their parents 
having died in Ireland. This family pur- 
chased a farm in Franklin county, Penn- 
sylvania, on which the grandfather remained 
until 1810. In the meantime he was married, 
the lady of his choice being Miss Mary 



6'92 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Johnson, a sister of John Johnson, who was 
appointed an Indian agent in Ohio. John 
Widney removed from Pennsylvania to 
Ohio in 1810, making his way from Pitts- 
burg to Cincinnati by flat-boat and thence 
across the country to Miami county by team. 
He located in \Vashiiigton township, where 
he entered a large tract of land of over six 
hundred and forty acres — the property now 
owned bv John Patterson. He erected a log 
cabin and then ])egan tl.o development of 
the farm, for the land was covered with 
heavy timber. He cut away the trees, 
grubbed up the stumps and in course of time 
the tract was transformed into fields of wav- 
ing grain. Upon the homestead which he 
there developed he resided until his death, 
which occurred in 1836, when he had at- 
tained the age of seventy-six years. He 
was an associate judge of the court for 
seven years and was a very prominent and 
influential citizen of the community, greatly 
respected for his sterling worth. 

In early life Stephen Widney accom- 
panied his parents on their removal to Ohio, 
where he was reared to manhood. He 
wedded Elanor Hunter, our subject being 
the only child of that marriage. The mother 
died in 1842 and the father afterward mar- 
ried Eliza J. Williams, by whom he had six 
children, namely : Margaret, deceased wife 
of Thomas Wall ; Samuel W. ; Stephen J. 
and Hester, both deceased; Eliza J., who is 
living in Shelby county: and Mary, wife of 
John P. Brown, of Shelby county. The 
father of this family followed farming and 
stock dealing throughout his entire business 
career. He both bred and pmxhased stock 
and successfully carried on that business un- 
til 1865, when he retired to pri\'ate life and 
removed tf) Piqua, where he died ]\Iarch 
28, 1886. He was an active and consistent ' 



member of the Methodist Episcopal church, 1 
and a leading reijresentative of the Masonic i 
fraternity, in which organization he took 
deep interest. The parents and their chil- J 
dren were charter members and aided in the 
organization of the first r^Iethodist Episcopal 
church in Piqua. 

John Widney, whose name introduces 
this review, was rearefl in Washington town- 
ship and in 1862 went to ]\Iorris, Illinois. 
While there he enlisted in Company I, Sixty- ■; 
ninth Illinois Infantry, for three months, 
anil was on duty at Camp Douglas at Chi- 
cago, Illinois, guarding prisoners. On the 
expiration of that period he returned to Ohio, 
locating in -Spring Creek township, where 
he turned his attention to farming. In the 
meantime he joined the Ohio National 
Guards, and in May, 1864, he enlisted as a 
member of Company C, One Hundred and 
Forty-se\-enth Ohio \^olunteer Infantry. 
With his command he was sent to Washing- 
ton, D. C, to aid in defending the capital 
city against any attack of the advancing 
Confederate forces. On the 30th of August, 
1865, he recei\ed an honorable discharge 
and returned at once to Miami county. 

Mr. Widney located in Spring Creek 
townshij), where he has since been engaged 
in farming. In 1866 he took up his abode 
on his present farm, where he has since made 
his home. Here he owns one hundred and 
fifteen acres of rich and arable lantl, de\oted 
to the uses of general farming, in which 
work he has been very successful. He was 
married, April 21, 1864, to Miss Mary A. 
Brown, whose birth occurred in Shelb)'' 
county. Their uninn has lieen blessed with 
six children: Jnhn Parker, who died De- 
cember 2^, 1894, was a graduate of the Piqua 
high school and of the Ohio Wesleyan Uni- 
versitv, and his medical education was ac- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



693 



quired in the celebrated University of New- 
York, of which he was also a graduate. His 
death resulted from disease contracted in the 
dissecting room during his three years in 
college, and which terminated his life soon 
after his graduation. Stephen died in child- 
hood. Willie \\'. died at the age of seven 
months. Maria H. and Mary B.. the 
younger members of the family, are still 
with their parents. 

Mr. Widney is an esteemed member of 
Alexander Post, G. A. R., of Piiiua. In 
politics he is a Republican and from De- 
cember, 1885, until January, 1889, he served 
as county commissioner, being the first presi- 
dent of the board after its headquarters 
were removed to the new court house. Mr. 
Widney was a member of the school board 
in Spring Creek township for twenty-one 
years, being its president for eighteen years. 
Modern education found in him a warm 
friend and he earnestly labored until he suc- 
ceeded in grading the schools and having an 
eight-years course adopted by the township, 
it being the first township in the state to have 
an eight-years graded course. Being grad- 
uated from this course, his certificate of 
graduation would admit him into any 
high school of the state without examination. 
This system has now been adopted uniformly 
over the state and the citizens of Spring 
Creek township feel proud in giving Mr. 
Widney credit for his advanced ideas in ed- 
ucation and his untiring efforts in promot- 
ing them. He was a respected and trust- 
worthy official, and at all times and under 
all circumstances he has been loyal to truth, 
honor and right. Those who know him es- 
teem him highly for his sterling worth, and 
it is with pleasure that we present the record 
of his life to our readers. 



HERBERT R. PEARSON, M. D. 

One of the leading physicians in \\^est 
Milton, H. R. Pearson enjoys a large and 
lucratixe practice, which indicates his skill 
and ability in the line of his chosen pro- 
fession. He was born in Union township, 
near the city in which he resides, on the 
1 6th of March. 1868. His father, William 
S. Pearson, was born in the same township 
September 7, 1833. and was reared upon a 
farm, where he spent his entire life. In the 
midst of a useful career, however, death 
claimed him, and at the age of thirty-eight 
he passed away. In politics lie was an active 
Republican, and in religious belief was in har- 
mony with that of the Society of Friends. In 
his business he was quite successful, owing 
to his capable management and unfailing 
industry, and at his death he left to his fam- 
ily a valuable farm of one hundred acres. 
His father gave him one thousand dollars 
when he entered upon an independent busi- 
ness career, but with that exception all that 
he had was self-acquired. His parents were 
Benjamin H. and Dorcas (Jones) Pearson, 
both natives of Miami county, where they 
spent their entire lives, and both were mem- 
bers of the Friends' church. Their family 
came to Ohio from South Carolina at an 
early day, becoming pioneer settlers of the 
Buckeye state. The mother of our subject 
bore the maiden name of Mahala McDonald 
and was born January 4, 1838, on the farm 
in Union township, where she now lives 
and has spent her entire life, her parents 
being Joseph and Temperance (Elleman) 
McDonald. Her father came to this county 
from Tennessee with his mother during his 
early boyhood, and that family was also con- 
nected with the Society of Friends. The 



694 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Pearson was cele- 
brated October 27. 1853. and was blessed 
with a family of nine children. Three of 
the number died in childhood, but the others 
are still living, namely : Horace ^I. : Jasper 
N. ; Ada J., wafe of John Thomas ; Mary E., 
wife of Anson Mote; Herbert R., of this 
review, and Martha M., wife of Harvey 
Sleppy. After the death of her first hus- 
band, the mother of these children married 
Thomas E. Lyon, of ^Michigan. She is a 
member of the Friends' church and is a most 
estimable lady enjoying the warm regard 
of all who know her. 

The Doctor was only about three years 
old vvhen his father died. His boyhood days 
were sjjent on the home farm with his mother 
and he and his older brother operated the 
farm. He acquired his elementary educa- 
tion in the district schools, and when eight- 
een years of age began teaching in the dis- 
trict schools, being thus employed for two 
winters in charge of the Union and Xewton 
schools. He then entered Earlham College 
at Richmond, Indiana, an institution con- 
ducted by the Society of Friends, and re- 
mained a student there for two years. Sub- 
sequently he taught school for one term near 
his home and then entered the medical de- 
partment of the University of Wooster at 
Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained for one 
year. On the expiration of that period he 
went to Baltimore, ^laryland, and matricu- 
lated in the Baltimore ^ledical College, in 
which institution he was graduated with 
honor. He had won a scholarship in the 
Cleveland school which admitted him to the 
Baltimore college. After his graduation, 
which occurred March 30, 1893. '^^ served 
as resident physician of the Maryland Gen- 
eral Hospital for a year and then returned 
to West Milton, where he formed a partner- 



ship with W. H. Kessler. This connection 
has since been maintained and the firm ranks 
second to none in this part of Miami county. 
Dr. Pearson was married on the 6th of 
August, 1894. to ]Miss Elizaljeth Thomas, of 
]\Ionroe township, I\Iiami county, daughter 
of Aaron and Susan (Patty) Thomas, both 
natives of Ohio. Her father was born in 
Concord township and the mother in Mont- 
gomery countv, Ohio. Dr. Pearson has two 
children, Lova L. and Ernest T. The Doctor 
gives his political support to the Republican 
party, keeps well informed on the issues of 
the day and does all in his power to secure 
the adoption of Republican principles. He 
served as a member of the city council of 
West Milton for a year, in 1887 he was 
elected county coroner and in 1891 was re- 
elected, recei\'ing the largest vote of any one 
on the ticket in the former year. Socially he 
is connected with Stillwater Lodge, \o. 165, 
L O. O. F., and with Milton Lodge, Xo. 
238, K. P. He and his wife are members 
of the Friends' church. He is one of the 
brightest and best informed physicians in 
Miami county. He made his own way 
through college and the elements of strength 
in his character thus shown forth will in- 
sure for him a successful future. He has 
already won prestige as a representative of 
his calling and enjoys a large and lucrative 
practice. 



DANIEL M. ROUZER. 

For many years Daniel M. Ronzer. now 
deceased, was a prominent and influential 
citizen of Miami county, and his name is 
deeply engraved on its records on account 
of the active part which ho has taken in pub- 
lic affairs. In every land and every clime 
respect is accorded those whose sterling 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



695 



virtues are manifest in their daily careers, 
who are straightforward in business and 
trustworthy in social and public life. It was 
these qualities which gained for Mr. Rouzer 
the esteem of his fellow men and made him 
one of the representative residents of Tip- 
pecanoe City. 

He was born on a farm in Greene county, 
Ohio, March 28, 181 8, and was a son of 
John and Elizabeth (Martin) Rouzer, in 
whose family were the following children : 
Henry, Sarah, Jackson, Daniel, Ella, John, 
Eliza, Cyrus, Martin, Daniel and Elizabeth. 
\Vhen he was about twelve or fourteen 
years of age Mr. Rouzer, of this review, 
accompanied his father on his removal to 
Dayton. There he began earning his own 
livelihood, working at at any occupation that 
would yield to him an honest living. When 
a young man he learned the wheelwright's 
trade under the direction of Mr. Morrison, 
of Dayton, and followed that pursuit until 
1852, when, in company with David John- 
son and Da\-id Young, he started for Cali- 
fornia. They made the journey by way of 
the isthmus of Panama, and while on that 
little neck of land that connects the two 
American continents Mr. Rouzer built a 
warehouse and carried on business for six 
months. Later he went to California, 
where he was engaged in prospecting and 
mining, meeting" with excellent success in his 
work. He made the return trip by way 
of the water route and after landing at New 
York was taken ill with typhoid fever, but 
after his recovery ho returned to Dayton. 
In 1854 he came to Tippecanoe City, where, 
under contract, he built the Smith distillery, 
in 1855. In company with George and Ed- 
ward Smith, he engagc-d in the manufacture 
of linseed oil, and later they admitted Mr. 
Grimes to a partnership in the business. 



To this enterprise Air. Rouzer devoted his 
time and attention until the breaking out 
of the civil war, when he put aside all per- 
sonal considerations in order to respond ta 
his country's call for troops. 

Mr. Rouzer took a prominent part in the 
organization of the Forty-fourth Ohio In- 
fantry, and on the 15th of August, 1861, 
he received a commission as captain of Com- 
pany E. With his command he wont to 
Springfield, Ohio, and then to Camp Pyatt, 
West Virginia. For two 3'ears he gallantly 
aided in the defense of the Union, serving 
in West Virginia, Kentucky anil Tennessee. 
Soon after going to Kentucky he was trans- 
ferred to the Eighth Ohio Mounted Cavalry 
and served with that command until dis- 
charged. Returning from the war, Mr. 
Rouzer located in Tippecanoe City, where 
he engaged in the operation of an elevator, 
purchasing and selling grain. He also con- 
ducted a grocery store in connection with 
his other interests until 1868. when he 
went to Dayton, Ohio, where he engaged 
in business with his brother, John, as a 
contractor and builder. They erected the 
Springfield court house, also the Greenville 
court house, and were \-ery successful in 
their business, taking contracts for the erec- 
tion of many of the finest structures in their 
section of the state. These still stand as mon- 
uments to the thrift, enterprise and ability of 
the firm. In 1873, however, Mr. Rouzer 
sold his interest to his brother and re- 
turned to Tippecanoe City, where he con- 
ducted a hardware store until 1877, when 
he was succeeded by Mr. Fuller. From that 
time until his death he was not burdened 
by business cares, save the management of 
his property interests. He had made ju- 
dicious investments in real estate and was 
the owner of valuable farming lands. 



696 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



On tiie 22d of ]\Iay. 1856, Mr. Rouzer 
was niarrio'J to Miss Mary Grow, who was 
born near Covington, Miami county, a 
daughter of Michael and Salome (Shella- 
barger) Grow, who were natives of Penn- 
sylvania, in which state they were reared 
and married. In tlio early '30s they came 
to Ohio, making the trip by team and taking 
up their residence in Xewton township, 
wliere the father jjurchased eighty acres of 
wild land, upon which he erected a log 
cabin. He began the development of his 
farm and in course of time rich harvests 
rewarded his labors. He lived upon the 
farm until his death, which occurred in 
1841. His wife died in July. 1838. In 
their family were three children : Samuel : 
Catherine, who died at the age of eighteen 
years, and Mrs. Rouzer. After her fa- 
ther's death she went to live with her grand- 
parents, who owned Clark's island. By 
her marriage she became the mother of four 
children : Wade, who died at the age of 
three years; Jennie, wife of G. S. Dunn, of 
Syracuse, Nebraska, who has four children, 
Thomas, George, Parke and Goldine; Louie 
B.. who became the wife of O. P. Face, 
and died at the age of twenty-one years ; 
and Park, who died at the age of thirty-two 
years, wliile living in Lima, Ohio, where he 
had charge of the fuel supply of the Cincin- 
nati, Hamilton & Dayton Railroad. 

In public affairs Mr. Rouzer took a 
deep and active interest and it was always 
known that his sui)port would be given to 
all measures calculated to prove a public 
benefit. He was a Republican in his po- 
litical views and was frequently called to 
ofificial positions, serving as a trustee of 
Monroe township, as a member of the town 
council of Tippecanoe City, as a member 
of the school board and as county commis- 



sioner, filling the last named position for six 
years. He discharged his duties with 
promptness, fidelity and ability, and over the 
record of his life there falls no shadow of 
wrong or suspicion of evil. The position 
which he occupies in the public's regard is 
shown by the fact that when the Grand 
Army Post was organized in Tippecanoe 
City his comrades of the "blue" named it 
in his honor. He won the unqualified con- 
fidence of all those with whom he came in 
contact in public life, and through his social 
qualities, his genial manner, his kindness 
and unfailing courtesy he gained the warm 
friendship of a very large circle of acquaint- 
ances. 



CHARLES H. ROBINSON. 

Charles H. Roljinson was born in Con- 
cord township. Monroe county. Ohio, July 
22. 1848. His grandfather was \^incent 
Robinson, his father, Samuel Robinson. The 
latter was a native of Pennsylvania and 
throughout his life carried on agricultural 
pursuits. He married ]\Iartha Hunter and 
they became the parents of eight children, 
three sons and five daughters, of whom four 
are yet living: Mary J.; Eliza, widow of 
Joseph Carr; Alice, wife of R. Shipley, of 
Piqua ; and Charles H. Those who have 
passed away are Sarah E.. Agnes A.. Will- 
iam A. and Joseph V. 

Mr. Robinson of this re\iew spent the 
first four years of his life in his native town- 
ship and then accompanied his parents to 
Miami county, the family locating on sec- 
tion 26, Spring Creek township, where he 
still makes his home. The common schools 
afforded him the educational privileges which 
he enjoyed and his training at farm labor 
was received in the fields under his father's 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



697 



direction so that he had a practical knowl- 
edge of the business when lie began farming 
on liis own account. He assisted his father 
until he was twenty-one years of age and 
then rented the old home place which has 
since been his home, with the exception of 
six years passed upon another farm in Spring- 
Creek township. The place is conveniently 
located one and a half miles north of Picjua, 
where he carries on general farming, his 
labors being crowned with a fair degree of 
success. 

In 1870 Air. Robinson was married to 
Martha AlcCurdy, daughter of Samuel Mc- 
Curdy. and they now have three children : 
Mary P.. wife of J. W. Shie, of Piqua; 
Boyd E., who is also living in Piqua: and 
Helen E.. at home. The family attend the 
Presbyterian church, of which Mr. Robinson 
is a member. In politics ha is a Republican, 
and in April, 1899, was elected trustee of 
Spring Creek township, which office he filled 
in a creditable manner. Almost his entire 
life has been passed in this locality and those 
who have known him from boyhood are 
numbered among his warm friends, a fact 
which indicates that his career has been an 
honorable one. 



JOHN W. KEYT. 

John \\\ Keyt belongs to one of the pio- 
ner families of Miami county, for in the 
year iSiShis grandfather, John Keyt, sought 
a home in this locality. He was born in 
New Jersey, September 20, 1790, and was a 
carpenter and millwright by trade. De- 
termining to seek a home upon the western 
frontier, he journeyed westward with team 
and wagon and took up his abode at Piqua, 
Ohio, in 18 18. He had been married some 
years previous to Margaret Widney and 



with their family they came to the Buck- 
eye state. The grandfather worked at his 
trade in Picjua and also operated a saw-mill 
there. He built the Miami Hotel, which 
is still standing atid which was in its day 
the leading hotel in the city. In 1849, at- 
tracted by the discovery of gold in Califor- 
nia, he went to the Pacific slope, by way of 
Cape Horn, and was there engaged in pros- 
pecting and mining until 1S50. when he died 
of typhoid fever. His w'ife, born April 21, 
1799, passed away on March 10. 1857. 
In their family were the following children : 
Elizabeth, who was born December 5. 1818, 
was married, January 28, 1839, to Samuel 
Wood, and died November 13, 1895; Mary 
A., born October 2, 1820, became the wife 
of William Mitchell, on the 15th of No- 
vember, 1842, and died February 10, 1852; 
John \\\. the father of our subject, was the 
third of the family; James B., born No- 
vember 19, 1824, died June 19. 1892; David, 
born September 20, 1826, died February 12, 
1899; Caroline, born September 9, 1829, 
was married Alay 4, 1854, to David L. Little 
and died December 17, 1871 : Stephen, born 
September 7, 1831. is a carpenter residing 
in Piqua: and Sarah Jane, born June 7, 
1834, died January 10, 1852. 

John W. Keyt, the father of our sub- 
ject, was born in the city of Piqua on the 
loth of August, 1822, was reared in the 
place of his nativity and under the direc- 
tion of his father learned the carpenter's 
trade. He was married, February 28, 1846, 
to Rachel Barrington. who was born April 
24, 1824. In the same year of their mar- 
riage they removed to the farm now occupied 
by our subject, and there the father car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits until his death. 
He also operated a saw-mill for two years 
and was a successful farmer, whose well- 



698 



(Genealogical and biographical record. 



directed efforts broiiglit to him a good finan- 
cial return. He passed away January 25, 
1898, liaving long survived his wife, whose 
death occurred on the 31st of December, 
i860. He was a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church and for many years sang 
in the choir, possessing a ver}' pleasing 
voice, which was a valued addition to the 
musical circles of the church. J\Ir. and 
Mrs. Keyt were the parents of five children, 
the eldest being the subject of this review; 
William L. Robb, tho second, is an architect 
and ])uil(ler of Rockford, Illinois, and at 
the present time is superintendent of con- 
struction in the well-known firm of Marsden 
& Company, of Peoria, Illinois; Sarah J. is 
a bookkeeper for the Emerson Manufactur- 
ing Company, of Rockford, Illinois; and 
Caroline and Emma E., the youngest daugh- 
ters, are at home. After the death of his 
first wife Mr. Keyt was again married, his 
second union being with Mrs. Abigal C. 
Reynolds, widow of R. E. Reynolds. 

John W. Keyt, whose name forms the 
caption of this article, was reared on the 
old homestead farm, and his elementary 
education, which was acquired in the dis- 
trict schools, was supplemented by a course 
in the Piqua high school, in which he was 
graduated. He joined his father in the 
cultivation of the home farm and after a 
time assumed the entire management of the 
old homestead. He to-day owns one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land on section 
thirty-one, just outside the corporation lim- 
its of Piqua, and has fifteen acres within the 
boundaries of the city. He carries on gen- 
eral farming and dairying and his business 
is extensive and profitable, his well tilled 
fields yielding to him good harvests and his 
meadow land affords excellent pasturage for 
his cows. The products of his dairy are of 



superior quality and therefore command the 
highest market prices. He is an energetic 
and enterprising business man and has spent 
his entire life upon the old homestead, where 
his birth occurred December 30, 1848. 

Mr. Keyt, although actively concerned 
with important business interests, has found 
time to serve his fellow townsmen in official 
positions. For fifteen consecutive years he 
has served as township clerk, having been 
first elected in 1885. He is one of the four 
deputy state supervisors of elections in 
Miami county, and for eight years has been a 
member of the board. In his political views 
he is a stalwart Republican, earnest in his 
advocacy of the principles of the jiarty 
Socially he is connected with the Odd Fel- 
lows lodge, of Piqua, has filled all the chairs 
therein and is a worthy exemplar of the be- 
nevolent principles of the order. He attends 
the Methodist Episcopal church, is a liberal 
contributor to its support and withholds his 
aid from no measure or movement which 
is calculated to prove of public benefit. His 
worth is widely recognized by all who know 
him, for he is honorable in business, trust- 
worthy in public office and at all times true 
and faithful to dutv . 



:michael shumax. 

^Michael Shuman is a veteran of the 
civil war and a retired farmer now living in 
Covington, his long years of labor being 
crowned with a well earned rest. He was 
born on the farm in Liverpool township, 
Perry county, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1822. 
His father, George Shuman, was born in 
Lost Creek Valley, in Juniata county, P'enn- 
sylvania, August 27, 1792, and died in Liver- 
pool township. Perry county, April 10, 
1842. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



699 



Tlie subject of this review was reared 
upon the home farm and the educational 
privileges which lie enjoyed were tliose af- 
forded by the common schools. In 1865 
he responded to the countrv's call for troops 
and enlisted in Company K, Eighty-third 
Pennsylvania Infantry, serving until the 
close of the war. He participated in the 
battles of Five Forks and Soutli Side Rail- 
road at Burksxille station, and in July re- 
ceived an honorable discharge at Harris- 
burg, Pennsylvania, reaching his home on 
Independence day of tliat year. He con- 
tinued upon the farm until the fall of 1865, 
when he was made captain of one of his 
uncle's canal boats. With his wife and two 
children, he then removed to Sedalia, Pet- 
tis county, Missouri, where he worked as 
a farm hand .for six months, after which 
he came to Covington, Ohio, being employed 
by his Ijrother in the grain trade until 1888. 
In that year he retired to private life and is 
now enjoying a well earned rest. In 1870 
he built a comfortalilc home and in his de- 
clining years he is surrounded by all tlie nec- 
essaries and many of the comforts of life. 

Mr. Shuman was married April i, 1847, 
in New Berlin, Pennsylvania, to Miss Eliza- 
beth Chesney, and two children were born 
to them in Pennsylvania. They became the 
parents of five children : William, a mer- 
chant of Covington ; Alice, wife of Samuel 
Wright, of Piqua ; Oliver, Clara and Albert 
who died in childhood. The mother's 
death occurred in 1887, and on the i8th of 
March. 1890, Mr. Shuman was married to 
Miss Sophia Reck, of Covington, a daugh- 
ter of David and Ann Maria (Lightner) 
Reck, both natives of Pennsylvania. Mr. 
Reck was born in 1803, and died March zt,. 
1881. His wife was born in 1800 and de- 
parted this life August 22,, 1841. Mrs. 



Shuman was born in 1830, on a farm about 
two miles west of the famous battle-ground 
of Gettysburg, in Adams county, Pennsyl- 
vania. Her motiier died when siie was 
twelve years of age, which was about four 
years after the removal of the family to Ohio. 
Mrs. Shuman had three brothers, Franklin, 
William and Amos, all of whom served 
their country in the civil war. Amos is now 
deceased. Mr. and Mrs. Shuman make 
their home in Covington, being widely and 
favoraby known in that locality. He re- 
ceives the veneration and respect which 
should always accompany ath'anced years 
and is regarded as one of tlie representative 
men of the town. 



ALONZO J. FURROW. 

Among the native sons of Miami county 
is numbered Mr. Furrow, who was born in 
Staunton township, October 18, 1842. His 
father, Jeremiah Eurrow, was born in Vir- 
ginia, April 15, 1804, and was a son of Adam 
Furrow, a native of the Old Dominion. 
About 181 1 his father and grandfather re- 
moved from Virginia to Ohio, making the 
journey with a four-horse team. They lo- 
cated on the farm where our sul)ject now 
resides, the grand fatlier entering the land 
from the government. In tliis way he se- 
cured a tract of eightj'-three acres, upon 
which he built a log cabin, and later he 
erected a part of the house in which Mr. 
Furrow of this review is now living. The 
tract was coveretl with a heavy growth of 
timber, and nearly all of the land in the 
county was in its primeval condition, await- 
ing the touch of civilization to transform it 
into valuable property which would yield 
its tribute to the efforts of the cultivator. 
The Indians still roamed through the for- 



700 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ests. Init usually manifested a friendly spirit 
toward the settlers. Adam Furrow reached 
the advanced age of eightv-nine years, pass- 
ing away on the 30th of September. 1854. 
His wife bore the maiden name of Mary 
Grimes, and by their marriage they became 
the ]3arents of eight children, namely : Abel, 
Da\-id, Jacob, John, James. Jeremiah, Eli- 
jah and Elizabeth. 

Jeremiah Furrow, the father of our sub- 
ject, wedded Sarah Covault. who was born 
December 3, 1810. Their marriage was 
celebrated March 26. 1828, and was blessed 
with twelve children, namely : Fernando, 
born July 22, 1829; Sylvanus, born Decem- 
ber 22. 1830; Mary C, born December 6. 
1832: Jane, born April 7, 1834; Martha, 
born September 2t^. 1836; Clarinda, born 
December 5, 1838; Angehne, born Novem- 
ber 25, 1840; Alonzo, born October 18, 
1842; Sarah, born June 23, 1845; Lavena, 
born August 22. 1847; Charlotte, born July 
23, 1850; and Elizabeth, born in April. 1853. 
The father of this family aided in building , 
the canal and was lineman and pay-master 
of the canal for forty years, but continued 
to reside on the old homestead in Miami 
county. He was a member of the Masonic 
fraternity and was also a valued member 
of the Methodist Episcopal church. He 
died September 5, 1890, and his wife passed 
away June 6, 1888. 

Mr. Furrow of this review was only four 
years of age when his father returned to 
the old homestead, and here he has since 
lived, with the exception of the period of 
the war. When the south attempted to 
overthrow the Union, men came from the 
workshops, the ofifices. the stores and the 
fields, represented every class of life, and on 
the nth of August. 1862, Mr. Furrow also 
joined the boys in blue, becoming a private 



of Company A. One Hundred and Tenth 
Ohio \'olunteer Infantry. The first engage- 
ment in which he participated was at \\"\n- 
chester, \'irginia, later took part in the bat- 
tles of Mine Run and the Wilderness and at 
the latter was captured and sent to one of 
the siiuthern military prisons. After a week 
spent at Dan\ille he was transferred to the 
Andersonville prison, where he remained for 
a Uttle more than four months when he was 
transferred to Florence, South Carolina, and 
was there paroled. He then returned home 
on a twentv days' furlough, and when his 
time of vacation had expired he returned to 
Camp Chase. He then received a thirty 
days' furlough, and on the loth of June, 
1865, was honorably discharged, for the war 
was ended and the Confederacy was over- 
thrown. Since that time ^Ir. Furrow has 
remained continuously on the farm, and is 
to-day the owner of eighty-three acres of 
land on section 18. Spring Creek township, 
where he is successfully engaged in the cul- 
ti\ation of the cereals best adapted to this 
climate. 

On the 1st of February. 1866, Mr. Fur- 
row was united in marriage to Miss Lou 
Riddle, a daug'hter of Manning Riddle. 
Six children have been born of their union, 
namely: Edna, born ]March 4, 1867, and 
now the wife of Harry Cecil ; Nellie, who 
was born October 12, 1869. and died Janu- 
ary 7, 1871 ; Charlie, who was born June 
4, 1872: Bertha P., lx)rn December 16. 
1875, and died September 2-/, 1876; Elbe M.. 
who was Ixirn November 29, 1878, and is the 
wife of Floyd Holmes; and Harry P.. who 
was bom April 9, 1883. 

]Mr. Furrow votes with the Republican 
party and is well informed on the issues and 
questions of the day, both politically and 
otherwise. He holds membership with Alex- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



701 



andria Post, G. A. R., and with his comrades 
of the blue recalls scenes around the old camp 
fires and upon the tented fields of the south. 
His entire life has been passed in Miami 
county, and the fact that those who have 
known him longest are numbered among 
his warmest friends is an indication of an 
honiirable career. 



JOHX M. BRADLEY. 

John M. Bradley now resides in Clark 
county, near Donnelsville, but for many 
years he was closely connected with the ag- 
ricultural interests of Miami county, and 
therefore deserves representation in this 
volume. He has many friends in the com- 
munity, being well and favorably known in 
this section of the state. His birth occurred 
in Adams county, Pennsylvania, December 
26, 1840, and during liis boyhood he was 
brought to Ohio b}- his parents, who located 
at Donnels\-ille. The father died in earl}- 
manhood, but the mother survived .him and 
lived to an advanced age. Xo event nf 
special importance occurred during the child- 
hood and youth of John M. Bradley, wdio 
grew up on a farm and in the public schools 
pursued his education. He was thus trained 
to hafiits of industry and became well quali- 
fied for business life. In 1866 he was mar- 
ried to Miss Samantha E. Funk, who was 
born inA\'est Charleston, Miami county, and 
was a daughter of Jacob and Amy (Alott) 
Funk. The father was of German birth, 
but the mother was of English. By trade he 
was a blacksmith, and for a number of years 
the family resided near Paris, being one of 
the old families of the state. The mother 
reached a verv adx-anced age. Their daugh- 
ter, Mrs. Bradley, was twice married, her 
first husband being Philip Armstrong who 



died during the period of the civil war, being 
accidentally killed in a political rally. He 
left a widow and one son, Philip Damascas 
Armstrong, who resides in Bethel township, 
Miami county. Unto Mr. and ]\Irs. Brad- 
ley were born two sons. Firman J. and .\lbert 
A. The latter with his wife, who Ijore the 
maiden name of Ethel Flook, now resides in 
Donne!sville. The mother, Mrs. Samantha 
Bradley, died January 7, i8g6, at the age of 
fifty-two years, and later Mr. Bradley mar- 
ried Mrs. Eunice Beebee. 

Mr. Bradley is a very enterprising agri- 
culturist, conducting his business interests 
in a very systematic manner, the well-tilled 
fields yielding to him a good return for his 
care and labor, and the many improvements 
on his place and its neat appearance indicate 
iiis careful supervision. He has from one 
to three acres planted to tobacco, and in ad- 
tlition to general farming he makes a spe- 
cialty of the breetling of thoroughbred Jersey 
cattle. He is a member of the Christian 
church at Honey Creek. His well spent life 
has recommended him to the regard and 
confidence of his fellow men anil those who 
know his apjireciate his good qualities, and 
therefore gi\'e him their friendship. 



FIRMAN J. BRADLEY. 

Firman J. Bradley, a son of John M. 
BraiUey, whose sketch appears above, was 
born on the old Armstrong farm, on the line 
of Bethel and Elizabeth townships, January 
2y, 1 87 1. Some time later the father pur- 
chased the farm upon which the son now 
resides and made it his place of abode for a 
few years, after which he returned to the 
Armstrong farm, where the greater part of 
the boyhood days of our subject were passed. 
He was trained to habits of industry, econ- 



702 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



omy and honest)' and these ha\-e proved val- 
uable factors in his later career. His pre- 
liminary education was acquired in the com- 
mon schools and was supplemented by at- 
tendance in the high school of Tippecanoe 
Citv, in which he was graduated in the class 
of 1 89 1. He spent two terms at the Ada 
Normal, and thus became qualified for life's 
jjractical duties. He then entered upon the 
work of earning his own livelihood and has 
since depended entirely upon his own re- 
sources. 

Mr. Bradley was married January 30, 
1895, the lady of his choice being Miss Oty 
Thackeray, a daughter of William and Phi- 
lena (Baxter) Thackeray. Her father is 
now deceased Init her mother is still li\'ing. 
Mrs. Bradley was born in Hamilton county, 
Ohio, but when a little maiden of four sum- 
mers was brought to Miami comity, the 
fanlily locating in Lost Creek township. 
There the father died in September, 1881, 
at the age of forty-five years. Mrs. Brad- 
ley pursued a three years' course of study in 
the high school at Addison, and subsequently 
engaged in teaching in the district schools 
near her home. In this locality she met her 
husband, who prior to that time had kept 
bachelor's hall for two years. Their union 
has been blessed with a little daughter, Sa- 
mantha Madge, who was born May 3, 1899. 
Both Mr. and Mrs. Bradley are consistent 
members of the Methodist Episcopal church 
in Addison, and take an active interest in 
its work and welfare. Politically he exer- 
cises his right of franchise in support of the 
men and measures of the Republican party 
and is well versed on the issues and questions 
of the day. Success is not a matter of genius 
nor the result of fortuitous circumstances 
but comes as the reward of unflagging labor 
when guided by sound judgment, and it is 



in this way that Mr. Bradley has become 
known as one of the substantial citizens of 
the communitv. 



GEORGE F.MILLER. 

George F. Miller is living upon a part 
of the old Miller farm on which his birth oc- 
curred November 3, 1846. He belongs to 
one of the pioneer families of Ohio. His 
grandfather, Elias Miller, was a native of 
Maryland, whence he emigrated to Butler 
county, this state, where he made his home 
for twenty years and then moved to Miami 
county, there purchasing one hundred and 
sixty acres of land on section 11, Spring 
Creek township,. Two years afterward he 
purchased the farm upon which our subject 
now resides, and at the close of a long ai.d 
active career as an agriculturist he passed to 
his final rest, at the age of eighty-three years. 
He married Miss Catherine Moore, and nine 
children were born of their union, namely : 
Hanah, Ellis, Lucretia, L. M., John, Philip, 
Elias, Mary and Philetha. Of this number 
I'h'iletha, Lucretia, Philip, Blias. Hannah 
and Mary are still living. 

Ellis Miller, the father of our subject, was 
born near Hamilton, in Butler county, Ohio, 
January 24, 1819, and amid the wild scenes 
of frontier life he was reared and married. 
Having arrived at years of maturity he 
wedded Sarah Johnson, who was torn in 
Clinton county, Ohio. December 28, 1821. 
In their family were nine children: Huldah, 
who was born December 7, 1843, ''"^^ 's now 
living in Indiana; George F., of this review; 
Orlando, of Piqua, who was born October 
15, 1849, 'iiK^ is employed as an engineer 
in a desk factory; Frank P., who was born 
March 12, 1852, and is a farmer of Spri;!.!^ 
Creek township; Emma J., who was b.>rn 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



703 



April 28, 1855, and is the \\-i(Io\v of George 
Schilling; Ella F., who was born May 7, 
1857, and died October 20, 1890: Albert E., 
who was born Ma}' 17, i860, and is a farn'.er 
of Spring Creek township ; Clara, who was 
January 7, 1863, and died April 28, 1889; 
and Rosetta, who was born November i-|, 
1867, and is now Mrs. Rowe, of Indiana. 
Soon after their marriage the parents of this 
family located upon a part of the old home- 
stead and erected a log cabin, eighteen by 
twenty feet, containing a room on both the 
first and seconil Hoors. The land was cov- 
ered with a heavy growth of timber and it 
was an arduous task to clear and prepare 
it for the plow, but beneath the steady 
strokes of Mr. Miller's sturdy ax the trees 
fell and in the course of time the land was 
placed under cultivation. He was a member 
of the Baptist church, and was ever true to 
his duties and to what he believed to be 
right. He died September 22, 1873, and his 
wife, surviving him some years, passed away 
May 15, 1892. 

Mr. Miller, whose name heads this 
record, was reared on the old homestead 
farm and is indebted to the common schools 
for the educational privileges which he en- 
joyed. He had to walk two miles to the 
schoolhouse and there conned his lessons, 
becoming familiar with the elementary 
branches of English knowledge. After his 
mariage he removed to a farm near his fa- 
ther's home, living there for a season, and 
after his father's death he returned to the 
old farmstead, of which he took charge. 
There he resided until 1876, when he re- 
moved to his present home, which is situated 
on land that was purchased by his grand- 
father at a very early period in the develop- 
ment of the county. He was married Feb- 
ruary 27, 1873, to Miss Annie E. Buckles, 



a daughter of George and Nancy (Riddle) 
Buckles. Her father was born in Lost Creek 
township and was one of the early settlers of 
the neighborhood. Mr. and Mrs. Miller now 
have a family of eight children: Delia, 
who was born November 12, 1874, and is 
the wife of A. E. Cleam, a Baptist minister, 
of Milford Center, Ohio; Clarence, wdio 
was born April 17. 1877, in Miami county; 
Clyde, who was born July 10. 1879, and is 
a telegraph operator at Van Wert, Ohio; 
Ernest, wdio was born May 7, 1882, and is 
a student in the high school at Fletcher; 
Bessie M., who was born October 4, 1884, 
and is attending school; Elsie T., bom July 
12. 1887; Walter, born December 19, 1890; 
and George E., born January 20, 1899. 

Mr. Miller owns and operates fifty-nine 
acres of land, his fields being planted to the 
grains best adapted to this climate. His life 
has been quietly passed in the pursuit of 
his business afi"airs, and as a result of his 
steady application and capable management 
he has become the possessor of a very com- 
fortable competence. In politics he is a 
Democrat, and in religious belief he and 
his wife are Baptists, belonging to the 
Union Baptist church, in which he has served 
as deacon for nine years. 



WILLIAM LEPPERT. 
W^illiam Leppert is a representative of 
the industrial interests of Tippecanoe City, 
being the leading blacksmith and carriage 
manufacturer of this place. Recognizing 
the fact that industry is the keynote to suc- 
cess, he has not failed to apply himself closely 
to his work, and in this manner his labors, 
being guided by sound judgment and supple- 
mented by honorable dealing, he has won 
not only a comfortable competence but also 



704 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the respect of his fellow men. He is num- 
bered among tlie natix'e sons of the Buck- 
eye state, his birth having occurred in Pom- 
eroy, Ohio, on the 13th of February. 1852. 
His father. Rev. John Leppert. was born 
in .Ahnanswier. (lermany, January 19. 1828. 
Dorothea ( Geyer ) Leppert, the mother of 
our subject, was born in Durmstein. Ger- 
many. October 27. 1830. Mr. Leppert was 
a Methodist minister, and when our subject 
was eight years of age he remo\ed to Law- 
renceburg. Indiana, where the succeeding 
four years were passed. On the expiration 
of that i^eriod they located near Dillsburg. 
Indiana, upon a farm, and W'iliam Leppert. 
assisted in the labors of the field and meadow 
until se\'enteen years of age, when he went 
to Piqua. where he served a three-years ap- 
prenticeshi]) to the carriage-making and 
blacksmithing trades. During that time he 
recei\-e(l his Imard antl onlv enough money 
to buy his clothes. His employer was R. 
P. Spiker, under whose direction he obtained 
a thorough knowledge of the business, be- 
coming an expert workman. After com- 
pleting his a])]3renticeshii5 he went to Cass- 
town Ohio, and entered the employ of David 
B. Knoop. with whom he remained for nine 
years as a most competent and trusted em- 
ploye. He then entered into partnership 
with H. Hance and began the business of 
blacksmithing and carriage-making on his 
own account. After a year had passed he 
sold his interest to his partner and in j\Iarch. 
1881. came to Tippecanoe City, where he 
worked at his trade for a year, in the em- 
ploy of Joseph Bowsman. He then con- 
ducted a blacksmith shoo of his own for a 
year, after which he sold out and remo\-ed t(.i 
Cortland, Indiana, where ho conducted a 
shop for three and a half years. During 
that time, in 1886 he founded and patented 



the well known Climax wagon, selling a half 
interest in his patent to Messrs. Gardiner 
and Cross. A company was organized for 
the manufacture of this wagon and the plant 
was established and operated in Louisville, 
Kentucky. Mr. Leppert continuing an active 
memjjer of the firm until 1887. when he sold 
out to liis partners and returned to Tippe- 
canoe. For two years he conducted a black- 
smith and cai riage-making shop in the li >wer 
part of the town, at the expiration of which 
time his former partners in Louisville oi-- 
fered him the position of manager of the 
Climax Buggy Company. Accepting the 
offer he remained in Louisville until 1892, 
when he again came to Tippecanoe City, and 
in March of the following year erected his 
present blacksmith, carriage and paint shop, 
the main building being 24x80 feet and two 
stories high. There is also an addition 
24x30 feet, two stories in height. This is 
the leading blacksmith and carriage-manu- 
facturing industry in the city, and a \'ery lib- 
eral patronage is accorded the proprietor, 
who is now conducting one of the leading 
industrial concerns of the place. 

On the 26th of January, 1872, Mr. Lep- 
])ert was united in marriage to Miss Sallie 
Lower, who died the following year. In 
1874 he married her sister, and this union 
has been blessed with three children, — Ed- 
Ward. Harry and Grace. 

In his political \'iews Mr. Leppert is a 
Republican, but has ne\er sought or ilesirecl 
office, preferring to devote his energies to his 
business interests. He is a member of the 
Royal Arcanum and Tippecanoe City Lodge, 
No. 174, A. F. & A. :\L, also of the iNletho- 
dist Episcojial church, and is recognized as 
one of the enterprising and progressive busi- 
ness men of Aliami count}. He is self-edu- 
cated and self-made. A feeling of respect is 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



705 



always accorded one who starts out in life 
amid unfavoring circumstances and who 
wrests fortune from the hands of an adverse 
fate. This Mr. Leppert has done, and to-day 
he stands among the substantial citizens of 
his adopted county. He has been true to 
e\ery manly principle, honorable in his deal- 
ings and straightforward in his relations 
with his fellow men, and the sterling qual- 
ities of his character command universal 
respect. 



ISAAC CLYNE. 

Through the greater part of the nine- 
teenth century the Ciyne family was con- 
nected with the history of Miami county, 
and the family name is inseparably inter- 
woven with its annals, for its members have 
been active factors in promoting the material 
progress and development of this section of 
the state. Isaac Clyne was born in Eliza- 
beth township March i8, 1818, on the farm 
where he now lives, and is a son of Isaac 
and Olive (Ingraham) Clyne. His parents 
were both natives of Pennsylvania, living 
near Waynesburg, Greene county, that state, 
whence they came to Ohio. The paternal 
grandfather, Jacob Clyne, was a nati\-e of 
Saxony, Germany, and emigrated to Amer- 
ica prior to the war of the Revolution. The 
maternal grandfather, Richard Ingraham, 
was a native of Ipswich, England. In 181 1 
Isaac and Olive Clyne came to the Buckeye 
state, and in less than a year located on the 
farm which is now owned and occupied by 
our sul)ject. There was a little cabin upon 
the place and the parents therein began life 
in true pioneer style. The father had his 
money stolen while they were on the way 
from Pennsylvania. The journey had been 

made down the river and they had to pull 
41 



the keel of their boat to the bank at night. 
While thus engaged Mr. Clyne was robbed. 
When a boy he had suffered from a white 
swelling which crippled his limb, and thus 
handicapped he began life on the western 
frontier. Leaving his family at home he 
soon returned to Pennsylvania to collect the 
balance due on th.e sale of his farm, and, 
being disappointed, he returned to Ohio, 
making the journey with a team, which he 
traded for the land that forms a part of the 
old family homestead. Only two acres had 
been cleared and a little rude cabin was the 
only improvement that had been made. 
About 1822 he erected a log house, which, 
in 1873, was replaced by the present sub- 
stantial brick residence that is now occupied 
by his son, Isaac. The old log house was 
the home of the family for more than fifty 
years. As time passed and prosperity re- 
warded his efforts the father was enabled to 
add to his original purchase, and at his death 
left the farm as it now- stands. He died 
during the cholera epidemic in 1833, at the 
age of fifty-six years, his wife surviving 
him until 1852. For a number of years he 
served as trustee of his township and was 
trustee of the school section. He always 
took a deep interest in whatever pertained 
to the welfare of the community, and with- 
held his support from no measure or move- 
ment which he belie\-ed would prove of pub- 
lic good. In early days corn sold for six 
cents per bushel and wdieat for twenty-five 
cents per bushel. There was a mill on Lost 
creek, owned and built by John M. Dye, 
and there the farm products were converted 
into breadstuits, which they hauled to Cin- 
cinnati and sold. Frequently the settlers 
\\-ould haul their wheat to Sandusky and in 
return received merchandise. Salt was pro- 
cured from Zanesville, and at Troy it 



706 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



brought about eleven dollars per barrel. 
There were many hardships and trials to be 
borne liy the early settlers, but as the years 
passed these gave way before advanced civ- 
ilization, and the settlers enjoyed all the 
comforts, improvements and accessories 
known to the civilization of the east. In 
his political views Mr. Clyne was a Demo- 
crat of the Jacksonian school, and was a 
great admirer of Thomas Jefferson. He was 
also a prominent member of the Baptist 
church at Lost Creek, and was a man of 
unquestioned honesty and integrity. 

In his family were the following chil- 
dren who reached years of maturity, name- 
ly : John, who died when aliout eighty 
years of age; Hannah, who married Lewis 
Deweese, of Staunton township, and died 
at the age of eighty years; Minerva, who 
became the wife of Levi Hart, of Elizabeth 
township, and died when more than seventy 
years of age ; Mary, who became the wife of 
Joseph Martin and the mother of W. P. 
Martin; Jacob, who died of cholera in 1833; 
Elizabeth, who Ijecame the wife of Isaac 
Dye, and departed this life when more than 
eighty years of age; Letitia, who married 
Patterson Crane, of Lost Creek township, 
and died when more than eighty years of 
age ; Isaac, who is the only survivor of the 
family; Ingraham, who died in Delaware 
county, Indiana, at the age of seventy-six 
years ; and William, who died in Adams 
county, Illinois, at the age of thirty-five 
years. 

Isaac Clyne, whose name introduces this 
review, was reared amid the wild scenes 
of the frontier and his experiences were those 
which fall to the lot of pioneer settlers. He 
aided in the arduous task of developing new 
land, of improving raw fields, and in the 
winter months pursued his education in the 



primitive schools of the neighl)orhood. That 
life, however, was not unmixed with keen 
pleasures, for hospitality reigned supreme 
and sociability existed that is often lacking 
at the present day. He remained at home 
until his marriage, which occurred on the 
9th of April, 1839, Miss Elizabeth Knight 
becoming his wife. She was born January 
30, 1 81 8, in Hamilton county, Ohio, and 
when a maiden of ten summers came to 
Lost Creek township with her parents, Jona- 
than and Catherine (James) Knight. Her 
grandfather, William Knight, cleared the 
land where the Children's Home now stands. 
There he carried on agricultural pursuits 
for a number of years, when he moved to 
Lost Creek township, \\here he remained 
until his death. Mrs. Clyne's father died 
when she was only four years old, leaving 
the mother with seven children. She came 
to Lost Creek township and kept the chil- 
dren together upon a small farm which she 
owned. Here she lived until her death, 
which occurred in 1875, when she was well 
advanced in years. Mrs. Clyne is the only 
survivor of that family. Her brothers were : 
W'illiam D., who located in Champaign 
county, Ohio ; Stephen, who died in Troy, 
at the age of eighty-two years; Paul, who 
died in Casstown when more than seventy 
years of age; and Corbley, who located in 
Illinois when a young man. There were 
also two sisters : Mary, who became the 
wife of John Green; and Priscilla, wife of 
George C. Clyde. The Knight family was 
of English descent, the James family of 
Scotch lineage. The Knights were long 
prominent factors iii the development of 
Miami crmnty, and their name is deeply en- 
graved on the pages of its history. 

For two years after his marriage Isaac 
Clyne resided upon a farm in Lost Creek 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



707 



townsliip and then returned to tlie old 
homestead, purchasing the interest of the 
other heirs in the property. It required 
much liard labor, extending over a numl.ier 
of- years, to impro\-e the place, but he has 
his farm now under a high state of cultiva- 
tion, the well tilled fields giving promise of 
abundant harvests. This land has now been 
in possession of the family for almost ninety 
years, and is one of the valuable and well 
improved farming properties of the county. 
Mr. Clyne has taken a very active in- 
terest in public affairs and has exercised his 
ofhcial prerogatives so as to largely pro- 
mote the welfare and substantial improve- 
ment of this section of the state. For six 
years he served as county commissioner, dur- 
ing which time his associates on the board 
Avere B. Franklin Brown, David M. Coate 
and William Xorthcutt. During the time 
of his incumbency as county commissioner 
the Children's Home was established. This 
is one of the most important works eva^ 
done by the board, and the county certainly 
deser\-es great credit for keeping up such a 
laudal)le institution. While he served as 
commissioner the old company pikes were 
converted into free pikes and many miles of 
new pikes were added. He was the first 
county commissioner to vote for the erection 
of an iron bridge. When he first gave his 
support to the adoption of such a structure 
the other commissioners opposed him, but 
finally they became convinced that such 
bridges were the best and many have since 
been erected in the county. He favored 
every public improvement which he belie\-ed 
would contril:)ute to the general welfare. 
The cause of education has ever found in 
him a warm friend, and he has advocated the 
employment of capable teachers and the 
maintenance of good schools. For a number 



of years he served as school director and in 
that way was able to promote in a consider- 
able degree the effectiveness of tlie schools. 
In politics he has always been a Democrat 
since casting his first presidential vote for 
Martin Van Buren, in 1840. However, he 
has never been a politician in the commonly 
accepted sense of the term, has never sought 
office and has only held positions of political 
preferment at the solicitation of his friends, 
in fact he has refused a number of offices. 
AVhen the township was in debt all parties 
joined in asking him to become a trustee, 
and it was only after much pressure was 
brought to bear upon him that he consented 
to accept the office. He served in that ca- 
pacity until its financial affairs were finally 
righted, at which time he refused to again 
become a candidate. His excellent business 
and executive ability have made him a very 
popular and valued official. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Clyne have been born 
the following children : John, who died at 
the age of twenty-one years; Letitia, who 
became the wife of Jacob Long and died in 
early womanhood; Jane and Olive Belle, 
who died in childhood; Mary Ann, wife of 
Joseph M. Studebaker; Nettie, wife of Will- 
iam Frazee, of Dayton ; Priscilla, wife of 
B. F. Hance ; Horatio, a farmer of Lost 
Creek township; William K., who is farm- 
ing near the old homestead; and Ella, wife 
of Frank Knick, who for some years was a 
bookkeeper at Springfield. They now reside 
with her parents and Mr. Knick is engaged 
in the sale of buggies. For forty years Mr. 
and Mrs. Clyne have been consistent mem- 
bers of the Baptist church of Casstown, 
and their lives have e\'er been in harmony 
with their professions. Their record is an 
open book which all may read. They have 
been true to duty and to principle, have 



ro8 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



reared a family who do credit to their name, 
and liave ever commaniled the respect and 
regard of their fellow townsmen hy their 
w^ell spent lives. 



HENRY M. LAIR. 

The jirosperity of every community de- 
pends in large measure upon its merchants. 
and their enterprise and progressiveness are 
an important factor which contributes to the 
develojjment and prosperity of the localities 
which they represent. One of the wide- 
awake and practical merchants of \\'est Mil- 
ton is Henry M. Lair. He was born in 
Darke county, Ohio, on the farm where 
Gordontown now stands, the place having 
been named in honor of his grandfather. 
Phillip Gordon, the date of his birth being- 
April 13, 1844, and his parents v,'cre David 
and Sarah (Gordon) Lair. The Lair fam- 
ily was founded in America by William Lair, 
who was born in France and was brought 
to America when two years of age. the voy- 
age being made about 1752. The mother 
took up her abode near Trenton, New Jersey, 
and there William Lair was reared as a car- 
penter, which pursuit he followed in con- 
nection with farming. He served in the 
Revolutionary war and lived to be seventy- 
eight years of age. In politics he was a 
stanch Whig, inflexible in his support of 
the principles of the party. He married 
Ann Boss, who was born in New Jersey, 
although her parents were natives of France. 
She had ^a brother who was killed in the 
Revolutionary war. She died at the age of 
fifty-seven years, leaving two children, 
David, and a daugliter who died at the age 
of twenty-two. 

David Lair, the father of our subject. 
was born August 28, 1809, reared in New 



Jersey, and after his marriage emigrated 
westward to Darke county in 1839. He 
laid out the town of Gordontown when the 
railroad was built, and for many years fol- 
lowed carpentering and coopering, Iseing 
thus engaged until about 1870. He then 
gave his attention exclusively to farming 
pursuits until 1885, when he came to West 
]\Iilton. where he has since made his home 
with his sons. Although he is now ninety- 
one years of age he is a hale and hearty 
old man, taking an active interest in public 
affairs. He served as captain of militia in 
the early days and has always been stalwart 
and earnest in support of his political belief. 
In early life he voted in the \\'hig party, 
after.ward became a Know-Nothing, and on 
the organization of the Republican party 
joined its ranks. On the 2d of October, 
1 83 1, David Lair was married to Sarah 
Gordon, who was born in Hunterdon county, 
New Jersey, and died in West Milton, Ohio, 
June 21, 1894. at the age of eighty-one years, 
seven months and two days. She Iiad twelve 
children, of whom three sons and four 
daughters are yet living. Her great-grand- 
father Gordon was a native of Scotland and 
was the founder of the family in America. 
Her paternal grandfather, Mr. Harden, came 
from Germany. 

Henry M. Lair, whose name introduces 
this sketch, spent his boyhood days in Gor- 
dontown until seventeen years of age. when 
he came to West Milton and learned the 
shoemaker's trade, following that pursuit 
until the 19th of September. 1861. On that 
date he responded to the country's call for 
troops, enlisting as a member of Company 
E, Forty-eighth Ohio Infantry, with which 
he served for one year. He was wounded 
by a gunshot in the right thigh at the battle 
of Shiloh. In Feliruary. 1S64, he enlisted 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ro9 



ill Company L, Eighth Ohio Cavalry, and 
served until August, 1865, when he received 
an honorable discharge at Clarksburg, West 
Virginia. He took part in the engagements 
at Liberty and Beverly, West Virginia, and 
was taken prisoner in the Shenandoah val- 
ley, being incarcerated for tliirteen days, 
after which it required ten days to get back 
to the Union lines. On the i ith of January, 
1865, the whole command was captured at 
Beverly and taken to Richmond, where, on 
the 15th of February, they were paroled, 
and at Philippi, West Virginia, were re- 
organized. 

Mr. Lair was ever a loyal and faithful 
soldier, true to the old flag and the cause 
it represented.- At the close of the war he 
returned home with an honorable military 
record and embarked in business at West 
Milton, in partnership with his brother-in- 
law, Daniel Coffman. They began the man- 
ufacture and sale of shoes until the spring of 
1881, when Mr. Lair became sole proprietor 
and has since carried on the business alone. 
He still works at the bench, doing repair 
work, and carries a good stock of ready- 
made shoes, receiving a liberal patronage 
from the public. 

Mr. Lair was married to Miss Annie 
Yount, daughter of Elem Yount, who is 
still living. Nine children were born to 
them, but three of the number died in child- 
hood. Those still living are Theodocia, wife 
of John Willoughby, a carriage-maker of 
West Milton; Byron H., proprietor of a 
shoe store in Bellefontaine, Ohio; Mary F., 
at home; Frank, who is clerking for his 
brother in Bellefontaine; and Howard K. 
and Margaret, who are still with their par- 
ents. 

Mr. Lair votes with the Republican party 
and is most earnest in his advocacy of its 



principles. Socially he is connected with 
Stillwater Lodge. No. 165, L O. O. F., and 
is a charter member of Duncan Post, No. 
477, G. A. R., of which he has served as 
commander. Both he and his wife hold 
membership in the Christian church, of 
which he is serving as trustee. He now 
owns a nice home in West Milton and en- 
joys the regard of his fellow men, for his 
life has been an honorable and upright one, 
true to every duty of citizenship in times of 
peace and in times of war. 



SAMUEL KNICK. 

Well, known in connection with the agri- 
cultural interests of Miami county, Mr. 
Knick, to-day the owner of a valuable farm 
of one hundred and forty acres in Eliza- 
beth township, has resided here since 1858 
and has made the property one of the best 
improved in the neighborhood. The substan- 
tial residence is supplemented by good barns 
and outbuildings, and these in turn are sur- 
rounded by well tilled fields which yield a 
good return for his care and labor. The 
neat and thrifty appearance of the place in- 
dicates his personal supervision and at a 
glance the passer-by can recognize the fact 
that the owner is a man of progressive as 
well as practical ideas. 

Mr. Knick was born near Casstown, 
Miami county, December 9, 1832, his par- 
ents being William and Rachel (Armstrong) 
Knick, both of whom were natives of Rock- 
bridge county, Virginia. The family is of 
German lineage. William Knick's father 
was a Revolutionary soldier in the company 
of Captain Bettas, of Hagerstown, Mary- 
land; was taken prisoner at Camden, New 
Jersey, while fighting under the command 
of General Gates, and was kept in the British 



710 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



prison at Charleston, Suuth Carolina, until 
the end of the war. The father of our sub- 
ject was a soldier in the war of 1812 and be- 
came one of the pioneers of Ohio, making 
the journey to this state from his Virginia 
home in an old-fashioned, high-backed 
wagon, drawn by horses. At a later date 
he returned to \'irginia on horseback and the 
saddlebags which he then carried with him, 
in accordance with the custom of the times, 
are now in possession of his son, Samuel. 
On arriving in IMiami county he took up 
his abode on the farm near Casstown, where 
both he and his wife died, his death occur- 
ring December 14, 1848, in his fifty-seventh 
year, and his wife passed away Octoljer 
3, 1864, in her seventy-seventh year. They 
had a family of nine children, eight sons and 
a daughter. Rebecca, the eldest, and only 
daughter, became the wife of Samuel Cav- 
ender. They made their home in Tippe- 
canoe City, where both died of cholera in 
1849, their remains being interred in one 
grave. They left three children, the eklest 
being then twelve years of age. William 
Knick, his brother, buried both of the par- 
ents and then took the children to his 
mother's home. The oldest died a few days 
afterward of the cholera, but not one of the 
sons in the family of William Knick, Sr., in- 
ctu'red the disease, although Samuel slept 
Vi'ith the little nephew whose death occurretl 
so shortly after that of his parents. John, the 
eldest brother lived on the old homestead un- 
til his death, which occurred when he had at- 
tained the age of seventy years. His widow 
now resides in Troy. \\'illiam, a stock 
buyer of Casstown, died at the age of sixty- 
five years. James is now living in Darke 
county, Ohio, and is seventv-six years of 
age. George, who has been in the west for 
twenty-five years, is now a resident of Ore- 



gon. Isaac is living in Staunton and owns 
a part of the old homestead. Sanntel was 
the next of the family. Harrison, a farmer, 
died August 31, 1868, in his thirty-fourth 
year. Thomas, the 3'oungest, is now an ag- 
riculturist of Brown township, Miami 
county. 

Samuel Knick, whose name introduces 
this review, remained at home until his fa- 
ther's death, which occurred when he was 
sixteen years of age. He then began op- 
erating a farm on the shares, receiving one- 
third of the profits in compensation for his 
labor. He was associated with Isaac Ulery 
in the business, their connection continuing 
for four years. By the time that he had at- 
tained his majority, as the result of his in- 
dustry and economy, he had accumulated a 
thousand dollars. Much of this was ob- 
tained by successful trading in horses, for 
even as a boy he won quite a reputation for 
his ability in that line, and as he grew older 
his business became extensive and profitable. 
He continued to rent land until his marriage 
and later purchased a farm, the income from 
which has steadily augmented his capital 
until he is now one of the stibstantial citizens 
of the community. 

On the i8th of October, 1855, Mr. Knick 
married Miss Alary Elizabeth Strock, who 
was then about twenty-two years of age and 
resided near Atldison, Clark county, Ohio, 
The young couple began their domestic life 
on the farm where the Children's Home 
now stands, it being then the property of 
Nellie Stattler. In 1858 he purchased one 
hundred and ten acres of land near ]kliami 
City, of which about fifty acres had been 
placed under the plow. An old log cabin 
constituted the improvements upon the farm 
at the time of the purchase, but soon this was 
supplemented by other needed buildings and 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



711 



in course of time the little hotise was re- 
placed by a more commodious residence 
erected in 1866. The roof was made of 
shaved pine shingles, which are still in serv- 
ice. Mr. Knick has added to the property 
by additional purchase of thirty acres and 
has carried forward the work of improve- 
ment and culti^'ation so energetically that 
he is to-day the owner of one of the most 
valuable and attractive farms of the neigii- 
borhood. He has laid over five hundred 
rods of tiling and everything is in a first- 
class condition. Throughout the years he 
has made a specialty of stock raising and 
feeding cattle and hogs. He also breeds 
Poland China hogs and now has some fine 
specimens of the O. I. C. breed. He has 
also fed a good many cattle and bought and 
shipped stock. To some extent he has also 
bred and sold horses and in these various 
departments of his business he has met with 
prosperity. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Knick have been 
born six children : Melissa, wife of William 
Merrett, who is living on the Springfield 
pike in Elizabeth township; Emma J., wife 
of Henry Beals, who resides in Elizabeth 
township, near Tippecanoe ; Frank, who pur- 
sued a commercial. course and was a book- 
keeper in Springfield, Oliio, for twelve years, 
but is now living with his wife's father, 
Isaac Clyne, near the old homestead in Eliza- 
beth township; Charles, who wedded Lida 
Frantom and is now assisting his father in 
the operation of the home farm; Ella, wife 
of John Widner, a popular teacher of Eliza- 
beth township ; and Ida, at home. The chil- 
dren ha\'e all been provided with excellent 
educational privileges and thus fitted for the 
practical and responsible duties of life. Mr. 
Knick has kindly aided them In many other 
ways, and on Christmas day, 1889, at the 



annual family dinner, when all the children 
and grandchildren were around him, he gave 
to them a substantial share of the property 
he had acquired, the amounts being entirely 
equal. The welfare and happiness of his 
family have always been to him of the first 
consideration. 

Mr. Knick has taken a deep interest in 
the improvement of the county, has aided 
in building free pike roads and in other ways 
assisted in the promotion of the public wel- 
fare. He is a member of the Honey Creek 
Christian church, and in politics is a Demo- 
crat. For twenty years he served on the 
board of trustees and was never defeated 
for that office. He refused at one time to be- 
come a candidate, but was soon after renom- 
inated, for his fellow townsmen, recogniz- 
ing his worth, ability and fidelity, desired 
him to represent them on the board. He has 
frequently served as a delegate to the con- 
ventions of his party, but has never sottght 
public office in any way, content to indicate 
his political preferences by his ballot. He 
has always lived on good terms with his 
neighbors, and to the poor and needy he has 
been a charitable friend. Mr. Knick finds 
his chief source of recreation in hunting and 
fishing and has frequently gone on such ex- 
cursions, making trips as far as Iowa. His 
life has been manly, his actions sincere, his 
manner unaffected and his example is well 
worthy of emulation. 



WILLIAM STEWART. 

William Stewart, who carries on general 
farming in Elizabeth township, Miami coun- 
ty, was born four miles from Gettysburg, 
Pennsylvania, on the 3d of April, 1822. 
His parents were James and Mary (Hayes) 



712 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Stewart, tlie former a native of Adams coun- 
ty and the latter of Shippensburg, Cumber- 
land county, Pennsylvania. The Stewart 
family is of Scotch-Irish lineage and was 
founded in America prior to the war of the 
Revolution. In 1834 the parents of our 
subject came to Miami county and in the 
spring of 1835 settled upon the farm which 
is now the home of our subject, and which 
is pleasantly located three miles east of Troy. 
It was then almost destitute of improve- 
ments and the father began the work of 
further development, but was not long per- 
UMtted to enjoy his new home, his death oc- 
curring in the fall of 1835. In the family 
were six children, \Mlliam, the eldest, be- 
ing then but thirteen j'ears of age. The 
mother kept her children with her until they 
were reared and ^settled in life for them- 
selves. The youngest, however, died a 
month after the father's death, and the five 
who survived were as follows: Wiliam; 
Elizabeth, who married Alex Clark and w^ent 
to Jefferson, Iowa, when that was a new lo- 
cality, both Mr. and Mrs. Clark dying at 
that place when about fifty years of age: 
David Hayes, who remained at home until 
he had attained his majority, when he be- 
came a pioneer settler of Jefferson county, 
Iowa, there making his home until his death, 
which occurred when he was sixty-six years 
of age; Jane L., who married Stephen Max- 
v/ell, of Spring Creek, and died when more 
than sixty years of age ; and Eleazer, who 
went to Iowa with his brother and is still 
living on a farm in that state. 

Upon his fathei's death \\'illiam Stew- 
art assumed the management of the old 
homestead and has since given his attention 
to the farm. His labor and resolution en- 
abled him to successfully conduct his busi- 
ness aft'airs. He was married on the 5th 



of February, 1852, in Casstown, to Ann L. 
Wilson, who was born near Gettysburg, 
Pennsyh'ania, within two miles of her hus- 
band's birthplace. She spent her girlhood 
there and afterward came to Ohio and lived 
with her uncle, Thomas Armstrong, unitl her 
marriage, which was celebrated in his home. 
She had met her husband, liowever, in Penn- 
sylvania, he having made a trip on horse- 
back to that state about 1845, spending the 
again went to Pennsylvania in the winter , 
winter of 1845- 1846 i" that locality. He | 
of 1850-185 1 and the acquaintance, begun 
at the former visit, was then continued. 

After his marriage Mr. Stewart brought 
his bride to the old home farm, the other 
children of the family having settled else- 
where. His mother, however, remained 
with him until her death, which occurred 
when she was seventy-three years of age. 
Before his death his father had contracted 
for the building of a barn, and the work was 
superintended by his widow. The present 
liome was erected by William Stewart, in 
1865, and he has made many other substan- 
tial improvements. The place was heavily 
timbered, the trees being mostly poplar and 
oak, but now the greater part of the land is 
under a high state of cultivation. The farm 
comprises one hundred and twenty acres and 
is now planted to wheat and corn. Mr. 
Stewart attended the first fair held in the 
county, the date being 1854. He has fa- 
vored all improvements — the building of 
pikes, the establishment of good schools and 
the inauguration of other movements and 
measures, which have contributed to the 
general welfare. He served as school di- 
rector, but has never sought township offices, 
preferring to devote his time and energies 
to his business. He cast his first presi- 
dential vote for Henry Clay, in 1844. and 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



718 



since the organization of the Repubhcan 
party has been one of its advocates. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have been 
born the following children : Mary Jane, 
wife of Albert Knoop, a farmer of Lost 
Creek township; James Wilson, who for 
some years was engaged in teaching and is 
now living at Piqua; John Hayes, of Troy, 
who like his brother, James, was educated 
in Lebanon, Ohio ; Annie R., who is at home ; 
Wililam R., who married Flora Burton and 
has one child, Horace, and is operating the 
home farm; and Charles, who died at the 
age of one year. Mr. Stewart and his wife 
are consistent and faithful members of the 
Presbyterian church of Troy, with which 
they have been connected for over forty 
years. At the reunion of the Ohio soldiers 
and the unveiling of the Ohio Soldiers' 
monument on the battle field of Gettysburg, 
he and his wife revisited the scenes of their 
childhood, for they had played on the battle 
ground in early life. W'hen the draft was 
drawn in 1864 to fill the cjuota to be called 
for in Elizabeth township, he aided in raising 
troops, was a strong Union man and has 
always been a faithful citizen, true to every- 
thing calculated to promote the welfare of 
his community. During his long residence 
in Miami county he has become widely and 
favorably known and enjoys the warm re- 
gard of all with whom he has been brought 
in contact. 



AARON A. MEREDITH. 

A veteran of two of the great wars in 
which this country has engaged, and one of 
the honored pioneers of Miami county who 
became identified with this section of the 
state at a very early period. Major Aaron 
A. Meredith certainly deserves mention 



among those whose life work forms a part 
of the annals of this section of the state. 
Although his last days were spent in Wis- 
consin, he is remembered by many of the 
residents of this community, and his widow 
is now living in Tippecanoe City. A native 
of Miami county, his birth occurred in Troy 
on the 14th of July, 1829, his parents being 
Norville and RLiry (James) Meredith. 
They had ten children, eight sons and two 
daughters, namely : John, Samuel, Sarah 
E., William, Olive J., Aaron A., Richard, 
Harvey, Henry and Lewis A. 

Major Meredith was reared in the city 
of his nativity until after his mother's death, 
when he went to live on a farm with Mack 
C. Hart, with whom he continued for two 
years. On the expiration of that period he 
removed to Lafayette, Indiana, where he 
began working at the carpenter's trade, 
being thus employed until his enlistment in 
the Mexican war, in April, 1846. He be- 
came a private of the Second Ohio Volunteer 
Regiment, under Colonel Mitchell, and par- 
ticipated in the famous battle of Monterey, 
the gallantry of the soldiers at that 
winning them immortal fame. His regiment 
afterward acted as guard at Monterey and 
was under General Taylor in northern Mex- 
ico. Mv. Meredith was a member "of the 
army for two j-ears and then returned to 
Troy, Ohio, where he was married, on the 
24th of August, 1848, to Miss Lutitia A. 
Dye, a daughter of Benjamin and Priscilla 
(Long) Dye. Her father was born Decem- 
ber 2^. 1 77 1. He first married Elizabeth 
Jackson, the wedding being celebrated in 
Pennsyhania, and about 1799 he started 
with his wife for Ohio. Their eldest child 
was born that winter near the present site 
of the city of Cincinnati. Mr. Dye and his 
wife made their way down the Ohio river 



714 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



on a flat-l3oat from Pittsburg, bringing with 
them a feather bed, one horse and a fine 
rifle. Arriving in Cincinnati, an old French 
Indian trader and trapper offered Mr. Dye 
a large tract of land which is now in the 
heart of Cincinnati in exchange for his rifle, 
but Mr. Dye refused the offer. However, 
he remained for some time near Cincinnati 
and there Iniilt a log cabin, in which the 
family lived in true pioneer style. Subse- 
quently he removed to what is now Elizabeth 
township, Miami county, where he built a 
little home on a tract of wild land, which 
he afterward transformed into a good farm, 
there continuing his abode until his death, 
which occurred in 1843, when he was sixty- 
three years of age. 

He was the father of the following chil- 
dren : Steven, who was born April 22, 1799; 
Elizabeth, who was born October 8, iSoo, 
and was married, in July, 181 7, to John 
Pettit ; Horatio P., who was her twin brother 
and married ]\Iargaret Baxter Ramsey; 
Vincent, who was born January 25, 1802; 
Andrew, who was born March 8, 1804; 
James, who was born September 6, 1805; 
Sarah M., who was born December 16, 1806; 
Wihiam, born April 15, 1808; Benjamin, 
born March 16, 1810; ]Maria, who was born 
April 7, 1812, and was married, March 3, 
1825, to John Marsh; and John, born Sep- 
tember 3, 1814. After the death of his first 
wife Mr. Dye wedded his brother's widow. 
She bore the maiden name of Priscilla Long 
and was liorn July 22, 1786, her death oc- 
curring December 12, 1848. The children 
of the second marriage are : Amanda, who 
was born May 10, 1817, and died in infancy; 
Jeremiah L., born September 24, 1819; 
Priscilla, who was born April 2, 1821, and 
died at the age of forty-one years ; Horatio 
P., who was born .Vpril 4, 1823, and left a 



daughter, Mrs. W. B. Ten Eick, who in con- 
nection with her sister owns the old family 
homestead where the grandfather first set- 
tled; Boswell M., who was born March 2, 
1826; and Lutitia, who was born August 
16, 1829, and became the wife of Major 
Meredith. The father of this family was 
one of the honored pioneers of Miami coun- 
ty and at his death owned a valuable tract 
of land of four hundred acres. In 1838 he 
replaced the log cabin with a substantial 
brick residence, which was one of the finest 
homes in the county at an early day, and it 
still stands as one of the landmarks of that 
time. 

After his marriage Major Meredith en- 
gaged in building canal boats at Troy, Ohio, 
for two years, and then removed to Fort 
Wayne, Indiana, where he conducted -a gro- 
cery store for five years. On the expiration 
of that period he removed to JMadison, \\"is- 
consin, where he engaged in clerking for 
two years, after which he took up his abode 
on a farm near the city, continuing its culti- 
vation for a 3'ear. Returning to Matlison, 
he conducted the Hotel ISIeredith until 1861, 
when, prompted by a spirit of patriotism, he 
again responded to his country's call for 
troops and enlisted as a member of Com- 
pany H. Second \\''isconsin Infantry, his 
regiment becoming a part of the famous 
Iron Brigade. He was made first lieuten- 
ant, and with his command proceeded to 
Washington. D. C. He participated in the 
first battle of Bull Run, where he was wound- 
ed by a minie ball in the right arm, which 
crippled that member for life. For a time 
he remained in tlie Georgetown hospital, 
but after a few weeks returned to his home 
in Madison on furlough. Soon afterward 
he was detailed as a recruiting officer, serv- 
ing in that capacity from July until the fol- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



715 



lowing April, when lie returned to Wash- 
ington as captain and was gi\-en cliarge of 
army suppHes in the commissary department. 
He was captured and held a prisoner by 
Stuart's cavalry while proceeding from 
his post on the upper Potomac with four 
boat-loads of commissaries intended for 
Frederick, Maryland. He and five officers, 
including Major Duan of the regular army, 
were thus captured, Init were paroled. At 
York, Pensylvania, he served as commissary 
for two years, and on the ist of September, 
1865, he was mustered out with the rank of 
major, and immediately afterward returned 
to his home in Madison. 

There, in November, 1865, he received 
an appointment from Governor Fairchilds, 
of Wisconsin, to the position of superintend- 
ent of public property, and served in that 
capacity for eight years, being most faith- 
ful to the trusts reposed in him. On the 
expiration of that period he removed to St. 
I.ouis, Missouri, and became a stockholder 
and the treasurer of the Western Engrav- 
ing Company, which conducted a large steel- 
piate engraving house. Major Meredith 
continued his connection with that business 
from 1874 until 1879, when, on account of 
ill health, he returned to Madison, where 
his death occurred November 8, 1883. 

Major Meredith was a valued member of 
Fairchilds Post, G. A. R., of Madison, and 
enjoyed the pleasant meetings with his old 
army comrades, where they lived again in 
memory the scenes that occurred when they 
'"wore the blue" and followed the starry 
banner on southern battle fields. In busi- 
ness he was very successful, having the abili- 
\y to plan and execute the right thing at the 
right time. His labors were prosecuted 
earnestly and systematically and carried on 
with such diligence that they resulted in 



bringing to him a handsome competence. 
At all times his dealings were strictly hon- 
orable and his business reputation was thus 
unassailable. ,V11 who knew him greatly es- 
teemed him for his sterling worth. He in- 
spired warm personal friendship, and was 
held in the highest regard by reason of his 
many excellent qualities of head and heart. 



WILLIAM H. KESSLER, M. D. 

A successful medical practitioner of 
West Milton, Dr. Kessler is numbered 
among the native sons of Miami county, 
his birth having occurred in Monroe town- 
ship, January 13, 1839. He traces his an- 
cestry back to Ulrich Kessler, who came to 
America in 1716, landing in Philadelphia. 
He was born in Switzerland and with his 
parents and one sister started for the new 
world, but the mother died on the voyage 
and was buried at sea. The father and his 
two children landed at Philadelphia, but he 
w-as very ]wor anil they were sold on the 
auction block to pay their passage. Ulrich 
was then ten years old, and he served for 
eleven years in order to compensate the man 
who had paitl his passage money. During that 
time he learned the weaver's trade. As soon 
as he was free he began seeking for his fa- 
ther and sister, but after a fruitless search 
of many weary months he abandoned it, 
feeling that he was indeed alone in the 
world. He then applied himself to the 
weaver's trade and was quite successful, but 
an unprincipled man swindled him out of 
his property. He then went to Virginia, 
where he remained for several years, after 
which he removed to North Carolina. In 
the meantime he had married and reared a 
family, and his sons were married in the last 
named state. He came to Ohio with his 



716 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sons, John and Joseph, and ched in ]\Iont- 
gomery county. 

Joseph Kessler, the great-great-grand- 
father, of our subject, was born in Pliiladel- 
phia, February 17, 1767. and on the 4th of 
February 1787, married ]\Iary Steel, of 
North Carohna, who was born November 
1 1 , 1 768. They died in Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio, and were buried in the oltl cem- 
etery near Union. They were members of 
the Dunkard church and he was chosen as 
one of the ministers of that denomination. 
Iri Iiis business he was quite successful,, fol- 
lowing farming and wagon-making. He 
and his son, John B., made the first wind- 
mills ever constructed in Montgomery coun- 
ty. Joseph Kessler died August 21, 1840, 
his wife September 22, 1843, and they were 
laid to rest by the side of Ulrich Kessler, 
the founder of the family in America. 

The Doctor's grandparents were John 
B. and Susanna (Feese) Kessler, both na- 
tives of North Carolina. The former was 
born November 12, 1786, and on the 2d of 
June, 1807, he wedded Miss Feese, whose 
birth occurred January 21, 1787. She died 
June 3, 1850, her husband surviving until 
September' 22, 1866. They came to Miami 
county among the first settlers who estab- 
lished homes in this section of the state. 
The grandfather was a faj-mer and wagon- 
maker, and resided in Monroe township 
until well advanced in years, when he re- 
moved to Troy, where his death occurred. 
He was a Whig in his political belief and a 
Methodist in his religious faith. His son, 
Martin Kessler, the Doctor's father, was 
born in Miami county, November 17, 1816, 
and was reared upon the home farm, where 
he spent his entire life, with the exception 
of the period passed in the south at the time 
of the civil war. He enlisted in Company 



D, Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 
as a pri\'ate and served about a year and was 
woimded at Tate's Ferry, Kentucky. He 
was then taken to the hospital in Nashville, 
Tennessee, but never reco\-ered from the 
gunshot wound, and after several months of 
suffering died, July 23, 1863, when about 
forty-seven years of age. He was an active 
Republican in politics and held a number of 
township offices. Socially he was connected 
with the Masonic fraternity of Tippecanoe, 
and, religiously, with the Presbyterian 
church, in the work of which he took a very 
active part. He was a loyal defender of 
the Union and bravely laid down his life 
on the altar of his country that the nation 
should not be rolil^ed of any of the states 
which form the splendid gala.xy of the re- 
public. 

The boyhood days of our subject were 
spent on the home farm and his elementary 
education, acquired in the common schools, 
was supplemented by a course of three years 
in the high school of Tippecanoe. He after- 
ward engaged in teaching in the district 
schools of the county until July, 1862, when 
he put aside the text books and left the school 
I'oom in order to march forth to the defense 
of his country, whose safety was imperiled 1 
by the attempt at secession in the south. I 
In July, 1862, he enlisted as a member of 
Company D, Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, and after three years' service was 
honorably discharged as orderly sergeant. He 
participated in the battles of Tate's Ferry, 
Perry ville, Stone River, Chickamauga, Look- 
out Mountain, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, 
Peach Tree Creek, Kenesaw Mountain, 
Rocky Face Ridge, the engagements of the 
Atlanta campaign, and went with Sherman 
on the march to the sea. participating in 
the capture of Savannah. He was also in the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



717 



battles of Bentonville, was present at the sur- 
render of General Johnston and then went 
with Sherman's army to Washington, where 
he participated in the grand review, the most 
celebrated military pageant ever witnessed 
on the western hemisphere. At Camp 
Chase he received an honorable discharge 
and with a creditable military record re- 
turned to his home. He was wounded at 
Missionary Ridge, being shot through the 
left leg, near the knee. For a time he was 
in the hospital at Chattanooga, and on an- 
other occasion the sight of his right eye was 
destroyed by the explosion of a shell. 

After his return from the war, Dr. Kess- 
ler engaged in teaching school near Alilton, 
and also took up the study of medicine. He 
attended lectures in Buffalo, New York, and 
in Cincinnati, Ohio, and was graduated in 
the latter place in June, 1869. He began 
practice in Milton, wdiere he has since been 
located, and within a short time he had se- 
cured a liberal patronage, for his skill and 
ability were recognized and the people there- 
fore gave him their support. In 1894 he 
formed a partnership, for his health was 
failing, and he found that it was not possi- 
ble for him to attend to his practice un- 
aided. 

Dr. Kessler has been twice married. He 
first wedded Lydia A. Cratty, of Miami 
county, daughter of James Cratty. She 
was an active member of the }>Iethodist 
Episcopal church and died in that faith. At 
her death she left a daughter, Althea May, 
wife of F. M. Townsley, of West Milton. 
For his second wife the Doctor chose Miss 
Martha x-\. Funk, of Miami county, who is 
also a member of the Methodist church, and 
a lady of many estimal^le qualities. In his 
political views Dr. Kessler is a stalwart Re- 
publican, has taken an active part in the 



work of the party, and for four years has 
been pension examiner. Socially he is con- 
nected with the Masonic Lodge, of West 
Milton, and is a charter member of Duncan 
Post, No. 477, G. A. R. He, too, is a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church. He 
has long held rank among the leading phy- 
sicians of the county, among the reliable 
business men and loyal citizens, and as his 
life history forms an integral part of the an- 
nals of West Milton, we gladly present to 
our readers the record of his honorable 
career. 



PRESTON P. MOORE. 

Actively and prominently identified with 
agricultural interests in IMiami county, 
Preston P. Moore is now numbered among 
the most successful farmers of Elizabeth 
township. A man's prominence is not de- 
termined by the height to which he has 
climbed, but by the depths from which he 
started. In the valley of limited circum- 
stances Mr. Moore began life, and has stead- 
ily and persistently worked his way upward 
to the plane of affluence. Untiring industry 
may well be termed the keynote of his char- 
acter, and as it forms the foundation of all 
success it is but reasonable to suppose that 
he has gained a comfortable competence. 
This belief would be confirmed by a glance at 
his attractive home, his well-tilled fields in- 
dicating to the passer-by the careful super- 
vision of the owner, and giving evidence of 
abundant harvests. 

Mr. Moore was born in Montgomery 
county, Virginia, April i, 18 14, and when 
a lad of two years was brought to Ohio by 
his parents, with whom he remained until 
twelve years of age, when he began to earn 
his own living by working on the river. On 



lis 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



attaining his majority he came to !\Iiami 
county with his'parents, Randolph and JNIary 
(Porter) Moore, the family residing upon 
the farm now occupied by Isaac Mumford. 
The father resided in this township until his 
death, which occurred at the age of seventy- 
five years, and the mother passed away when 
ninety years of age. 

Preston Moore in his youth engaged in 
cutting and cording wood at thirty-three 
cents per cord and in splitting rails, for 
which work he received from twenty-five to 
thirty cents per hundred. Out of this 
meagre salary he boarded himself. Tlirough- 
out the winter months he engaged in rail 
splitting, antl frequently would make a dol- 
lar per day, although some days he could 
not make more than fifty cents. He and his 
brother made five hundred rails per day, 
cutting the timber themselves. At the age 
of twenty-seven he took unto himself a help- 
mate, the lady of his choice being Miss 
Elizabeth Mumford, whose family history is 
given in connection with the sketch of 
George Mumford on another page of this 
work. In 1865 they removed to their present 
farm, ]\Ir. Moore securing seventy-five acres, 
covered with mixed timber. He has cleared 
the tract, transforming it into highly culti- 
vated fields^ upon which he has placed many 
rods of tiling. All the accessories and im- 
provements of a model farm are here found, 
including a comfortable residence, substan- 
tial barns and outbuildings, the latest im- 
proved machinery and well kept fences. In 
1 89 1 he erected a neat and attractive resi- 
dence, and in 1899 built a substantial barn, 
40x60 feet. These stand as monuments to 
his thrift and enterprise, for all that he pos- 
sesses has been acquired through his own 
well-directed efforts. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Moore were born two cliildren. who died 



in infancy — Hannah and one unnamed. 
Randolph, the eldest surviving son, was en- 
gaged in farming in Clark county from 1876 
mitil 1888, when he went to Emporia, Kan- 
sas, being connected with the street railway 
of that city for three years. He also spent 
three years in Muncie, Indiana, where he 
was employed as a mechanic, and since that 
time he has lived with his father on the old 
homestead. For several years he operated a 
threshing machine. Mary, the surviving 
daughter, is the wife of John R. Snider, who 
is engaged in the operation of the old home 
place. The mother died September 14, 
1876, her loss being deeply mourned by many 
friends, who esteemed her highly for her 
many excellencies of character. 

Mr. Moore is a member of the Univer- 
salist church, and in his political affiliations 
he is a Democrat, always exercising his right 
of franchise in support of the men and meas- 
ures of that party. He has not, however, 
sought office for himself, but has given his 
attention in an undivided manner to his 
business affairs, which he has conducted with 
such energy that he has won rank among 
the substantial citizens of the communitv. 



JOHN SINGER. 

Actively connected with the agricultural 
interests of Bethel township, John Singer 
was born in the village of Brandt, October 
2, 184S, and is a representative of one of 
the honored pioneer families of Miami coun- 
ty. His ancestors came to this section of the 
state at an early period in its development, 
when the most far-sighted could not have 
dreamed of the changes which were soon to 
occur and produce the transformation, plac- 
ing this part of Ohio on a par with the older- 
settled regions of the east. The forests were 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



719 



uncut, the prairies uncultivated and the labor 
of development remained for the future. 
The parents of our subject were John and 
Elizabeth (Arnold) Singer, and it was 
Jacob Arnold, the maternal grandfather, 
who came to Miami county in pioneer days, 
locating near Brandt when only seven years 
old. The great-grandfather also bore the 
name of Jacob Arnold, and was a native of 
Germany. When a young man he crossed 
the Atlantic to the new world, taking up his 
abode in Kentuck)', where he was married. 
Subsequently he removed to Greene county, 
Ohio, and two years later took up his abode 
in Wayne townshi]), Montgomery county, 
where his family reiuained for many years. 
John Singer, the father of our subject, was 
also born of German parentage, and by trade 
was a shoemaker. He was twice married, 
his first union being with a Miss Bodiker, 
whom he wedded in Brandt. She died a 
year later, and their only child died in in- 
fancy. Mr. Singer worked at the shoe- 
maker's trade and enjoyed a good business, 
furnishing employment to four or five men. 
During a portion of his business career he 
successfully conducted a grocery store. He 
was recognized as one of the leading rep- 
resentatives of the business interests of this 
community, and through his well-directed 
efforts he acquired a comfortable com- 
petence. His death occurred in i860, when 
he had attained the age of forty-eight years. 
His wife, who was born in Montgomery 
county, survived him until June 17, 1894, 
when she, too, was called to her final rest, 
departing this life in Brandt. In their fam- 
ily were four children : John, whose name 
introduces this review; Mary, wife of David 
D. Mann, a farmer of Brandt; Elizabeth, 
wife of Michael Brenner, of Dayton, Ohio; 
and Anna Margaret, who died July 26, 1894. 



at the age of thirty-six years. Her death 
occurred just five weeks after her luother's 
demise. 

John Singer spent his boyhood days at 
Brandt and in the common schools obtained 
his education. He was early trained to 
habits of industry upon the home farm, 
working the fields throughout the summer 
months. For a number of years he served 
as township assessor, and his capability and 
worth were widely recognized by his fellow 
townsmen. In 1880, however, he left the 
farm and engaged in the grocery business, 
in company with John Black. The partner- 
ship was maintained for fourteen years and 
was attended with excellent success. They 
also bought and shipped wool and clover 
seed, handling almost all the wool grown 
in this section of the state. Close applica- 
tion to business, sound judgment and earnest 
purpose brought to them success, and they 
made money rapidly. In 1894, however, 
Mr. Singer sold his interest in the store, but 
yet deals in wool and clover seed. He has 
made judicious investments in farming land 
and is now the owner of a valuable tract 
of land in Bethel township, near Brandt, 
and another farm in Lost Creek township, 
giving his personal supervision to the 
former. He has it well stocked with sheep 
for wool producing purposes, and annually 
sells a large amount of that product. His 
home is situated in the village of Brandt 
and is a very pleasant residence. 

On the 20th of October, 1898, oc- 
curred the marriage of Mr. Singer and Miss 
Lana Hagen, a daughter of Augustus and 
Catherine (Smith) Hagen, of Elizabeth 
township, Miami county. Mrs. Singer was 
born in Minnesota, but during her early 
girlhood was brought by her parents to Ohio 
and spent the greater part of her early life 



720 



GENEALOGICAL AND BfOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in ]\Iiami county. She is a meailjer of the 
Reformed cliurch. of Alcony, and is a most 
estimable lady. 

In 1895 Mr. Singer's partner was elected 
to the position of township treasurer, but 
his death occurred the following fall and his 
last request was that John Singer be se- 
lected to fill the vacancy. The trustees there- 
fore appointed him. and the following spring 
he was elected to the office and has twice 
been re-elected without opposition, so that 
he is the present incumbent. He supports 
Democratic principles, often attends the con- 
ventions of his party and takes an active 
interest in its success and growth. In 1S84 
he was appointed postmaster and served four 
years, and in 1892 he was again appointed 
and served through Cleveland's second 
term. This office was not sought by him, 
but thrust upon him and he served his people 
well. Socially he is connected with the 
New Carlisle Lodge, No. 100, F. & A. M., 
but the greater part of his attention is given 
to his business affairs. In manner he is 
never ostentatious, but possesses that pure 
worth which cannot be hidden and which is 
always recognized by people of superiority. 
He is a type of the progressive spirit of the 
age — the spirit which has given marked pre- 
eminence along various business lines — and 
the undaunted enterprise, indomitable per- 
severance and resolute purpose which have 
ever characterized his career have been the 
means of raising him from a position of com- 
parative obscurity to a leading place in the 
ranks of the business men of ]sliami county. 



WTLLIAAI A. DUNCAN. 

One of the successful business men 
of Spring Creek township is William A. 
Duncan. Tireless energy and capable man- 



agement never fail to win prosperitv. and 
it is these qualities which have gained to 
Air. Duncan his place among the substan- 
tial citizens of this community. His entire 
life has been passed in Miami county and he 
is so widely known that he needs no special 
introduction to the readers of this volume. 
His birth occurred in Union township. De- 
cember 9, 1845. His father, Samuel Dun- 
can, was born in the same county, No\em- 
ber 9, 181 5, and is a son of Amos Duncan, a 
native of North Carolina, born February 
27, 1782. The year 1805 witnessed his emi- 
gration to Ohio. He located in Greene 
county and three years later came to Aliami 
county, establishing his home in Union town- 
ship, where he died July i. 1868. 

The subject of this review was only five 
years of age when his father removed to 
Spring Creek township, where he grew to 
manhood on the farm, which is now- the 
home of S. Frank Duncan. He acquired 
a good practical education in the common 
schools, was early trained to habits of in- 
dustry and economy and remained with his 
father until his marriage, which occurred on 
the 26th of January, 1871, the lady of his 
choice being Miss Jennie Leonard, who was 
born in Clermont county. Their union has 
been blessed with two children, Frank, who 
is living on the farm with his grandfather, 
and Chester A. 

The year following his marriage Air. 
Duncan of this review removed to the farm 
on which he is now living. He has made all 
of the improvements on the place and the 
valuable tract of one hundred acres is under 
a very high state of cultivation. Its fields 
are well tilled, its buildings kept in good re- 
pair and all the accessories and conveniences 
of the modern farm are here found. He car- 
ries on general farming and has been en- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



721 



gaged in contracting and building for many 
years. The timber he used in the construc- 
tion of his own home was cut upon the farm. 
Mr. Duncan is known as a reHable business 
man, entirely trustworthy, for he follows 
closely the ethics of business life. When 
investigation sets us to seek the secret of suc- 
cess, we find that in the majority of cases it 
has resulted from energy closely applied 
and from capable management. Such is the 
case with Mr. Duncan, who may well be 
numbered among the honored, self-made 
men of the community. Politically he is a 
Republican, unswerving in his advocacy of 
the party's principles. For four years he 
has served as justice of the peace, his rul- 
ings being strictly fair and- impartial, and 
thus has he won the commendation of all 
concerned. 



JOHN HAMILTON SAYERS. 

John Hamilton Savers, who is engaged 
in farming in Brown township, was born in 
Lost Creek township, Miami county, near 
Casstown, May 21, 1845, his parents being 
\\'illiam and Alary (Mason) Sayers. The 
Sayers family is one of the oldest in the 
county, a settlement having been made in 
Staunton township, near Troy, about 18 12, 
when almost this entire region was in its 
primiti\'e C(indition. The father of our 
subject was the fifth son of Thomas Sayers, 
who was born December 25, 1770. His wife, 
Frances (Dye) Sayers, was born in 1777. 
Their children were Andrew, Thomas, Jefifer- 
son, Samuel, William, Phebe, Sarah, Rachel, 
Mary, Elizabeth, Frances, Persilla, Cassa, 
Ann, Clarissa, Harriet and Eloner. Ezekiel 
Sayers, of Troy, is a son of Jefferson Say- 
ers. William Sayers, the father of our sub- 
ject, was married in Greene countv, Penn- 

42 



sylvania, in 1S36. Previous to his marriage 
he had lived with his parents in Staunton 
township, and then located in Lost Creek 
township. His wife was a daughter of 
James and Mary ]\Iason. Her father was 
born in Ireland, in 1784. \\'hen two years 
of age he was brought by his parents to 
America, the family locating in Pennsyl- 
\ania, where he grew to manhood. He 
wedded Mary Johnson. They spent their 
remaining days in Greene county, Pennsyl- 
vania, the father dying at the age of eighty- 
five years, the mother in her one hundredth 
year. Their daughter ]\Iary was born No- 
vember 9, 1 810, was married August 24, 
1836, and is still living in Greene county, 
Ohio. After their marriage William and 
Mary Sayers located on a farm near Cass- 
town, in Lost Creek township, and in 1850 
removed to Clark county, Ohio. Four years 
later they took up their abode upon a farm 
in Greene county, and there Mrs. Sayers 
is still living, but the father died March 17, 
1887, at the age of seventy-two years, his 
birth having occurred in Staunton township, 
Miami county, on the 29th of May, 1815. 
He was a prosperous farmer whose well 
conducted business afYairs brought to him a 
comfortable competence. In politics he was 
always a Democrat, but never sought or de- 
sired ofiice. In his family were eight chil- 
dren ; James M., born July 2, 1837, was mar- 
ried August 18, 1863, to Eliza Miller, and 
died in Clinton county, Ohio, August 26, 
1882; Frances E., born January 21, 1839, 
married Josiah Hitchcock and resides in Del- 
aware county, Indiana ; Clarissa, born March 
19, 1 84 1, died at the age of twenty-four 
years; Mary E., born May 6, 1843, became 
the wife of John Messecher and after his 
death became the wife of Solomon Koontz, 
her death occurring at the age of forty-seven 



722 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



years; John Hamilton is the next younger; 
Charlotte S., born May 17, 1848, lives with 
her mother; George W., born May 27, 185 1, 
is married and operates the- old home farm 
in Greene county; and William R., born Oc- 
tober 15, 1853, is a resident of Huntington, 
Indiana. 

John Hamilton Sayers remained at home 
until twenty-nine years of age, with the ex- 
ception of one year passed in Indiana and 
one year spent at work as a farm hand. He 
was married, Se^Dtember 24, 1874, in Warren 
county, Ohio, to Miss Sarah Dakin, daugh- 
ter of James and Nancy (Rich) Dakin, and 
a native of Warren county. Prior to his 
marriage Mr. Sayers purchased a farm in 
Greene county, and there lived until the death 
of his wife, November i, 1885. She died 
of typhoid fe\er, but had boen in delicate 
health for some years previously. She left 
two children, James Wilbur and Artineca, 
tho latter now the wife of Harley Snider, a 
farmer residing in Brown township. The 
son remained with the father until after he 
had attained his majority, but is now living 
in Greene county. Mr. Sayers, of this re- 
view, was married a second time, in Greene 
county, November 6, 1886, the lady of his 
choice being Miss Rosa Paxon, daughter of 
Aaron and Elizabeth (Mason) Paxon. 
They have four children : Annie, Lucreta, 
Cora and Ina. 

In 1889 Mr. Sayers purchased his pres- 
ent farm, which had been entered from the 
government by Peter Shank, the original 
patent being now in the hands of our sub- 
ject. The farm comprises eighty acres and 
has only once been transferred, Mr. Sayers 
purchasing it at an administrator's sale. 
Peter Shank erected the present brick house 
in 1838 and the barn was built in 1834. 
For some time before our subject took pos- 



session the property was rented and was 
therefore in a somewhat dilapidated condi- 
tion, but he has since made many excellent 
improvements and now has one of the most 
valuable properties in the \-icinity. He 
raises very extensive corn crops and his 
fields are well tilled. x\lthough his fields 
are naturally well drained, he has laid about 
four hundred rods of tiling. He devotes 
his attention almost exclusively to his agri- 
cultural pursuits and is regarded as one of 
the best farmers of the county. In politics 
he is usually accounted independent, but is 
now associated with the People's party, 
although he does not consider himself bound 
by party ties. Early in life he joined the 
Friends meeting and has since remained in 
active connection with that society. He is 
a member of tho Odd Fellows lodge, at 
Fletcher, and he and his wife are members 
of the Rebekah lodge. He has passed all 
of the chairs in the subordinate organization 
and is past noble grand. 



WTLLIAM M. THOMPSON. 

William M. Thompson follows farming 
in Newberry township, being connected with 
the pursuit that for many years has formed 
the means of livelihood of representatives 
of the Thompson family living in Miami 
county. Sylvester Thompson, his great- 
grandfather, was born in North Carolina, 
and about the year 1807, with his wife and 
five children, emigrated to Miami county, 
Ohio, taking up his abode in Newton town- 
ship, where he entered a claim now known 
as the Landis farm. He afterward entered 
the west half of section 32, Newberry town- 
ship, removing to that property about 181 7. 
He also entered two quarter-sections on 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



723 



Greenville creek about the same time, his 
landed possessions thus becoming very ex- 
tensive. He conducted a stillhouse on his 
farm and was one day found dead, lying in 
the spring branch. It is supposed that he 
had lain flat on his stomach in order to get 
a drink, and died in that position. This was 
in 1826, when he was about sixty years of 
age. In politics he was a stanch Democrat. 
His wife, Mrs. Polly Thompson, who was 
noted for her kindness of heart and sweet, 
gentle disposition, died in April, 1843, ^^ 
the home of her daughter, Mrs. John 
Hill, near the town of Pleasant Hill. 
After the death of her first husband she was 
again married, becoming the wife of a Mr. 
Freeman, of Newberry township. The chil- 
dren of Sylvester and Polly Thompson were 
fi\-o in number : John, the eldest, married 
Catherine Rench, and resides in Covington. 
In connection with his brother William he 
owned the site on which the east half of 
Covington was built, and conducted a tavern 
where Doctor Mover's house now stands. 
He afterward sold that and later engaged 
in the hardware business on what was then 
called Water street, close to the river. He 
■died on his farm east of Covington, on the 
8th of July, 1 841. James Thompson, the 
second member of the family, was born about 
1800, married Elizabeth Bierly and located 
■on Greenville creek, becoming an influential 
agriculturist of that community. He died 
on his farm several years prior to the death 
of his wife. Samuel, the third member of 
the family, was born in 1802, and was mar- 
ried in 1823 to Hannah Rench, daughter of 
Peter Rench. He died in 1895, on the farm 
where his son Josephus now lives. Will- 
iam, the fourth member of the family, 
wedded Nancy Rudy, and located on wdiat is 
known as the Teague farm, which was part 



of the land entered by his father from the 
government. He died at his pleasant home 
near Pleasant Hill in 1882. Nancy, the 
only daughter and the eldest of the family, 
was the wife of John Hill and lived on a farm 
near Pleasant Hill, which is now owned by 
Nate Iddings, of Bradford. There she spent 
her remaining days. 

It was William Thompson who became 
the grandfather of our subject. He was 
born in North Carolina, in 1804, and was 
consecpiently three years of age when his 
parents came to Miami county. His father 
entered land from the government and gave 
to him one hundred and sixty acres after his 
marriage. He wedded Nancy, daughter of 
Samuel and Sally Rudy, and about 1834 
he sold his farm and removed to Illinois, but 
as he could find no land to suit him in that 
state, he returned to Ohio and repurchased 
the old homestead from his brother John. 
He then engaged in farming for a time, but 
afterward once more sold the property to his 
brother John and purchased what is now the 
Kilworth farm, which was entered from the 
government by Samuel Rudy. On dispos- 
ing of that property he purchased the Fox 
farm, near the Darke county line, remain- 
ing thereon for a few years, when he again 
sold and bought thirty acres in Newton 
township from Mr. Butterfield. When he 
found a purchaser for that land he bought ten 
acres east of Pleasant Hill, and there prac- 
tically lived retired until his death, which 
occurred May 18, 1882. His wife, Nancy 
Thompson, passed away in 1847, and he 
afterward married Rachel Spillers, widow 
of William Kendall. She survived him for 
a few years. William Thompson was laid 
to rest in the Greenville creek cemetery. 
The children by his first marriage were: 
Mary, who married John Arnold and after- 



J24: 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ward married William ]\Iurphy, but is now 
a widow, and makes her home in Bradford; 
John, who married Catherine Coates, and re- 
sides in Xewborry township; Samuel, who 
married jMary Ann Fachler and died near 
Red River, Darke county, as did his wife; 
James, the father of our subject; Sarah, 
widow of Emanuel J. Beard, of Xewberry 
township; Martha, wife of Calvin Brant, 
both now deceased; Margaret, who became 
the wife of Joiin Swisher, and died in New- 
berry township; Hannah, who became the 
wife of Isaac Hollopeter and died near Hous- 
ton, Shelby county. Ohio, where her hus- 
band's death also occurred; William, who 
married Elizabeth Smith, and died in Cov- 
ington; Nancy Ann, who became the wife of 
Henry Cassal, with whom she removed to 
Illinois, where her death occurred, her re- 
mains, howover, being interred in Greenville 
creek cemetery ; Henry, of Fort Wayne, In- 
diana ; Nathan, who married Amanda Muck, 
and is living in Ludlow Falls ; and Sylvester, 
who married Miss Long, and resides in 
Pleasant Hill. There were two children by 
the second marriage, Matilda, wife of Ed- 
ward Carson, who resides near Sidney, Ohio, 
and Susan, wife of Samuel Burns, of Piqua. 
James Thompson, the father of our sub- 
ject, was born in Newberry township, in 
1826. and was reared in the usual manner 
of farmer lads of that period. He had no ed- 
ucational privileges and after the children 
attended school they taught him to read and 
write. He married Mary Moss, who was 
born in Xewljerry township in 1826, a 
daughter nf William Moss. They resided 
in Newberry township, where the father died 
in i86_'. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in 
his country's serxice as a member of Com- 
pany B. Seventy-iirst Ohio Infantry, under 
Captain McConnell. In }klay of the follow- 



ing year he was sent home on account of 
illness, and died on the 21st of that month. 
His wife, long surviving him. passed away 
in 1882. and both wore buried in the Green- 
ville creek cemetery. Their children were 
William JNI. ; Charles, who married Salome- 
Matthews and died in Newberr}- township 
in 1876; Peter, who married Catherine 
Sheffbaugh and is living in Covington; 
James, of Darke county, who married Cath- 
erine Rike, who is now deceased ; and Rachel 
M.. who died in infancy. 

William M. Thompson was born January 
25. 1846, on what is known as the James 
Teague farm, in Newberry township. There 
he was reared to manhood and obtained his 
education in the district school near his 
home. His privileges were somewhat lim- 
ited, however, for his services were needed in 
clearing and developing the home farm. On 
the 8th of February, 1864, at Covington, he 
responded to his country's call for aid, en- 
listing as a member of Company A, Eighth 
Ohio Cavalry, for three years' service. He 
went to Camp Dennison and after a short 
time to Camp Pratt, Virginia. The troops 
thence proceeded on the Lynchburg raid, but 
were driven back to Camp Pratt and after- 
ward sent to Martinsburg. in the Shenan- 
doah valley, and thence through Maryland 
anil Pennsylvania, being present at the burn- 
ing of Chamliersburg. j\Ir. Thompson also 
participated in the heaxy skirmish which was 
continued through thirteen days. The 
troops were pursued to Beverly, \'irginia, 
where Air. Thompson ami four hundred 
of his companions were taken prisoners, 
being taken to Staunton, where they were 
put on board trains bountl for Richmond. 
He was incarcerated in Libby prison from 
th? 1 6th of June until the 26th of February, 
1865, when he was paroled and returned 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



725: 



home. After \-isiting in Ohio for thirty 
days he started to rejoin his regiment, but 
learnetl of Lee's surrender and went to Co- 
lumbus, where he reported for dut)-. He 
was then sent to his regiment in Phihppi, 
West Virginia, where the command was 
given tlie chity of gathering up United States 
property, being thus engaged for about four 
weeks. Mr. Thompson was then dis- 
charged at Clarksburg, Virginia, July 13, 
1865. He saw hard service throughout his 
connection with the army, and spent the 
nineteenth anniversary of his birth in Libby 
prison. While at Beverly he and his com- 
panion, Martin Van Kirk, had pictures taken 
together. Mr. Thompson mailed one to his 
mothc'r in Ohio, but the mails were robbed 
by the rebels and the picture did not reach 
its destination ; but when Mr. Thompson was 
gathering up government property in Crab 
Bottom, Virginia, one of his comrades hap- 
pened to visit the home of a Confederate 
and saw the picture there. He then in- 
formed i\lr. Thompson, who visited the place, 
and after considerable parley the photograpli 
was returned to him. At the time of the 
capture of Beverly the Union troops were 
surprised in their bunks by the rebels. He 
and his friend. Van Kirk, were together as 
usual, and the latter went out to see what 
was the matter, whereupon he was seized. 
He then shouted to j\Ir. Thompson, who 
seized his gun with the intention of making 
a dash for liberty, but he found that the rebel 
force were too many for him, and after ex- 
changing some lively words was forced to 
surrender. By the side of his friend. Van 
Kirk, they started to march away shoulder 
to shoulder, but a volley was fired by some 
unknown scouts and Van Kirk fell, hit in 
the forehead by a bullet. Such, in brief, 
are some of the experiences through which 



Mr. Thompson passed while loyally defend- 
ing the Union during the civil war. 

x\fter he returned home he resumed work 
on the home farm. During his boyhood he 
had been emplo)-ed as a farm hand for two 
dollars per month and his board. After his 
marriage he received as high as three dol- 
lars per day for cradling wheat, being able 
to cut four acres per day. 

On the loth of March, 1867, Mr. Thomp- 
son was married to Miss Nancy J. Green, 
a daughter of Samuel Green, deceased, 
of Newberry township. They remained 
on his mother's farm where they lived 
for one and a half years and then 
rented land in Concord township, where they 
made their home for eight eyars. On the 
expiration of that period they returned to 
his mother's farm, and after her death Mr. 
Thompson purchased the property, to which 
he has since added twenty acres, and there 
he built a substantial and comfortable res- 
idence. He raised tobacco and garden prod- 
uce and attends the market at Piqua twice 
a week. He purchased forty acres of land 
near Fort Recovery and removed there in 
1882, but after remaining there a year and 
a half he returned to his present home. 
He is enterprising and progressi\'e in his 
business methods and receives a good income 
as the result of his energetic labors. 

Mr. and ]\Irs. Thompson now have six 
children : Charles, who died at the age of 
twenty years; Oscar, who married Emma 
Stauffer and lives in Covington; Walter E., 
who married Flora Reiber, and resides in 
Newberry township; Myrtie E., who mar- 
ried Asa Reck, a farmer in Darke county; 
and Hattie and George W. at home. The 
parents hold membership in the Greenville 
Creek Christian church, of which Mr. 
Thompson has been a member for many 



r26 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



years. In politics Mr. Thompson is a stanch 
Republican and keeps well informed on the 
issues of the day, but has not sought office, 
desiring rather to give his time and energies 
entirely to his business interests, in which he 
has met with signal success. 



JOHN H. FREDERICK. 

John H. Frederick, now deceased, was 
called from a life of active usefulness, Janu- 
ary 21, 1899. He was born in Fredericks- 
town, Frederick county, Maryland, January 
27, 1820, and in early life was apprenticed 
to a butcher to learn the trade. He spent the 
years of minority in his native state, and at 
the age of twenty-one accompaned his fa- 
ther's family to Ohio, a location being made 
in Montgomery county. The journey wai 
made across the country, the younger mem- 
bers of the family riding in wagons, while 
the older ones had to walk. They settled in 
Alexandria, but Mr. Frederick, of this re- 
view, went to Dayton, where he learned tb.e 
trade of blacksmithing. While he was there 
his parents removed to Beaver Creek town- 
ship, Greene county, and on the completion 
of his apprenticeship he joined them. He 
was accompanied by his wife, for in the 
meantime he had wedded Miss Sarah Black, 
the wedding taking place August 17, 1847. 
She was born Xovember 12, 1828, in Beaver 
Creek township, and is a daughter of Robert 
Black, whose birth occurred in X'orthumber- 
land county, Pennsylvania, in February. 1806. 
Throughout his entire life he carried on agri- 
cultural pursuits, being for many years a 
farmer of Greene county. At the age of 
twenty-one he wedded ^lary Coogler, who 
was born in that county. He spent the last 
years of his life in Daj'ton, where he lived 
retired, his death occurring there in 1869. 



His wife, long surviving him, passed away in 
1888. They were members of the German 
Reformed church. Their children are: 
Sarah, now Mrs. Frederick Simon, of Greene 
county; Jonathan, also of Greene county; 
Rebecca, wife of Orlando Lafony, of that 
county: Mary, deceased; Anna, wife of 
Samson Cozad, who is living near Eureka, 
I\Iissouri; Jacob, of Vermilion county. Illi- 
nois ; Jennie, wife of Morris Custer, of Day- 
ton; and Kate, who is also living in that 
city. The paternal grandfather of Mrs. 
Frederick was James Black. He was of 
Irish descent, and married a ladv who was 
also born on the Emerald Isle. Coming to 
Oliio they located on a farm in Clark county, 
where they spent their remaining days. 

As before stated, Mr. and Mrs. John H. 
Frederick joined his parents in Greene 
county. His father afterward removed to a 
farm in Darke county, where he spent the 
remainder of his life. Our subject did not 
long remain in Greene county, but removed 
to Urbana, Champaign county, Ohio, where 
he conducted a blacksmith shop for seven 
years. He also carried on the same line of 
business in Piqua for two years and thence 
came to Covington. For several years he 
engaged in blacksmithing where Dr. Hall's 
dental parlors are now located and then re- 
moved to North High street, where he built 
l;is home in 1887. During the war he en- 
listed as a prixate in 1862, becoming a mem- 
ber of Company B, Forty-fourth Ohio In- 
fantry. He served as a blacksmith through- 
out the remainder of the struggle, and was 
a most loyal advocate of the Union cause. 
He was always a faithful citizen, interested 
in whatever pertained to the welfare and 
progress of his community. His life was 
one of marked industry and enterprise, and 
commended him to the confidence of all with 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



727 



whom lie came in contact. On the 2 1st of 
January, 1899, he was called to his final 
rest, and the community mourned the loss 
of one whom they had known to respect and 
honor. His widow still survives him. They 
had traveled life's journey together for more 
than a half century, and his loss was an ir- 
reparable one. She has many warm friends 
in Covington, and occupies a comfortable 
home which was left to her by her husband. 



MARION JACKSON. 

In Loudoun county, Virginia, William 
Jackson was born in 1768, eight years be- 
fore our forefathers sent forth to the world 
the Declaration of Independence, and all 
through the long contest of seven years this 
sturdy Virginia boy remained at home, the 
support and comfort of his mother. He 
was fifteen years old when old England ac- 
knowledged the independence of the thir- 
teen colonies, and in the hands of the three 
millions of people on the Atlantic shore of 
the new world was entrusted the great prob- 
lem of a government of the people, for the 
people, and by the people. Since then the 
history of the new world cannot be written 
without the glorious history of the grandest 
republic of modern times. 

When William Jackson arrived at years 
of manhood he emigrated to Pennsylvania, 
near Red Stone Fort, and there he met, 
wooed and won for his wife Elizabeth Cred- 
lebaugh, who was born in Frederick, Mary- 
land, of German parents. Soon afterward 
the young married couple concluded to seek a 
home in the new-formed state of Ohio, and 
in 1804 they settled in Warren county, where 
they remained four 3'ears, when they re- 
moved to what is now Elizabeth township, 
Miami county, in a then wild wilderness 



with here and there a pioneer's rude log 
cabin. He lived for a time upon the farm 
of Benjamin Dye, a relative of his, who 
came here in 1799, and settled on the farm 
that, in part, yet remains in the Dye fam- 
ily. Two years previous to his removal to 
Miami county, William Jackson visited Ben- 
jamin Dye, and purchased a hundred and 
thirty acres at one dollar and a quarter per 
acre. He desired to purchase the farm now 
known as the Le Fevre farm, which was 
offered at one dollar per acre, but the Miami 
river and Lost creek were at flood tide, and 
the Le Fevre farm was a lake of water, and 
neither Staunton, then the county seat, nor 
Troy could be reached except by a skifif. The 
writer mentions this fact to show that at 
that early date Miami and Lost creek went 
together below the Broad ford as they did 
in 1898. He cleared a small field and 
erected a cabin on the one hundred and 
thirty acres, close by the present residence, 
and here was born his son, W^illiam Jack- 
son, December 5. 18 12, the father of Marion 
Jackson. William Jackson, Jr., worked and 
resided with his father until his marriage to 
Mary A. Ramsey, which occurred May 12, 
1839, and he then lived on the home place 
for three years, when he purchased a farm 
of fifty acres, within a mile of his father's 
farm, and lived there eight years. His fa- 
ther died on the 5th day of December, 1843, 
at the age of seventy;-five years. 

In 185 1 William JacksOn, Jr., sold his 
fifty-acre farm and purchased of his brothers 
and sisters their interest in the old home- 
stead. In 1854 his mother died at a ripe old 
age, after a life full of good deeds, a typical 
pioneer mother. 

William Jackson, Jr., had five children: 
Ellen, who married Jacob See; Amanda, 
]\Iarion, Albert, and William Henry, who 



728 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



died in infancy. He was a man of much 
more than ordinary judgment as a farmer, 
and although he had but a Hmited education, 
yet he was a good business man, for to tlie 
old homestead he added forty acres of land, 
and afterwards purchased, within a mile of 
the old homestead, a farm of one hundred 
and eighty-eight acres, which he paid for ofif 
cf the products of the farms, and then added 
to his farms by purchasing, in partnership 
with his son-in-law, a place known as the 
French farm of one hundred and forty 
acres. 

He died !March 8, 1878, respected and 
honored by all who knew him. The writer 
knew him well. He was a frugal, indus- 
trious farmer with a record of strict honesty, 
and so cautious and careful in his business 
matters that he enjoyed the confidence of 
the community in which he lived. He was 
occasionally selected as the administrator to 
settle estates, and guardian for minor chil- 
dren, and no one ever criticized his man- 
agement, and he was very successful in clos- 
ing the business of estates satisfactorily to 
the court, the heirs and the creditors. He 
often regretted his lack of education, and 
ga\'e to his children good common school 
educations. For many years he was a di- 
rector in the school district in which he lived. 
His wife, Mary (Ramsey) Jackson, was a 
worthy helpmate to her husband, and she 
survived him sixteen years. She passed 
away November 2, 1894. 

Marion Jackson, the subject of this 
sketch, was born in Elizabeth township, 
Miami county, ]\Iarch 4, 1849. He alwavs 
lived on the farm with his parents, and after 
his father died he and his sister, Amanda, 
and brother, Albert, purchased their sister 
Fllen See's interest in her father's estate, ex- 
cept forty-eight acres in the French farm. 



which they deeded to her, and all three re- 
mained on the farm with their mother until 
February 12, 1891, when Albert, the young- 
est son, was married to Miss Lillie Brad- 
fute, of Greene county, Ohio. Since then 
Albert has lived on what is known as the 
Bousman farm. To his marriage were born 
five children ; two have passed away and 
three are living. 

Marion and his sister remained single, 
and li\-e on the old Jackson homestead. The 
two brothers and their sister, Amanda, are 
equal partners in the land left by their fa- 
ther and acquired since his death. Marion 
is the business manager, and Albert has 
charge of the farms and farm hands. He 
is a natural mechanic, and does most of the 
repairing, both in iron and woodwork. Tti 
the estate of their father they have added 
since his death a farm known as the old 
Edwards, or Morrison farm, of one hundred 
and thirty-five acres, also a half interest in 
one hundred and seventy-two acres known 
as the Booher farm, which is all bottom 
land lying along the Miami river, and the 
Bousman farm, adjoining the old home- 
stead, of one hundred and twenty-two 
acres. They own in common seven hun- 
dred and seven acres, all of the best quality, 
well tiled, and improved in every respect, 
for the two brothers are good farmers, and 
have been ver\' successful both as farmers 
and stock dealers. 

Marion Jackson in many respects has the 
characteristics of his father, and inherits 
his business qualifications. He is known 
over this county as a gooil business man, and 
has the reputation of being a man of stern 
mtegrity. He has settled many estates and 
has served his township as justice of the 
peace for twelve years. He is a man of 
few words, and while he votes the Demo- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



r29 



cratic ticket, he is not a partisan nor a poli- 
tician. In farming he and his brother, Al- 
bert, are up with the times, and are recog- 
nized as money-makers and money-sa\'ers, 
and yet they live well, but have no money to 
squander or waste in the giddy pleasures of 
the world. The sister, Amanda, is a noble 
woman of domestic tastes, and has devoted 
her life to the care of her mother and broth- 
ers. She has remained unmarried from 
choice, believing her life duty was to care 
for her parents and her brothers, and a lov- 
ing, faithful daughter and sister she has been. 
The lesson of this sketch is that on the 
farm, with economy and industry, a com- 
fortable living can be made, and that also a 
reasonable competence can be secured. There 
were numbers of rich farmers' sons in Lost 
Creek and adjoining townships that are poor 
today because they thought a farmer's life 
Vv-as below their dignity, and they sold their 
interests in the old homestead and moved to 
the city to lead the life of "city gentlemen." 
Many of them engaged in mercantile trade 
withnut previous training for that business; 
others led a life of ease and idleness until 
their money was gone. Nine-tenths of them 
are today daily laborers, and some of them 
pay their rent by moving every few months, 
but the Jackson boys are comparatively rich, 
because they stayed by the old farm and fol- 
lowed the occupation they learned in boy- 
hood. The writer desires to emphasize the 
statement for the benefit of the farmer boys 
of this county: Stay by the farm and the 
farm will stay by 3'ou. E. s. \v. 



JUSTUS DIEHL. 

For thirty-four years Mr. Diehl has suc- 
cessfully conducted a wagon and blacksmith 
shop in Troy and his marked industry has re- 



sulted in bringing to him a comfortable com- 
petence which he justly merits. He was 
born in Hessen-Cassel, Germany, October 
I, 1839. and attended the public schools un- 
til fourteen years of age, in accordance with 
the laws of his native land. Subsequently 
he worked for three years at the cabinet- 
maker's trade with his father, and at the age 
of seventeen he crossed the Atlantic to 
America, making his way to Dayton, Ohio, 
where he joined his eldest brother. He 
learned the trade of wagon making and 
blacksmithing in Sidney, Ohio, txnder the 
direction of Jacob Piper, who is still living 
there, at the advanced age of eighty-six 
years. In 1863, however, Mr. Diehl put 
aside all personal considerations and re- 
sponded to the call of his adopted country 
for aid, and joined the boys in blue of the 
Eighth Ohio Battery. On the wall of his 
home he has framed a memorial in the shape 
of a record of the officers and men of his 
battery, together with a list of the battles 
in which it achie\'ed renown for skill and 
valor. Among the engagements are those 
of Vicksburg, Nashville, Yazoo and Arkan- 
sas Junction. Although always found at 
his post, Mr. Diehl was never wounded and 
returned in safety to his home, when his 
company was mustered out at Camp Denni- 
son, August 9, 1865. His patriotism and 
love of military life caused him to organize 
the Troy Battery of two guns, of which he 
was captain. 

In 1866 Mr. Diehl took up his abode in 
Troy and opened a blacksmith and wagon 
shop, which he has conducted for thirty- 
four years, although he is now living partial- 
ly retired. As the result of his close appli- 
cation to business, his excellent workman- 
ship and his honorable dealing he secured 
a liberal patronage, and this brought to him 



730 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



a comfortable competence so that he is now 
the owner of tlie nice residence that stands 
in the midst of a well-kept lawn on one of 
the valued corners of Main street. 

Mr. Diehl has been twice married. He 
wedded Mrs. Mary Ann Prill, of Troy, a 
native of Miami county, and to them were 
born five children : Charles, of Tippecanoe 
City; William and George, who are residents 
of Lima, Ohio ; Mrs. Walter Brown, of Pi- 
qua ; and Licla, who is also living in Piqua. 
After the death of the mother, Mr. Diehl 
married Mrs. Catherine Shell, a native of 
Covington, Ohio. Mr. Diehl is a charter 
member of Coleman Post, G. A. R., and 
takes an active and helpful interest in those 
affairs which relate to the welfare of his 
comrades in arms. He has always been 
noted for his loyalty as a citizen and re- 
spected for his industry and integrity in 
business affairs. From the little German 
home across the sea he made his way to the 
new world and entered upon his career which 
has been alike honorable and successful. 



SAMUEL C. KESSLER. 

Samuel C. Kessler is numbered among 
the native sons of Miami county, his birth 
having occurred on the 24th of March, 
1847, on the farm where his brother John 
now resides. His father, Martin Kessler, 
was also a native of the county, his birth 
having occurred in 1816, on the farm which 
is the home of John Layman. The grand- 
father, John B. Kessler, was born in Xorth 
Carolina and emigrated westward, becom- 
ing one of the pioneer settlers of Ohio. Here 
he secured three hundred and twenty acres 
of government land and became one of tlie 
successful and enterprising farmers of his 
community. He was also a recognized 



leader in public affairs and contributed large- 
ly to the substantial improvement of this sec- 
tion of the state. He aided in laying out 
roads, in building schools and served as a 
justice of the peace for many years, and was 
an active worker in the Methodist Episcopal 
church. Thus he contributed to tlie nmral, 
social, material and intellectual welfare of 
the cssmmunity. He died at the advanced 
age of eighty-three years, respected Ijy all 
who knew him. 

Martin Kessler, the father of our sub- 
ject, was reared under the parental roof and 
married Anna Hoover, whose birth occurred 
April 3, 1838. Her father, Solomon Hoo- 
ver, was born near Frederick, Miami county, 
in 1795, and her mother, Barbara Hoover, 
was born in Miami county, in 1800. In the 
family of Martin Kessler there were born 
eleven children, namely: William H. H., 
who was born June 13, 1839, and is a physi- 
cian at West ]Milton : Susan E., born Sep- 
tember 7, 1840. is the wife of Perry Kerr, 
of Dayton. Ohio; Daniel S., born June 18, 
1842, is living in West ^Nlilton; John O., 
born July 31, 1844; Samuel C, of this re- 
view: Solomon W., born April 8, 1849, and 
died in 1887: Sarah ]\L. born March 7, 
1 85 1, is the wife of James Cress, of Union 
township: Martha E., born September 17, 
1854, became the wife of Rufus P. Davis, of 
Troy, and died in 1893; Alartin W'., born 
June 2, 1857, is now engaged in the coal 
business in Troy: \\'ebster, born June 19, 
1859, is living on the old home farm; and 
Elizabeth B., born September 20. 1862, 
is a resident of West Milton. Martin Kess- 
ler died in the hospital at Xashvil.le, Ten- 
nessee. July 23, 1863, and his wife passed 
away January 4, 1892. 

Air. Kessler, whose name introduces this 
review, spent his childhood and youth in his 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(81 



father's home, where he early learned habits 
of industry and economy that have pr(jved 
of incalculable benefit in his business career. 
When twenty-two years old he was married 
and removed to a farm in Concord town- 
ship, Miami county, where he remained for 
one year, when he returned to Monroe town- 
ship and rented the Patty farm for three 
years. On the expiration of that period he 
purchased the farm which has since been his 
home, and the many excellent imjjrovements 
upon the place indicate his progressive meth- 
ods and his careful supervision. 

Mr. Kessler was married March 20, 
1869, to Miss Martha A. Macy, a native of 
Monroe township, born April 13, 1851, a 
daughter of Enoch and Eliza Macy. Enoch 
Macy was born in Monroe township in 1826, 
and died February 20, 1894. The mother 
was born in Pennsylvania in 1826, and is 
still living, in this township. Two children 
have lieen born to them : Ida, now the wife 
of Charles Pearson, of Monroe township; 
and Dora, wife of Freeman Pearson, a pho- 
tographer of Tippecanoe City. 

In 1898 Mr. Kessler was elected trustee 
of Monroe township for a term of three 
years and has been a school director for sev- 
eral years, his duties being discharged with 
promptness and in a creditable manner. In 
politics he is a Republican and socially he 
is connected with Stillwater Lodge, I. O. 
O. F., of West Milton, and religiously with 
the Christian church. His life has been 
cjuietly but honorably passed and he has 
gained the respect and friendship of many 
citizens of his community. 



VALENTINE DECKER. 
Classified among the leading and enter- 
prising business men of Piqua, Mr. Decker 
is now extensively engaged as a packer and 



wholesale dealer in meats. His record is 
one of which he may justly be proud, for 
his prosperity is the reward of his own 
effort. Success is not measured by the 
height which one may chance to occupy, but 
by the distance between the starting point 
and the altitude which he has reached ; there- 
fore Mr. Decker has gained a most merited 
success — a just reward for meritorious labor, 
— which commands the admiration and re- 
spect of all. 

He was born in Baden, Germany, April 
7, 1847, ^^'^^ when fifteen years of age se- 
cured employment in a meat market, being 
thus engaged until his emigration to Amer- 
ica in 1868. Hoping to better his financial 
condition in the new world, he crossed the 
Atlantic, landing at New York city on the 
1st of July, from the steamer Harmonia. 
He at once made his way to Miami cou4ity, 
and for about six months w(5rked in a 
butcher's shop in Troy. He then came to 
Piqua, where he worked for about two years, 
after which he went to Union City, Indiana, 
where he was employed for a similar period. 
In 1872 he returned to Piqua and was en- 
gaged in the retail meat business until Oc- 
tober, 1898, since which time he has con- 
ducted his wholesale establishment. He now 
does the largest wholesale meat business in 
the county and is an extensive packer. He 
has a good slaughter and packing house 
and his plant is excellently equipped for car- 
rying on his large and steadily growing 
business. 

On the 20th of February, 1872, Mr. 
Decker was united in marriage to Miss Han- 
nah Schafer, who was born in Germany and 
was brought to America when two years 
old. They have seven children : Louis F., 
who now conducts his father's retail meat 
market; George H., who is acting as sales- 



73-2 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



man and collector in his father's employ; 
Carl Jacob, who is also employed by his 
father; Walter Jacob; and Carrie Margaret, 
Hannah Elizabeth and William, all at home. 
]\Ir. Decker and his family are members 
of the Catholic chvirch and he is now serving 
as treasurer of the church with which he is 
connected. In his political views he is lib- 
eral. He borrowed money with which to 
come to America, but his hope of improving 
his financial condition has been more than 
realized, for he is now the possessor of con- 
siderable valuable property in Piqua and is 
recognized as one of its leading and enter- 
prising men. 



JOHN W. SNYDER. 

The inevitable law of destiny accords to 
tireless energy and industry a successful 
career. Clearly defined purpose and con- 
secutive elTort in the affairs of life will 
eventuate in the attainment of a due measure 
of prosperity, and in following out the career 
of one who has gained success by his own 
efiforts there comes into view the intrinsic 
individuality which makes such accomplish- 
ments possible. The history of such a one 
also indicates the possibilities that lie before 
every young man who enters the business 
world. Mr. Snyder is one who owes his 
prosperity to his own labors and may well 
be called a self-made man. He is now one 
of the owners and the manager of the Fran- 
cis Planing Mill and Sash & Door Factory, 
of Troy, an enterprise which contributes not 
only to the success of the owners but is 
also of material benefit to the city by pro- 
moting commercial activity. 

Mr. Snyder was born in German town- 
ship, Montgomery county, Ohio, June 28, 
1872. His fathen, Holcomb Snyder, re- 



moved from Waterloo, New York, to that 
township, in i860, and there engaged in the 
milling business until 1894. He afterward 
worked in the Francis Planing Mill until 
his death, which occurred October 20, 1899. 
His wife bore the maiden name of Nancy 
Frank, and was a daughter of John Frank, 
one of the early settlers of German town- 
ship. Her mother belonged to the Loy fam- 
ily, one of the most prominent and influential 
in Montgomery county. Mrs. Snyder passed 
away in 1889. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Snyder 
were born three sons and three daughters, 
but Edgar died at the age of fourteen years. 
Frank Snyder, the eldest, is now a rising 
young attorney at law of Portland, Indiana. 
The sisters, Mollie, Emma and Sallie, re- 
side with their brother, our subject, in Troy, 
where the family are most highly esteemed. 
John W. Snyder is indebted to the public 
schools of his native town for the educational 
privileges which he enjoyed. On putting 
aside his text-books he began work in a 
saw-mill and also worked in a sash and door 
factory owned and controlled by his father. 
Since May, 1899, he has managed the busi- 
ness of the Francis Planing Mill and Sash & 
Door Factory, becoming his father's suc- 
cessor. Mr. Francis, the owner of the 
plant, is one of the best known lumber manu- 
facturers and mill-men of this section of the 
state and is carrying on a very extensive 
business, and to be associated with him in 
any enterprise of which he has control is 
a guarantee of success and an indication that 
the partner possesses skill and ability of 
superior order and enjoys an unassailable 
reputation in business circles. Mr. Snyder 
is certainly well qualified for his present 
position. His knowledge of the business is 
practical as well as theoretical and he is thus 
enabled to superintend the men under him 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



r33 



most effectively. There is no trace of the 
overbearing taskmaster in him, yet he de- 
mands faithfnl service on the part of the 
employes and rewards them by promotion 
as opportunity offers. 

Mr. Snyder was united in marriage to 
Miss Daisy Martz, daughter of Alvin Martz, 
a merchant of Germantown, Ohio. They 
now have four interesting little sons : Cur- 
tis, Holcomh, Martz, and Harry. The par- 
ents are memliers of the German Reformed 
church, and fraternally Mr. Snyder is an 
Odd Fellow, while in politics he is a Repub- 
lican. He has nex'er sought or desired 
ofifice, howexer, preferring" to give his time 
and attention to his business interests, in 
which he has met with good success. 



ROBERT W. RIMES. 

The true measure of individual success 
4s determined Ijy what one has accomplished, 
and, as taken in contradistinction to the old 
adage that a prophet is not without honor 
save in his own country, there is particular 
interest attaching to the career of Professor 
Himes, the subject of this review, since he 
is a native son of this section of Ohio, where 
he has passed almost his entire life and so 
directed his ability and efforts as to gain 
recognition as one of the representative citi- 
zens of Miami county. He is now occupy- 
ing the responsible position of superintendent 
of the schools of Covington and is recog- 
nized as one of the leading educators in that 
locality, his methods being along the line 
of marked advancement that have given the 
Ohio schools prestige throughout the Union. 

It was on a farm southwest of Dayton 
m Montgomery county that Professor Himes 
was born, his natal day being April 15, 1850. 
His father, Martin Himes, was born in 



Montgomery county, November 13, 1823, 
received a limited education and entere 1 up .n 
his business career as a farmer. He married 
Anna Van Cleve, who was born in Mont- 
gomery county, Ohio, June 13, 1825. Her 
death occurred in 1883, and Martin Himes 
died at the home of our subject, on January 
10, 1897. They were consistent members 
of the Presbyterian church and people of 
the highest respectability. In their family 
were but two children, — Robert W. and 
Charles M., — both residents of Covington. 
At an earl)' day in the development of Ohio, 
the Himes family was established in this 
state by Samuel Himes, the paternal grand- 
father of our subject. He was born in 
Maryland, but emigrated westward in the 
early part of the century, accompanied by 
his wife, Elizabeth Himes, and the journey 
being made on horseback. His remaining 
days were passed in the Buckeye state and 
he died in Montgomery county. When only 
four years of age Professor Himes of this 
re\'iew accompanied his parents on their 
removal to Alpha, Greene county, Ohio, 
\\-here he remained for about eleven years. 
There he began his education in the public 
schools. 

In 1865 the family removed to Newberry 
township, ^liami county, where he continued 
his studies until 1866, when he entered the 
Covington high school, graduating in that 
institution in 1870. During the periods of 
vacation he assisted in the work of the home 
farm. Determined to devote his life to edu- 
cational labors, he began teaching in the 
country schools of Washington township 
until the fall of 1870, when, desiring to still 
further perfect his own knowledge, he ma- 
triculated in the Heidelberg College, in 
Tiffin, Ohio, where he remained two years. 
On the expiration of that period he accepted 



734 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



a position as assistant in the Covington high 
school, serving in that capacity until iSgi, 
Avhen he resigned in order to accept the pro- 
fessorship of Latin and Greek in the South- 
ern Illinois College. Later he was elected 
president of that college and served for two 
years, but in 1894 returned to Covington 
and succeeded Professor Bennett as the su- 
perintendent of the schools of this place. 
For six years he has been in charge of the 
educational interests of the city. He is con- 
stantly in touch with the progressive trend 
of the times and is continuously contriving 
to promote the interests of the sciiools along 
various lines. During his incumbency, the 
present splendid new school building has 
been erected and a musical course has been 
introduced. He believes most iirmly in 
higher education, realizing the importance of 
mental development • as a preparation for 
life's responsible duties. His labors are 
practical and his efforts consist not of an 
attempt to make the student familiar with 
the historical facts and scientific principles 
merely as such, but are directed toward 
making these of practical value that they -may 
be of use to the students in the general affairs 
of business or home life. 

In Covington, on the 26th of August, 
1873, Professor Himes was married to Miss 
Laura J. Ullery, a daughter of Aaron and 
Eliza (Merriwether) Ullery. Six children 
have blessed their union, but their first born 
and Edith died in infancy. The others are 
Clara, Arthur, Ruth and Alice. During his 
boyhood Professor Himes united with the 
Evangelical Lutheran church and later be- 
came a member of the German Reformed 
church. He is now a mem1:)er and elder in 
tile Cumberland Presbyterian church and 
takes a very active interest in its work. He 
is widelv known as an earnest Christian 



gentleman, affable and kindly in manner and 
highly esteemed for his sterling worth. He 
is a man of high intellectuality, broad human 
sympathies and tolerance, and imbued with 
fine sensibilities and clearly defined prin- 
ciples. Honor and integrity are synony- 
mous with his name, and he enjoys the re- 
spect, confidence and high regard of the 
community. 



THOMAS L. HUGHES. 

In no field of human endeavor is there 
given to the world a clearer assurance of a 
man and a man's appreciation of the higher 
ethics of life, than when cognizance is taken 
of the efforts of one who has consecrated 
his life to the work of the Christian ministry 
and who has labored to goodly ends. There 
is, then, an eminent degree of satisfaction 
in directing the attention at this jwint to 
the pastor of the First Presbyterian church 
at Picjua, and of reviewing his career suc- 
cinctly and with due regard to the innate 
modesty of the man, who has ever endeav- 
ored to follow the divine behest and not allow 
his left hand to know what his right hand is 
doing. The church has been advanced ma- 
terially and spiritually and in its various 
functions the pastor maintains a lively and 
well informed interest, according due value 
to every phase of church work, and by pre- 
cept and example vitalizing each element. 

He was born in Jackson county, Ohio, 
April 27, 1850. His father, Thomas L. 
Hughes, Sr., was a native of Wales and re- 
mained in that little rock-ribbed country un- 
til about thirty-five years of age. when he 
came to America. He engaged in the manu- 
facture of pig-iron at Oak Hill, Jackson 
county, Ohio, and was one of the stock- 
holders in the Jefferson Furnace Company, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



785 



in wliich he held the office of secretary and 
treasurer. Before becoming C(jnnected with 
the company he had engaged in merchandis- 
ing in Oak Hill for several years. Not only 
prominent in industrial circles, he was rec- 
ognized as one of the leading representa- 
ti\es of the Republican party, and on that 
ticket was elected to the state legislature. 
He also serx'ed as county commissioner and 
justice of the peace. A man of scholarly 
attainments and marked literary ability, he 
contributed frequently to \\'elsh magazines, 
and wrote the only Life of Christ ever pub- 
lished in the Welsh language, in America. 
He was a prominent and faithful member of 
the Welsh Presbyterian church and his re- 
ligious belief dominated his entire career, 
making his life a very honorable and upright 
one. In his business affairs he met with 
splendid success, obtaining a handsome com- 
petence as the result of his careful manage- 
ment and well-directed efforts. He died in 
March. 1896, when about ninety years of 
age. His wife, who bore the maiden name 
of Ann Jones, was born in South Wales 
and when a young lady came to America. 
They were married in Cincinnati and she 
died in 1857, when about thirty-seven years 
of age. Like her husband she, too, was a 
member of the Welsh Presbyterian church. 
In their family were five children : Jane, 
wife of M. D. Jones, a coal operator of Jack- 
son county, Ohio ; Thomas Lloyd, of this 
review; Anna, who became the wife of Dr. 
W. E. Williams, of Jackson county, Ohio, 
and died at the age of thirty-eight years ; 
and Winnifred, who became the wife of J. 
A. Jones, of Oak Hill, and died when about 
thirty-five years of age, leaving one child. 
Rev. Thomas Lloyd Hughes was reared 
amid the refined influences of a cultured home, 
and after acquiring his preliminary educa- 



tion in the common schools pursued his 
studies at Oak Hill. When about fourteen 
years of age he entered the Ohio University 
and after his graduation in that institution 
pursued a post-graduate course in Princeton 
University. He then studied law in the 
Cincinnati Law College, was admitted to 
the bar in 1874 and practiced in Jackson 
county for about two years, but, wishing to 
devote his energies to the higher and holier 
calling of the ministry, he began preparation 
therefor in 1876, pursuing a partial course 
of study in Lane's Seminary. He was or- 
dained to preach in June, 1877, and took 
charge of the Eckmansville church, where 
he remained for three and a half years. He 
was then pastor of the Presbyterian church 
r.t Pomeroy for two and one-half years, after 
which he accepted the pastorate of the Pres- 
byterian church at Shelbyville, Indiana. 
During his nine years' service there he built 
a new church and the Portage Mission 
chapel. In September, 1892, he came to 
Piqua, where he has since remained. The 
church here has a membership of about six 
hundred and fifty and owns property to the 
value of seventy-nine thousand dollars. 

Rev. Hughes was married in Ports- 
mouth, Ohio, to Miss Hattie Clare, who was 
born in Jackson county, Ohio. They have 
six children : James Clare, who is a stu- 
dent in the State Law School and has just 
been admitted to the bar; Catherine, wife 
of J. B. Wilkinson, of Piqua; Anna; Thomas 
L. ; Mary; and Emma. In his political 
views Mr. Hughes is an earnest Republican 
and served as city solicitor while practicing 
law in Jackson. -When only twenty-two 
years of age he could have been elected to 
the legislature, but his father objected to 
his accepting the nomination. Hanover 
College has conferred upon him the degree 



736 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of Doctor of Divinity in reciignition of his 
scholarly attainments and excellent work in 
the church. In 1899 he was elected moder- 
ator of the synod of Ohio. He is one of 
the most eminent of the Presbyterian minis- 
ters of the state and is now in charge of one 
,of the largest pastorates in this part of Ohio. 
He has that practical appreciation of the 
affairs of life that lends greater potency to 
his ministerial labors, while as a pulpit orator 
he is logical, convincing and eloquent, ap- 
pealing not alone to the emotional side of 
human nature, but to the most mature judg- 
ment and most critical wisdom. His strength 
as an organizer and practical worker 'is 
evidenced sufficiently in his accomplishments, 
and the Christian religion has an able and de- 
voted supporter and advocate in the hon- 
ored subject of this sketch. 



^^CHAEL CRA\V}>IER. 

For many years a resident of Miami 
county,Michael Crawmer was one of its most 
highly respected citizens and in his death the 
comunity lost one whom all had learned 
to respect and honor for his sterling quali- 
ties of head and heart. He was boni in 
Frederick county, Maryland, near Frederick 
City, on the 12th of February, 181 1. His 
grandfather was a Hessian soldier who 
fought in the Revolutionary v>ar. He came 
to this country with the British army, but, 
becoming convinced of the justice of the 
American cause, he deserted near Philadel- 
phia and established a home in the new 
world. After the war he took up his abode 
in Alaryland, and thus became the founder 
of a family on this side of the Atlantic. 
Peter Crawmer, the father of our subject, 
came to Muskingum county about 1833, '^"^^ 
here spent his remaining days. His son. 



Michael, was reared in ^laryland, being 
twenty-two years of age when the family 
came to Ohio. He learned the cooper's 
trade in Muskingum county, serving a regu- 
lar apprenticesiiip, during which time he 
received twenty-five cents per week and his 
board. Subsequently he worked as a jour- 
_neyman, receiving twenty-five cents each for 
flour barrels. 

During that year Mr. Crawmer was mar- 
ried, on the 28th of October, 1838. to }iliss 
^Miranda Alumford, a sister of John ^lum- 
ford. They at once began housekeeping, 
Mr. Crawmer making his own furniture, 
while 'the cooking utensils and other fur- 
nishings of that character were given them 
by their parents. During the first winter 
after his marriage Mr. Crawmer's labors 
at coopering brought him sufficient capital 
to enable him to purchase a horse, and the 
next spring his lirother-in-law, George Mum- 
ford, remo\ed them to Miami county. For 
two years Mr. Crawmer rented a farm north 
of Alcony and subsequently spent thirteen 
years on the Dr. Beard farm. His labors 
during that period brought him capital suffi- 
cient to enable him to make a third payment 
upon one hundred and sixty acres of the old 
homestead farm. He purchased this in 
1853 and at once began its further develop- 
ment and improvement. A small clearing 
had been made and a small log house had 
been erected. With characteristic energy 
Mr. Crawmer took up the work of dexxlop- 
ment and improvement and within t\\ i) years 
not onlv had his lanil under a good state of 
cultivation but had disch.arged the entire 
indebtedness on the place. For eighteen 
years he there carried on agricultural pur- 
suits and was a most systematic and enter- 
prising general farmer. In 1857 he erected 
the barn which is still standing. The timber 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



IBl 



was cut upon the farm and the structure is 
as it was originally built, having been kept 
in good repair. The residence was erected in 
1 86 1, the old-fashioned heavy frames being 
used. Mr. Crawmer made the plans for both 
the house and l)arn and gave his personal 
supervision to the work. He placed about 
one hundred and thirty-five acres of his land 
untler cultivation and divided the farm into 
fields of convenient size, which yielded him 
a golden tribute in return for his care and 
labor. He reclaimed a swampy tract of 
several acres by tiling and made that portion 
of his farm the most productive and \-alu- 
able part of it, having refused one hundred 
and fifty dollars per acre for it. About 1870 
he began adding to his property, purchasing 
forty-five acres adjoining the old homestead. 
His farm was planted to the grains best 
adapted to the climate, and his labors were 
rewarded with excellent harvests. During 
the last thirteen years of his life he lived re- 
tired, relegating the management of his 
property to others while he enjoyed a well- 
merited rest. 

Unto Mr. and Airs. Crawmer were born 
the following children : Henry G., who died 
at the age of forty-five years ; Elizabeth Ann, 
wife of Henry Lefl^el, of Clark county ; 
George W., of Elizabeth township; John P., 
of Clark county; Miranda Ellen, wife of 
James Ledwidge, of Miami county; Mary 
Amanda, wife of W. D. Weaver, of this 
county; James W., of Elizabeth township; 
Robert, who died in infancy, as did the 
next chikl; Charles E. S. ; and Maggie L., 
who married E. L. Davis and died at the 
age of twenty-five years. 

In his political views Mr. Crawmer was 

a stanch Democrat and kept well informed 

on the issues of the day, yet ne\-er sought 

or desired public office, caring not to enter 
43 



into political controversy. His opinions 
were formed as the result of careful delibera- 
tion, and he accorded to all the right he re- 
served for himself of working out his own 
ideas and exemplifying them in his ballot. 
At the age of sixteen years he joined the 
Lutheran church and throughout his life 
was a consistent Christian gentleman. He 
contributed generously to all church work 
and was very liberal in his \'iews, although 
he believed most firmly in the teachings of 
the scripture. He read the Bible through 
seven times and was well qualified to argue 
on any subject connected therewith, making 
a close study of religious questions. He was 
absolutely just and fair in his treatment of 
friends and neighbors and was never known 
to over-reach anyone in a business trans- 
action. He felt the keenest interest in the 
welfare and advancement of Miami county, 
which he regarded as the garden spot of 
Eden. His support was withheld from no 
measure which he believed would prove of 
public good and he was recognized as one 
of the valued citizens of his community. 
Some time prior to his death he gave much 
thought to the division of his property and 
left a will which was pronounced to be one 
of the most correct ever probated. His 
wife, who was a most estimable lady and 
devoted to her home and family, passed away 
on the 20th of September, 1881, but he sur- 
vived her for about sixteen years, dying on 
the 1 2th of August, 1897. All who knew 
him esteemed him for his sterling worth. 
In business matters he was prompt and re- 
liable, his religious views were consistent yet 
tolerant, and in his relations with his fel- 
low men he was known as a trustworthy 
friend and a loving husband and father, as 
well as a loyal citizen. He well deserves 
mention among those whose influence and 



738 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



labors have been directed in those channels' 
which make the world better aloiig ethical 
as well as moral lines. 



CHARLES E. S. CRAWMER. 

Charles E. S. Crawmer occupies the old 
family homestead where his birth occurred 
May 1 8, 1857. He first ojjened his eyes to 
the light of day in the little log cabin which 
was the home of his parents, Michael and 
Miranda (Alumford) Crawmer. His edu- 
cation was obtained in the local schools and 
upon the home farm he was early trained 
to habits of industry and enterprise. In his 
youth he became familiar with the work of 
field and meadow and assisted in all the 
labors of the farm until his father's retire- 
ment, when he assumed the management of 
the property, which he has since operated. 
Upon his father's death he inherited forty 
acres of land — the tract upon which the old 
home was located. He has since purchased 
the interest of some of the other heirs and 
his farm now comprises one hundred and 
twenty acres. He carries on general farm- 
ing and stock-raising and his place is neat 
and thrifty in its appearance. He makes a 
specialty of feeding cattle and hogs, and 
finds in that branch of his business a profit- 
able source of income. 

On the 1st of March, 1893, Mr. Craw- 
mer was united in marriage to Miss Jennie 
M. Moses, a daughter of Samuel F. and Su- 
sanna (Nolan) Moses, of Champaign 
county. She was born in Staunton town- 
ship, Miami county, but was reared in 
Champaign county and obtained her educa- 
tion in the schools there. Both Mr. and 
Mrs. Crawmer enjoy the warm friendship of 
a large circle of acquaintances. He has 
spent his entire life in this locality, and the 



fact that those who have known him long- 
est are numbered among his best friends is 
an indication that his career has lieen an 
honorable and upright one. His life, though 
quietly passed, has ever been characterized 
by fidelity to duty, and he is known as a wor- 
thy representative of an honored pioneer 
family. 



HENRY H. HART. 

Henry H. Hart, who is now living a re- 
tired life in Casstown, was born in Eliza- 
betii township, Miami county, near the old 
Sheets mill, December 4, 1835. His parents 
were Harrison and Catherine Emeline (Ti- 
tus) Hart, both of whom were natives of 
New Jersey, born near Trenton. Nothing 
is known concerning the early history of 
the Hart family. Samuel Titus, the mater- 
nal grandfather, was born December i, 1761, 
and wedded Mary Van Kirk, whose birth 
occurred on the 14th of November, 1779. 
He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war 
and participated in the liattle of Trenton, 
New Jersey. Coming to Ohio at an early 
period in the history of the state, he here 
made his home until his death, which oc- 
curred about 1840. His widow survived 
him about twenty years, passing away in 
i860, at the age of eighty years. Their son, 
Asa Titus, inherited the old homestead, 
which he sold to Isaac Sheets about 1850, 
and then returned to New Jersey. He had 
two sisters, Catherine Emeline and Ruth 
Ann. The latter married Jacob Drake and 
died in Elizabeth township when about 
sixty-six years of age. The former was the 
mother of our subject. She was born in 
New Jersey, October i, 1816, and about 
1830 came with her parents to !Miami county. 
She passed away at tiie age of seventy-one. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



739 



Mr. Hart, of this review, was born and 
reared in Elizabeth township and tliere re- 
sided until twenty-eight years of age. When 
a youth of ten years he went to live with H. 
G. Carver, at the old woolen-mill, there re- 
maining until seventeen years of age. He 
had there an excellent home and was allowed 
the privilege of attending school through the 
winter months. Subsequently he learned 
the carpenter's trade under the direction of 
Eli Miller, of Lost Creek township, Imt after 
a year he began to work on a farm by the 
month, in Elizabeth township, being em- 
ployed mostly by Mr. Carver. 

On the 1st of January, 1861, Mr. Hart 
was united in marriage to Miss Minerva Jane 
Crane, daughter of James P. and Letitia 
(Clyne) Crane. The father was a son of 
Ephraim Crane, and was born in Ohio. He 
died when his son was about nine years of 
age, leaving two children : Jacob and Min- 
erva J., the former a resident of Staunton 
township. Mrs. James P. Crane, is a sister 
of Isaac Clyne. She came to Casstown 
during her early girlhood and there remained 
throughout the rest of her lifetime. Her 
last days were spent in the home of hor 
daughter, and she died at the age of sixty- 
four years. 

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Hart 
resided upon a rented farm for four years, 
and in 1865 came to Casstown, where he en- 
gaged in carpentering with Alec Long, with 
whom he worke-d for twenty-five years. 
During a greater part of his active business 
career his energies have been devoted to 
building. In 1889 he purchased a farm in 
Lost Creek township, four miles northeast 
of Casstown, where he has one hundred and 
sixty acres of rich land, a portion of which 
he rents. He has erected nearly all of the 
best homes and barns in Lost Creek town- 



ship, and on all sides stand these monuments 
to his thrift and enterprise. His life has 
been an energetic and useful one and his 
business dealings have ever been character- 
ized by honesty. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hart were born two 
children, but the younger, William L., died 
in infancy. The daughter, Mary Olive, is 
now the wife of Fernando Free, and is living 
on a farm near her father. Mr. Hart votes 
with the Democracy on matters of state and 
national importance, but at local elections 
casts his vote independently. He is a mem- 
ber of the Cove Springs Christian church 
and his wife of the Casstown Methodist 
Episcopal church. In 1872 he became a 
member of the Odd Fellows society in Cass- 
town Lodge, No. 426, has passed all the 
chairs and is now identified with the Uni- 
formed Rank. He came to Casstown in 1865 
and purchased the home which he yet occu- 
pies, and throughout the intervening years he 
has been regarded as one of the enterprising, 
progressive, and valued citizens of the com- 
munity. He is widely known for his sterling 
worth and his fidelity to principle, and in this 
volume he well deserves representation. 



DAVID C. MANNING. 

David C. Manning is numbered among 
Miami county's native sons. He was born 
in the northeast corner of Brown township, 
February 3, 1835, his parents being Major 
Clarkson and Phoebe (Corey) Manning, 
who resided at Plainfield, New Jersey, thirty- 
five miles west of New York. The pa- 
ternal grandfather was Isaac Manning, who 
was of German descent and served as a 
soldier in the Revolutionary war, taking 
part with Washington's army in the battle 
of Trenton. Clarkson Manning was a 



740 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



soldier in the war of 1812, his services heing 
in connection with the guarding of the hay 
of New York and Sandy Hook. He was at 
that fort when the British vessels ap- 
proached, and aided in firing one of three 
guns. A shot struck one of the vessels and 
the fleet then retreated. From that time for- 
ward Mr. Planning was known hy the title 
cf major. He was married in Xew Jer- 
sey, and in 1818 took up his abode in Butler 
county, Ohio, entering land from the gov- 
ernment in ^liami county, and making his 
Ijermanent home thereon. The old sheep- 
skin patent, dated July 13, 1819, and signed 
by President James Alonroe, is now in pos- 
session of his son David. His services in 
the w-ar of 181 2 were recognized by the gov- 
ernment in 1852 when President Fillmore 
signed a patent granting him land in Illinois. 
He, however, never left his Ohio home, 
which was his abode from 18 19 until his 
death, which occurred April 12, 1887, when 
he was in his ninety-fourth year. He re- 
tained his mental faculties unimpaired. His 
death resulted from an accident, he having 
slipped on the ice several weeks before. His 
wife passed away about eighteen weeks pre- 
vious, her death having occurred in her 
ninety-seventh year. Both were particularly 
well preserved old people, who to the last 
maintained an active interest in the affairs 
of the day. Air. Manning was a Jacksonian 
Democrat, and was always ready to uphold 
his position by intelligent argument. His 
wife was a member of the Leatherwood 
Baptist church, which owned the iirst brick 
house of worship in the township. Mr. 
Manning was not a memlser of church but 
was a great believer in church and always 
accompanied his wife to the house of wor- 
ship. Airs. Alanning was particularly active 
in church work, was a verv true and loval 



woman, anil both were people of the highest 
respectability. His first house was a log 
cabin of primiti\'e construction, but later it 
was replaced by a fine log house, well built, 
twenty-two by twenty-eight feet, and two 
stories high. It was the first dwelling in 
the township that had a shingle roof, and 
for many years it was occupied, but was 
ultimately torn down by David C. Alanning. 
His third home, built about sixty years ago, 
is still standing. It is a two-story brick 
residence, and at an early day the place was 
noted for its generous hospitality, entertain- 
ment being there furnished to all travelers 
who passed this way. Air. and Airs. Alan- 
ning were the parents of seven children: 
Parkus, who died at the age of nine years; 
Elsie Anna, who became the wife of David 
Counts, and died at her home in Fletcher 
about ten 3-ears of age : Isaac, who died at the 
age of forty years on his f^rm east of Lena, 
in Champaign county, where his son Walter 
is now living; Johanna, wife of John Hair, 
who removed to Illinois in pioneer days, Airs. 
Hair dying in Fulton county, that state-; 
Alary Jane, widow of William Wooley and 
a resident of Palestine, Ohio ; and John, who 
died at the age of eighteen years. 

David Corey Alanning, the subject of this 
sketch, was reared on the farm and for 
some years operated the old homestead. 
Later, however, his father rented the prop- 
erty. On the 5th of February, 1857, our 
subject was married to Aliss Caroline 
Throckmorton, of Brown township, a 
daughter of George and Sarah (Lafferty) 
Throckmorton, w'ho were New Jersey peo- 
ple. The father came to Ohio with his par- 
ents, and in Warren county was married. 
He was a carpenter by trade and for some 
time resided in Piqua, but afterward settled 
on the farm in Brown township now owned 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



741 



by S. S. Yates. Tliere he developed a good 
farm, making it liis home until his removal 
to Clinton county. After three years, how- 
ever, he returned and purchased a farm ad- 
joining his old place. He died on that prop- 
erty, but in the meantime had resided for a 
brief interval at Conover. Mrs. Manning 
was born on the old homestead, October 25, 
1838, and by her marriage became the mother 
of two sons, George D. and Charles E., the 
latter li\'ing on the old Manning home- 
stead. Both are married and are numbered 
among the enterprising farme>rs of Brown 
township. Since the age of eighteen George 
has engaged in teaching, and is one of the 
well known educators of the county. 

In 1865 David C. Manning, of this re- 
view, took charge of a steam saw-mill north 
of Conover and operated the same until it 
was destroyed by fire three years later. In 
1868 he purchased his present farm of Daniel 
H. Knoop, and after ten years had cleared 
the place of all indebtedness. This farm 
comprises seventy-seven and a half acres, 
upon which he has made excellent improve- 
ments, including the erection of substantial 
farm Iniildings. Everything about the place 
is in first class condition and indicates the 
supervision of a practical and progressive 
owner. In addition to managing his own 
affairs, he acted as administrator of his fa- 
ther's estate, the land being divided according 
to his father's wishes. He received forty 
acres of the old homestead, since which time 
he has purchased his sister's interest and now 
has eighty acres. He was also administra- 
tor of his father-in-law's estate, successfully 
controlling that business and settling up 
affairs satisfactorily to all. He exercises 
his right of franchise in support of the men 
and measures of the Democracy, but has 
ne\^er held office, save that of trustee, to 



which he was elected for an unexpired term 
of six months, then ro elected to the same 
office for one year and afterwards for three 
years more. He never asked any man for 
his vote, and the support given him was an 
acknowledgment of his popularity and the 
confidence reposed in him by his fellow 
townsmen. Early in the existence of the 
Grange movement he became identified 
therewith and took an active part in its 
work, holding many offices therein. His 
life has ben an active, honorable and u.seful 
one, and every trust reposed in him has 
been faithfully performed. 



THOMAS KNICK. 

Thomas Knick was born on the old fam- 
ily homestead a half mile west of Casstown, 
in Lost Creek township, August 13, 1837. 
His parents were \\'iliam and Rachel (Arm- 
strong) Knick, natives of Virginia, who came 
to this county among the early settlers. Mr. 
and Mrs. Knick had a family of nine chil- 
dren. The father served in the war of 1812, 
and after his death his widow was granted 
a pension. He died December 14, 1848, 
at the age of fifty-six years, two months and 
seven days, and his wife passed away Octo- 
ber 3, 1864, at the age of seventy-one years 
and seven months, their remains being in- 
terred in the Knoop cemetery in Staunton 
township. 

Mr. Knick, whose name introduces this 
review, spent his boyhood days on the home 
farm, assisting in the work of field and 
meadow through the summer months, while 
in the winter season he pursued his education 
in the public schools. After attaining the 
age of twenty-five years he operated the old 
homestead on his own account for two years. 
He remained with his mother after her hus- 



742 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



band's death until she, too, was called to her 
home beyond, when the old farmstead was 
sold. Mr. Knick thus realized a little more 
than thirteen hundred dollars from the estate, 
and with what he had saved he had eighteen 
hundred dollars with which to begin life 
for himself. He rented his brother's farm, 
the old Stroch place, near Addison, Clark 
county, and operated it for two years, after 
which he removed to the Joseph Fuller farm 
in Clark county, upon which he resided one 
year. On the expiration of that period he 
came to his present farm in Brown township, 
Miami county, becoming the owner of eighty 
acres of land, for which he paid forty-eight 
Iiundred dollars. After making a payment 
upon it he was still in debt to the amount of 
twenty-five hundred dollars, but his crops 
brought him good financial returns and he 
was soon enabled to clear his farm from all 
indebtedness. The greater part of it was 
covered with timber at the time he took 
possession and the improvements consisted 
only of a small log house and barn. He at 
once began the work of clearing away the 
trees and has placed seventy-two acres under 
a high state of cultivation. He has also laid 
one hundred and sixty rods of tiling and 
thus reclaimed what was ijefore wet land. 
He feeds most of the grain raised on his farm 
to his stock and is recognized as one of the 
successful and extensive stock-dealers of the 
community. About nine" years ago he 
erected a commodious and suljstantial resi- 
dence and has since made other modern im- 
provements, so that he is to-day the owner of 
one of the desirable farms of his neighbor- 
hood. 

In 1865 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Knick and Aliss Beckie Croy, of Miami 
City. Their union has been blessed with 
the following children: Maggie; Riky ; Fir- 



man, who at the time of this writing has just 
returned from a hunting trip on the ]\Iissis- 
sippi, laden with trophies of the chase ; Will- 
iam Harle}', who is twenty-one years of age 
and is a student in the blind institution of 
Columbus; Bessie, wife of Lewis Kiser, a 
farmer of Brown township; Ervin; Gracie; 
and Clarence B., who died in infancy. The 
family is one of prominence in the commu- 
nity, the members of the household occupy- 
ing a leading position in social circles. Mr. 
Knick votes with the Democracy, but his 
time and attention are fully occupied by his 
business affairs, and he is known as one of 
the most energetic and capable farmers of 
his neighborhood. His success has come 
to him as the direct result of his own efforts 
and his example shows what may be accom- 
plished by determined purpose when guided 
by honesty and supplemented by careful 
management. 



CHARLES U. BRIGGS. 

In the great competitive struggle of life, 
when each must enter the field and fight his 
way to the front, or else be overtaken by 
disaster of time and place, there is ever par- 
ticular interest attaching to the life of one 
who has turned the tide of success, has sur- 
mounted obstacles and has shown his ability 
to cope with others in their rush for the 
coveted goal. Ibis Mr. Briggs has done, 
and to-da}' he is at the head of the extensive 
business conducted under the name of the 
Troy Marble Works. 

A native of Dayton, Ohio, he was born 
on October 11, 1S58. His father, W. H. 
Briggs, of that city, was born in England, 
and when a lad of seven years came to Amer- 
ica with his parents. After attaining to 
man's estate he established marble works in 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



743 



Dayton, in 1866, and enjoyed a large trade 
which extended over sections of Ohio and 
Indiana. He is now Hving retired, making 
his home in VandaHa, this state. His wife 
bore the maiden name of Mary A. Barman 
and was a native of Cincinnati, her father, 
James Barman, having located there in an 
early day after his emigration from Germany 
to the New World. This worthy couple 
had four children : Charles, Harry, Katie, 
who married O. R. Davis, of San Antonio, 
Texas; and Alay, who married Charles Mil- 
ler, of Troy, Ohio. 

]\Ir. Briggs, whose name introduces this 
review, attended the schools of Dayton and 
learned the marble-cutter's trade with his fa- 
ther. He began business on his own ac- 
count in Troy, in 1887, and has since carried 
on operations along that line, his trade stead- 
ily and constantly increasing until it now ex- 
tends over eight counties in Ohio and eastern 
Indiana. The excellent grade of work done 
in the factory secures him a large sale and 
a continuance of the success which has hith- 
erto rewarded his labors. 

In 1886, in VandaHa, Ohio, occurred the 
marriage of Mr. Briggs and Miss Carrie 
North, a daughter of J. V. North, who now 
makes his home in Troy, and travels for 
Mr. Briggs as a representative of the monu- 
ment business. They now have a son, Wal- 
ter, who is attending school. 

The success which Mr. Briggs has 
won has enabled him to make judi- 
cious investments in real estate, and, 
in connection with the land on which 
his business plant is located, he is the 
owner of a tasteful residence, which 
he occupies, also two dwellings on the river 
opposite the town, and other property. In 
politics he is a Democrat, and in the year 
when Troy was incorporated as a city he 



became a member of the city council, filling 
that position for five years. He exercised 
his official prerogatives in support of the 
various measures and movements which con- 
tributed toward the public good and pro- 
moted the progress of the city along material 
lines of development. He is now numbered 
among the leading business men of Troy, 
and belongs to that class of representative 
Americans who, while promoting individual 
success, also aids in establishing the public 
good. 



WILLIAM A. EDDY. 

William A. Eddy is a well-known 
farmer of Elizabeth township, whose en- 
tire life has been passed in Miami 
county. His father, William Eddy, 
was born near Reinersville, Morgan coun- 
ty, Ohio, January 24, 1823, and died 
June 20, 1879. Throughout the greater 
part of his life he carried on agri- 
cultural pursuits and became one of the sub- 
stantial farmers of the locality in which his 
son now resides. He was married, March 
22, 1853, to Miss Caroline Head, who was 
born March 14, 1831, and died July 15, 
1887, at their home in Elizabeth township. 
In 1873 he secured the farm upon which 
his son William now resides. Prior to this 
time he had engaged in agricultural pursuits 
in Perry county for some years, but taking 
up his abode in ;\Iiami county he became 
the owner of one hundred and seventy acres 
of rich and arable land, which yielded to 
him a golden tribute in return for the care 
and labor he bestowed upon it. His at- 
tention was given closely to his business 
interests, and his executive ability, indefat- 
igable enterprise and resolute purpose 
brought to him success. In politics he was 



744 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



a Democrat. For some years prior to his 
death he was in delicate healtli, his demise 
being occasioned by the comphcation of 
dropsy and heart disease. His remains 
were interred in McKendree cemetery, two 
miles southeast of Miami city. His wife 
survived him eight years, and after his 
death she rented a portion of the farm, the 
remainder being operated by her son. Her 
life was devoted to her family, and her chil- 
dren did credit to her. She was a member 
of the Cove Springs Christian church, and 
her life was in harmony with her profes- 
sions. ]Mr. and Mrs. William Eddy be- 
came the parents of five daugliters and a 
son, namely: Sarah J., wife of Wakefield 
Bray, of Champaign county, Ohio; Nancy 
E.. wife of Joseph Mumford, of Alcony; 
Alica A., wife of George Killenbarger, of 
Elizabeth township; Mary C, who became 
the wife of William H. Helmer and died 
at the age of thirty-four years; William A., 
of this review; and Rose E., wife of Elwood 
Macy, who is occupying a part of the old 
homestead. 

William A. Eddy, whose name intro- 
duces this sketch, was born. September lo, 
1865, and was only fourteen years of age 
at the time of his father's death. He then 
began operating the farm and remained 
with his mother until her demise. He in- 
herited eighty-five acres of the old home- 
stead, including the portion upon which the 
buildings were located. He then bought 
out the interest of the other heirs and now 
has a very valuable property. The farm is 
well drained, for he has laid over a mile of 
tiling, and all the modern accessories and 
improvements are there found. He car- 
ries on general farming and his labors re- 
sult in bringing to him a comfortable com- 
petence. 



On the iSth of March. 18S8. Mr. Eddy 
wedded Miss Anna Hagen, a daughter of 
Augustus and Catherine (Smith) Hagen. 
Her father, a native of Germany, came to 
America at the age of nineteen years and 
was married in Springfield, Ohio, to Miss 
Smith, whose birth occurred in the Buckeye 
state. They resided in Clark county, Ohio, 
until they removed to Minnesota, where their 
daughter Anna was born, near St. Paul. 
When she was three and a half years of 
age they came to Miami county, locating in 
Elizabeth township, where the father still 
resides. The mother died July 3, 1892, 
and he afterward married Callie Clingan. 
He had six daughters and a son, four daugh- 
ters being residents of ^liami county, name- 
ly : Lillie, wife of Douglas Bray, of Staun- 
ton township; Anna; Lana, wife of John 
Singer, of Brandt; Bertia, wife of Warren 
Winters, of Troy ; and ^Irs. Eddy. Katie 
died at the age of seventeen years, Daisy at 
the age of sixteen years and the one son 
died in infancy. Mrs. Eddy is a member 
of the Cove Springs church. Mr. Eddy is 
a Democrat in politics, but has never sought 
or desired political preferment, giving his 
time and attention to his business interests, 
in which he is meeting with creditable suc- 
cess. He is a progressive and enterprising 
farmer, and a glance at his neat and thrifty 
place will indicate to the passer-by his care- 
ful supervision. 



AMLLIAM W. DA\'Y. 

William W. Davy is now devoting his 
energies to agricultural pursuits on section 
19, Elizabeth township, but for many years 
he was connected with educational work, and 
his influence on behalf of intellectual prog- 
ress was most marked and beneficial. He 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



745 



was born in Porter township. Delaware 
county, Ohio, on the i6th of May, 1839, and 
is a son of Elder D. and Elizabeth (Leath- 
erman) Davy, both natives of Tuscarawas 
county, this state. They were married May 
31. 1832. The father, who was born May 
4. 181 1, died September 7, 1895. Ihe 
grandfather, John Davy, was likewise born 
in Ohio, but the great-grandfather, who also 
bore the name of John, was a native of 
Wales, whence he crossed the Atlantic to 
America, taking up his residence in the Buck- 
eye state. The mother of our subject died 
in 1850, in Delaware county, and on the 
17th of November, 1850, the father mar- 
ried Catherine Bostetter. with whom he re- 
moved to Elizabeth township, locating near 
Casstown. where he resided until his death, 
which occurred when he had attained the 
age of eighty-three years. His second wife 
passed away when about seventy years of 
age. By his first marriage he had five sons 
and five daughters, of whom seven are still 
living, and by his second marriage there 
were four sons, three of whom are living: 
J. A., a resident of Troy; Henry D., who is 
living in Staunton township; and E. S., a 
resident of Fletcher, Ohio. Of his first 
family there are but four surviving sons at 
the present time, namely: William W., of 
this review ; Dr. Jesse O. Davy, who for- 
merly practiced medicine in Miami county, 
and is now a successful practitioner of 
Springfield. Ohio; John L.. a farmer in 
Delaware county; and Ezra J., a farmer in 
Morrow county. The father engaged in 
farming, and was likewise a minister of the 
German Baptist church for about forty 
years. He was well known in connection 
with religious work, serving on a number of 
important committees, which caused fre- 
quent journeys into various states. He also 



did much evangelical work, and was known 
as elder or bishop. For many years he was 
connected with the annual conference as 
moderator, the assemblage being composed 
of delegates from all over the United States. 
In these important sessions all queries and 
imp(irtant questions are discussed, and the 
conference was formed of the most emi- 
nent and representative men of the denomi- 
nation, Mr. Davy continued in active 
church work until within a few years of his 
death, and was very prominent in his own 
denomination. His life was ever u]5right. 
and his memory remains as a blessed bene- 
diction to all who knew him. 

William W. Davy, whose name intro- 
duces this review, spent his boyhood days on 
the farm in Delaware county, and at the 
age of eighteen bought his time of his father 
in order that he might educate himself for 
the work of the scho'ol room. He attended 
a select school, and at the age of nineteen 
began teaching in Knox county. For more 
than thirty years he followed his chosen 
profession, and with the exception of three 
or four years was continuously a represent- 
ative of the school interests of Delaware, 
I\Iiami and Knox counties. In 1872 he 
came to Miami county to take charge of a 
school in Elizabeth township, near Alcony, 
and for some time thereafter engaged in 
teaching in Elizabeth and Monroe town- 
ships. About seven years since he retired 
from professional life, but for many years 
his influence will be felt upon the educa- 
tional interests of his native state. He has 
been an important factor in many teachers' 
associations, whereby intellectual activity 
has been increased. He believes that the 
common schools should afford superior edu- 
cational privileges, and should lay the foun- 
dation for a successful career; that teachers 



746 



GENEALOGICAL. AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of marked ability should be employed ; and 
that the standard of the schools should be 
\ery high. In 1888 he located upon his 
farm, and has since devoted his attention 
to agricultural pursuits, his land being un- 
der a very high state of cultivation. His 
farm comorises ninety-seven acres, pleas- 
antly located on the division line between 
Elizabeth and Bethel townships, and its 
highly cultivated fields bring to him a rich 
return for his labor. 

On the 29th of December, 1863, ^Mr. 
Davy wedded Miss Sarah J. Page, of Dela- 
ware county, Ohio, and their union has been 
blessed with five children : Edward Em- 
mer, who operates the home farm and in 
connection with his brother, Charles R., 
conducts a saw-mill and threshing machine, 
married Clara ]M. Yantis and has one child, 
William Edward; Ella Adelaide died at 
the age of eighteen years; Charles R. is as- 
sociated in business with his elder brother ; 
]\Iary O. is the wife of Harrison Frantz, of 
Clark county, Ohio; and Grace died at the 
age of two years. 

William W. Davy, with his three broth- 
ers, served in the civil war, he and his 
brother. Dr. Jesse O. Davy, enlisting at the 
first call, while the other two joined the army 
three months later. Our subject enlisted in 
Company I, Fourth Ohio Volunteer Infant- 
ry, at the first call, April 15, 1861, and 
served for eighteen months, being honorably 
discharged at Washington, D. C, Septem- 
ber 17, 1862, being disabled for further ser- 
vice. 

IMr. Davy votes with the Republican 
party and believes most firmly in its teach- 
ings and principles, yet has never been an 
office-seeker. He was reared in the faith 
of the German Baptist church, and fcjr many 
years has been one of its members. He is 



a man of marked intellectuality, and of 
strong force of character, never wavering 
in his support of what he believes to be 
right. His life work has been of wide- 
spread benefit, and while guiding the intel- 
lectual advancement of those who have come 
under his instructions, his own sterling 
character has always left its impress upon 
the lives of the young. 



CHARLES W. ROSEVELT. 

In all the industrial and professional 
walks of life success depends solely upon 
individual merit, ability being the key which 
unlocks the portals of prosperity. Men 
who advance on the highway of life are, 
therefore, the ones whose labors display 
more skill than others who devote their en- 
ergies to the same line of work, and the re- 
sponsible position W'hich Mr. Rose\elt now 
occupies is an indication of unflagging ef- 
fort, combined with talent. He is today 
serving as foreman of the paint department 
of the Troy Buggy Works, and his artistic 
ability has enabled him to occupy other im- 
portant places in connection with some of 
the most extensive industrial concerns of 
the state. 

A native of Alton, Illinois, ^Ir. Rose- 
velt was born April 20, 1850, and is a son 
of John Jason Rosevelt. The father was 
a native of New York city, and in early 
manhood removed to the Prairie state, where 
he engaged in contracting and building. 
During the Black Hawk war he served as a 
member of a cavalry corps. In 1854 his 
death occurred, and to the widow he left the 
care of their family of young children. Mrs. 
Rosevelt bore the maiden name of Mary 
\\'ood. She was born in Lynchburg, Vir- 
ginia, her father having been an extensive 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



747 



planter of the Old Dominion. Mrs. Rose- 
velt had to cope with many difficulties and 
hardships in her attempt to establish a home 
and provide for her children in the new coun- 
try in which she was living. Her son, 
Charles W., was only four years old at the 
time of the father's death. He attended 
school to a limited extent between the ages 
of eight and eleven years, and his mother, 
seeing no opportunity to provide for him 
and fit him for tlie practical duties of life 
aside from ap])renticing him to a trade, 
bound him out to learn painting in a car- 
riage factory. He served for a term of five 
years, and after working hard through the 
day he attended a night school at the Wash- 
ington University, in St. Louis, Missouri. 
He studied the various English branches of 
learning, but paid special attention to paint- 
ing and drawing and throughout his life he 
has continued his studious habits. After re- 
moving to Cincinnati he spent one or two 
winters as a student in the McMicken Art 
School and two winters in the Mechanical 
Institute. As opportunity offered he also 
continued his studies, for two years, under 
the direction of Mr. Hammell, a celebrated 
animal painter of Cincinnati, and for two 
years was a student in R. T. Clark's studio 
and art school. His natural talent, com- 
bined with enthusiasm and industry, enabled 
him to make rapid progress and he became 
recognized as a first-class decorator. His 
apprenticeship to the carriage trade, at the 
age of eleven years, was with Theodore Sa- 
lorgne, of St. Louis, the Brewster of the 
west, and since that time he has worked for 
every leading carriage firm of Cincinnati. 
He painted landscapes for the Hall Safe 
Company and fruit and flowers for C. F. 
Manwold, of Cincinnati, manufacturer of 
wood mantels and grates. In i8q8 he came 



to Trov, as foreman of the painting and 
decorating department of the Troy Buggy 
Works Company, which in all its depart- 
ments secures the best skill to be had. Some 
of Mr. Rosevelt's heraldic work attracted 
such attention in 1876 that he received a 
tempting offer to go to London, England, 
and engage exclusively in such work, but his 
love for America and his appreciation of its 
privileges were so great that he resolved 
to remain in his native land. 

Air. Rosevelt is particularly liberal along 
all lines and especially on religious subjects. 
In manner he is unostentatious, and his ster- 
ling qualities commend him to the confidence 
of all with whom he comes in contact. Re- 
membering his own struggles in youth, he 
is always ready to encourage others and is 
a stanch champion of public institutions of 
learning, commending most highly the work 
accomplished bv the libraries, mechanical in- 
stitutions and art schools of the cities. 
Through every winter for many years he has 
devoted three nights each week to teach- 
ing art to any worthy and ambitious young 
men who desire to learn, and has never ac- 
cepted any compensation for his services 
aside from the gratification there has been 
in knowing that some of his students are 
now occupying commanding positions and 
have won wealth and honor. Mr. Rosevelt 
is certainly a credit to the well known New 
■^'ork family. His great-uncle foimded the 
celebrated Rosevelt Hospital. Governor 
Theodore Roosevelt is also descended from 
the same ancestry, although his branch of 
the family has adopted a different mode of 
spelling the name. 

Mr. Rosevelt is now a member of the 
Knights of Pythias, is past dictator of Louis- 
ville Lodo-e, Xo. 2, K. of H., and is a valued 
member of the Masonic fraternity. He 



748 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



takes very little interest in party politics and 
rarely ever votes. He inspires personal 
friendships of great streneth and has the 
happy faculty of drawing his friends closer 
to him as the years pass by. 



CHARLES M. PATTY. 

Charles M. Patty has for more than half 
a century been a witness to the continuous 
growth and development of Miami county 
and is to-day numbered among its represent- 
ative, practical and progressive farmers. 
He was born on the 21st of September, 1843, 
on the farm where William Davis now lives, 
on section 7, Monroe township, his father 
being Enoch Patty, whose birth occurred in 
Frederick, Monroe township, in 1814. The 
grandfather, Charles Patty, was born near 
Columbia, South Carolina, and was married 
there to Phebe Pearson. Subsequently he 
emigrated to Ohio, about 1806, making the 
journey with a one-horse wagon. He set- 
tled near West Milton and after a few years 
came to Monroe township, locating on the 
farm where Webster Fenner now resides. 
There he erected a log cabin and through a 
long period continued his residence in that 
locality. Later, however, he remo\-ed to 
Montgomery county and afterward went to 
Newton township, Miami county, where he 
died when about sixty years of age. Iti his 
family were nine children, five sons and four 
daughters. 

Enoch Patty, the father of the subject of 
this review, was reared and educated in this 
section of Ohio, and in early manhood mar- 
ried Rebecca Curtiss, by whom he had two 
children, William and Angeline, both now 
deceased. For his second wife Mr. Patty 
chose Catherine Kessler. and they became the 
parents of nine children, namely : Susan, wife 



of Aaron Thomas, of Monroe township; 
Charles M. ; John and Phebe, both deceased ; 
Rebecca, wife of William Davis, who is 
living on the old homestead ; Samuel and 
Libby, also deceased : and two who died in 
infancy. For two years Enoch Patty re- 
sided on the farm where his son Charles was 
born and erected there ^ log cabin. He 
afterward removed to Montgomery county, 
where he made his home for fourteen years, 
when, in 1859, he returned to the farm in 
Monroe township, there carrying on agri- 
cultural pursuits until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1880. He was at one time the 
owner of four hundred acres of valuable 
land, which he divided among his children 
ere called to his final rest. During the civil 
war he responded to his country's call for 
troops, enlisting on the 15th of August, 1862, 
in Company D, Ninety-fourth Ohio Infan- 
try, for three years. The first engagement 
in which he participated was Tait's Ferry, 
and later he participated in the battle of 
Perryville, where he was wounded. Ery- 
sipelas set in, antl thus being unfit for further 
duty he received an honorable discharge on 
account of disability in April, 1863, and at 
that time he held the rank of corporal. He 
was a Ifiyal and faithful soldier and at all 
times, whether in military service or in pri- 
vate life, he was true to the duties devohing 
upon him. He held membership in the 
Christian church, and his honorable, upright 
life won him the unqualified respect of his 
fellow men. 

Charles M. Patty was sixteen years of 
age when his father returned to Monroe 
township. He remained under the par- 
ental roof until bis marriage, which oc- 
curred on the 20th of August, 1863. 
In March, 1864, he came to his pres- 
ent home, where he has since lived 



- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



749 



with the exception of a period of seven years, 
when lie resided elsewhere in the township. 
He was liardly established upon his new 
farm when he went forth to aid in defending 
the city of Washington. He belonged to the 
state militia which enlisted in the United 
States service in May, 1864, at which time 
he became a member of Company A, One 
Hundred and Forty-seventh Ohio Infantry. 
The regiment proceeded southward to pro- 
tect the capital city, and after one hundred 
days had passed he returned to Ohio. Mr. 
Patty then again took up his alxide on the 
home farm and has since carried on agri- 
cultural pursuits with good success. He 
owns seventy-three acres of land on section 
10, Monroe township, and the various sub- 
stantial improvements upon the place stand 
as monuments to his thrift and enterprise. 
He carries on genyal farming and his inde- 
fatigable efforts ha\e brought to him a com- 
fortable competence. 

On the 20th of .August, 1863, Mr. Patty 
was united in marriage to Miss Maria Long, 
a native- of Concord township, Miami county, 
and a daughter of William and Elizabeth 
(Corpman) Long. Her father was a native 
of Lel)anon county, Pennsylvania, and in his 
family were ten children, namely : Mary, 
wife of James F. McCool, of Darke county, 
Ohio; Mrs. Patty; Alartha, wife of John O, 
Kessler; Sally, v»ife of Dr. C. D. Speagh, 
of Dayton; George H., of Lima, Ohio; 
Charles W., a conductor on tlie Cleveland, 
Hocking & Deleware Railroad, making his 
home in Dayton; Susannah, deceased wife 
of Alfred Pearson; Elizabeth, deceased wife 
of John Hostetter ; .\manda, who married 
William Hill and has also passed away ; 
and LoUie, deceased wife of Job Stahl. 
Unto Mr. and 3.1rs. Patty were born four 
children, but three died in infancy, the sur- 



viving son being Arthur S., who is a grad- 
uate of Dayton Commercial School and is 
now engaged in teaching in the puljlic 
schools. 

In his political views jMr. Patty is a 
Republican, and socially he is connected 
with D. M. Rouzer Post, G. A. R., and 
Tippecanoe Lodge, No. 174, F. & A. M. 
He belongs to the Christian church and his 
life lias been in harmony with his profes- 
sions. Those sterling traits of character 
which everywhere command respect are 
strongly manifest in his career, and he is 
known throughout the community as a citi- 
zen of the highest respectability. 



GEORGE W. CARVER. 

George W. Carver was born September 
20, 1852, on the farm now owned by his 
brother, Mordica Carver. His parents were 
Henry G. and Millie ( Knoop) Carver. The 
mother is still lixing in Troy, but the father 
died on the 15th of July. 1890. In the fam- 
ily were three sons and a daughter, namely : 
Mordica B. ; Winfield S., who died in 1876, 
at the age of twenty-six years ; George W. ; 
and ]\Iary B., wife of Lemuel Nysewander, 
of Troy. 

George W. Carver spent his boyhood 
days under the parental roof and learned 
the trade of a woolen manufacturer in the 
employ of Rudy Studebaker, who at that 
time owned the woolen mill. It had been 
originally a stillhouse and flouring mill, but 
was converted into a woolen mill and op- 
erated by the Studebakers for some years. 
During the civil war it burned down and 
;\Ir. Studebaker failed in business. In 1870, 
however, it was rebuilt by E. Pearson and 
James Ouinter, sons-in-law of Mr. Stude- 
baker, who then took charge of it, operating 



750 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



it through his son, Rudy. Later he sold it 
to H. G. Carver. The subject of this re- 
view learned the trade under the direction 
of Rudy Studebaker, entering upon his ap- 
prenticeship when twenty-three years of age. 
He was there employed for some time, the 
last two years of his connection with the 
mill being at the period when Samuel Hor- 
ner conducted it. It was afterward pur- 
chased by H. G. Carver, who placed our 
subject in charge, he entering upon that 
work in 1880, and successfully conducting 
it for eight years. After remaining idle for 
a year it was leased by J. H. Wild, who re- 
mained in charge for four years, when its 
career as a mill was ended. It has since 
been dismantled, the machinery sold and the 
building transformed into a barn. During 
the eight years in which Mr. Carver had 
control the enterprise was quite successfully 
conducted, and he extensively engaged in 
manufacturing woolens, blankets, yarns, 
cassimers and satinets, but at a later date 
the larger mills which were established in 
this section of the state crowded out the 
enterprise. 

George W. Car\er was the guardian of 
his father for about eight years, his father 
being stricken with paralysis, and conducted 
his extensive farming operations. At his 
father's death he was retired from this re- 
sponsibility. He now owns one hundred and 
forty-four acres of the old homestead, in- 
cluding the mill property and residence, 
which is under the control of a tenant, he 
ha\-ing practically retired from business life. 
He built his present residence on a part of 
the farm, and in his pleasant home he en- 
joys the fruits of his former toil. 

George W. Carver was married, April 
9, 1885, to Julia Mock, a daughter of Sam- 
uel and Mary (Botkin) Mock, of Clark 



county, Ohio, where the daughter was born. 
She obtained her education in the public 
schools and afterward began teaching, fol- 
lowing that profession up to the time of 
her marriage. She is a member of the Chris- 
tian church and takes an active interest in the 
work and upbuilding of the organization at 
Cove Spring. Mr. Carver is a Republican 
in his political affiliations, and is a member 
of the Masonic lodge, of Troy, and the 
chapter, council and commandery at that 
place. He has been a member of the school 
board for several years, assessor one year, 
and in the spring of 1900 was elected one of 
the three trustees of Elizabeth township for 
a term of three years. His life has been one 
of activity and now, in the enjoyment of 
a well earned rest, he is living retired at his 
pleasant home in Elizabeth township. 



JAMES H. ESTEY. 

Among the honored veterans of the civil 
war is James H. Estey, who upon the battle 
fields of the south manifested his loyalty 
to the Union cause, valiantly aiding in the 
defense of the stars and stripes. As a citi- 
zen in days of peace, he is likewise true to 
all his duties, and manifests an active and 
public-spirited interest in every movement 
calculated to prove a public benefit. He 
was born in Lost Creek township, three miles 
north of Casstown, Miami county, on the 
nth of December, 1840, his parents being 
Michael and Mary (Swindler) Estey. The 
father was born in New Brunswick and 
when a child came to IMiami county with his 
parents, David and Anna (Knoop) Estey, 
who came direct from New Brunswick to 
this locality. The mother died when her son 
James was quite small, at which time the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



751 



family were living in Shelby county. The 
father afterward removed to Indiana, later 
to California and is now living in Jasper 
county, Missouri. 

After his mother died the subject of 
this review spent two years with his uncle 
in Miami county and later resided with 
George Blaker in Lost Creek township, be- 
coming a member of Mr. Blaker's family 
when eight years old, antl there remaining 
until he had attained his majority. He 
had one brother and two sisters, the former 
being Silas V. Estey, who became a member 
of the Twenty-sixth Ohio Volunteer Infan- 
try. On the second day of the battle of 
Chickamauga he was missing and was prob- 
ably killed. He was at that time in his 
twenty-fifth year. One of his sisters, Emily 
J., became the wife of Silas French, and 
after his death married A. D. Howard. Dur- 
ing her married life she resided in the west, 
her death occurring at Anoka, Minnesota, 
on the 1 6th of December, 1899. Aldazera, 
another sister, became the wife of Joseph 
French, brother of Silas French, and for a 
number of years they resided in Miami coun- 
ty, but are now living in Macon county, 
Missouri. 

After the mother died the children were 
scattered. James H. Estey remaining with 
Mr. Blaker, where he had a good home, 
receiving the educational advantages that 
the public school afforded. After the in- 
auguration of the civil war he responded 
to the country's call for troops, enlisting 
September 2, 1861, in Company A, Forty- 
fourth Ohio Infantry. During the first year 
of his service his regiment was in West Vir- 
ginia in the Kanawha valley. Later the 
troops were sent to Kentucky and attached 
to the ami}' of the Ohio, operating in the 
eastern part of the state under General Burn- 



side. In January, 1863, after the siege of 
Knoxville, Mr. Estey re-enlisted in the 
Eighth Ohio Cavalry and returned home on 
a furlough. When his vacation time had 
expired he again went to West Virginia 
and participated in the Shenandoah valley 
campaign under Sheridan, the company be- 
ing engaged, much of the time on guard 
duty. Subsequently the command was sta- 
tioned at Beverly, West Virginia. Mr. 
Estey was four times wounded : a ball pierc- 
ing his thigh, caused him to remain in the 
hospital for more than a month and has 
occasioned him trouble ever since. At an- 
other time a bullet smashed a silver pencil 
case in his jwcket. His wounds were all 
sustained in the skirmishes while serving 
with the ca\-alry. \\'hile at Shafer moun- 
tain, Virginia, all the members of the com- 
pany, with the exception of the pickets, 
v/ere captured by guerrillas, but were soon 
released, except the captain and a few of 
the men. Mr. Estey entered the service as 
a private and was afterward promoted to 
the rank of first sergeant. The government 
now grants him a pension, for his wounds 
have in a measure disabled him for active 
duty in business life. After nearly four 
years of service he received an honorable 
discharge in July, 1865, returning to his 
home with a creditable military record. 

Mr. Estey afterward rented the farm of 
his employer, Mr. Blaker. and operated it 
until his marriage, which occurred on the 
29th of April, 1869, Miss Debby Roe be- 
coming his wife. She was born March 20, 
1852, in Brown township, and is a daughter 
of John S. and Mary (Wright) Roe. They 
went at once to Atlantic City, Idaho, and 
Mr. Estey spent one year in the quartz mines 
of that locality. He then engaged in garden- 
ins: and farming, after which he \-isited 



752 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



various places in the west, remaining in that 
section of the country for six years, the last 
two years being spent in Kansas. He be- 
came discouraged with the conditions in 
that state, however, where the hot winds, 
the chinch bugs and the grasshoppers com- 
pletely destroyed their crops. Accordingly, 
in 1874, they returned to Ohio^ locating ten 
miles north of Sidney, Shelby county, where 
they remained four years, after which they 
again came to IMiami county. In 1884 Mr. 
Estey purchased his present farm in Eliza- 
beth township and now has seventy-two 
acres of rich land, which he cultivates, rais- 
ing both grain and tobacco. He has re- 
cently engaged in growing nursery stock 
and has about fi\e acres of land devoted 
to that purpose. He is very energetic and 
resolute in the prosecution of his business 
interests and his unflagging industry and 
capable management have brought to him 
a comfortable competence. 

Unto ]\Ir. and Mrs. Estey have been 
born a daughter, Elsie I\I., who is a grad- 
uate of the Tippecanoe high school, and was 
also at one time a student in the high school 
of Anoka, Minnesota. She is now the wife 
of William Fletcher Bohlender, who is as- 
sociated in the nursery business with his 
father, Peter Bohlender. Mr. Estey and his 
wife are members of the English Lutheran 
church at Tippecanoe City and are people of 
sterling worth, who enjoy the confidence and 
good will of a large circle of friends. He 
exercises his right of franchise m support 
of the men and measures of the Republican 
party, and is connected with Ranger Post, 
G. A. R., of Tippecanoe City, whereby he 
maintains pleasant relationship with the 
boys in blue with whom he went to the front 
during the civil war. As a citizen he believes 
in advocating all measures for the public 



good, giving his support to whatever he 
believes will contribute to the material, so- 
cial and moral welfare of the community. 



JACOB SCHAFFER. 

Jacob Schaffer was born in Germany 
January 11. 183 J, and was reared to man- 
hood upon a farm. Determining to try his 
fortune in America, where he believed better 
opportunities were afforded young men than 
in the older countries of Europe, he bade 
adieu to home and friends in 1855, taking 
passage on a sailing \'essel, which, after a 
voyage of thirty-eight days, reached the har- 
bor of Xew York. He at once made his way 
westward, locating in Darke county. Ohio, 
where he was employed as a farm hand un- 
t'l 1865. He afterward worked at the brick- 
layer's trade for one year, and in 1869 he 
purchased the farm upon which he now 
lives. He first bought but ten acres, but has 
added to his place from time to time until 
he now owns a valuable tract of seventy- 
eight and a half acres, situated on section 
12, Spring Creek township. He has made 
all the improvements upon his place, and the 
buildings stand as monuments to his thrift 
and enterprise. He carries on general farm- 
ing and makes a specialty of the raising of 
tobacco, and by his well directed efforts b 
has won a place among the substantial citi- 
zens of his community. 

In 1865 Mr. Schaffer was united in mar- 
riage to Catherine ]\Iass, who was born in 
Strausburg, Germany, in 1842. Her father. 
Joseph Mass, came to America in 1851, 
crossing the Atlantic to Xew Orleans, 
whence he made his wa\' up the river to 
Cincinnati, Ohio. The voyage across the 
Atlantic had been made in a sailing vessel, 
which reached the harbor six weeks after 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



753 



weighing anclior at tiie French port. After 
a few months spent in Cincinnati Mr. Mass 
came to Piqua, where he followed the car- 
penter's trade twelve years. He then pur- 
chased one hundred and fifteen acres of land 
in Shelby county and turned his attention to 
fanning. Fourteen children were born of 
the marriage of Mr. Schafifer and Cath- 
erine Mass, but eight of the number are 
now deceased. Those still living are i\Iary. 
Jacob, Annie, Lee. Willie and Benjamin. 
Jacob was married in 1898 and lives in 
Shelby county. Ohio. 

During the civil war ]\Ir. Schaffer man- 
ifested his loyalty to his adopted land by 
entering the country's service in September, 
1 86 1, as a private in a regiment of Ohio 
light artillery. He joined Battery M and 
was mustered in at Camp Dennison for three 
years, participating in the engagements at 
Stone River, Chickamauga, those of the 
siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro and Lovejoy 
Station. After the last named he returned 
to Atlanta, and at Camp Dennison he was 
honorably discharged on the 3d of Decem- 
ber, 1865. He was ever loyal to the old 
flag and the cause it represented, and is now 
a valued member of Foster's Command, 
U. V. U.. and the Grand Army Post at 
Piqua. At all times he has favored the 
movements and measures which have pro- 
moted the general good, and he is a con- 
sistent member of the Catholic church. 



GEORGE P. HOFFMAN. 

George P. Hoffman is engaged in sell- 
ing buggies and wagons at Pleasant Hill 
and is also interested in agricultural pur- 
suits in ^liami county. He was born in 
Hesse Darmstadt, Germany, October 20, 

1852, and there resided upon a farm until 
44 



fourteen years of age, when he came with 
his parents to America. The voyage across 
the Atlantic consumed three weeks, after 
which a landing was effected at New York, 
whence the family made their way to Spring- 
field, Ohio. In the fall of the same year, — 
1867, — George P. Hoffman came to West 
Milton, where he began to learn the black- 
smith's trade under the direction of John 
Krickbaum. serving a three-years apprentice- 
ship. He remained with his employer al- 
together for eight years, and then came to 
Pleasant Hill, where he has since made his 
home. He purchased a shop and engaged in 
general blacksmithing until 1899, when he 
rented liis smithy. In 1890 he began deal- 
ing in all kinds of buggies and wagons and 
now carries a large line of vehicles, enjoy- 
ing a good trade. In addition he owns a 
farm of ninety-eight acres in Newton 
township and one of eighty acres in Union 
township, and the income derived therefrom 
adds materially to his capital. 

On the 17th of February, 1876, Mr. 
Hoffman was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary Krickbaum, daughter of Mr. Krick- 
baum. with whom Mr. Hoffman learned his 
trade. Two children have been born to 
them : Josephine, wife of Wihiam De Bray, 
a resident of Pleasant Hill, and Rodney 
Leroy, who assists . his father in business. 
Mr. Hoffman has filled the office of cor- 
poration treasurer and has been a member 
of the town council for six 3-ears. He has 
also served on the school board for several 
years and was one of the organizers and is 
now chief of the Pleasant Hill fire depart- 
ment. He takes an active and commendable 
interest in everything pertaining to the wel- 
fare of his town and county, withholding his 
support from no measure which he believes 
will prove of public good. His political 



754 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



support is gi\-en tlie Democracy, and so- 
cially he has been connected with the Odd 
Fellows Society since attaining his majority, 
being now past grand of Pleasant Hill lodge 
He also belongs to the Knights of Pythias 
fraternity and is a memljer of the Christian 
church. He started out in life for him- 
self a poor boy and has steadily worked his 
way upward, overcoming all difficulties and 
obstacles in his path by determined and 
earnest purpose. He has much energv', keen 
discrimination and resolute will, and these 
qualities ha\-e secured to him not only a 
comfortable competence, but have won him 
an enviable position as a substantial citizen 
of his conimunitv. 



SOLOMON JENNINGS, M. D. 

The world instinctively pays deference 
to the man whose success has been worthily 
achieved, who has acquired the highest rep- 
utation in his chosen calling by merit and 
whose social prominence is not less the re- 
sult of an irreproachable life than of rec- 
ognized natural gifts. Prominent as a citi- 
zen, esteemed as a friend and holding high- 
est rank among the medical fraternity of 
Miami county, Dr. Jennings certainly de- 
serves representation in this volume. He 
was born January i, 1834, in Tuscarawas 
county, Ohio, and belongs to one of the old 
and honored pioneer families of this state. 

The Jennings family are of sturdy Eng- 
lish stock. The Doctor's grandfather, 
Gideon Jennings, came to America about 
the time of the opening of the Revolutionary 
war, and in the struggle with the British 
government for liberty he aided the colonists, 
participating in the famous battle of Brandy- 
wine and in numerous other engagements. 
He married Grace Day, and after a short 



residence in Rockingham county, \'irginia, 
they removed to Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
where, by entry and purchase, the grand- 
father became the owner of a large tract of 
land at what is now New Philadelphia. He 
was the first settler of that locality, taking 
up his abode there when the country was a 
dense wilderness. The trees were mostly 
beech, and in order to raise any kind of a 
crop he was compelled to climb them and 
trim off the branches in order that the sun- 
shine might fall upon his growing grain. 
The Indians still lived in the neighborhood 
and numerous were the encounters Gideon 
Jennings had with them. His home was 
twenty miles from any habitation, but he 
soon l^ecame known as a famous hunter 
throughout that section of Ohio, and fish 
and game, captured by his rod and gun, 
plentifully supplied his larder. He cleared 
a good farm, where he made his home for 
many years, becoming one of the prosperous 
agriculturists of Tuscarawas county. He 
took an active part in the improx'cment and 
progress of the state and built one mile of 
the Ohio canal, which passed for that dis- 
tance across his farm. At a very early day 
he built the first gristmill in his section of 
the country, and ground meal for the neigh- 
bors in primitive style, for the mill con- 
sisted of a stone hollowed out and the corn 
was ground with mortars. Gideon Jennings 
became the father of nine children, namely : 
James, Aaron, William, John, Jonathan, 
Gideon, David, Mary and Druscilla. The 
father was one of the early Methodists of 
Ohio and his home was the headquarters 
for the early itinerant ministers of the de- 
nomination, who labored so zealously to 
spread the gospel throughout the west. 
After his children were grown he again 
moved into the wilderness, taking up his 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



755 



abode in Allen county, Ohio. In 1832 he 
purcliased eleven hundred acres of land, 
three miles north of Lima, on Sugar creek, 
where he once more carved out a home in 
the midst of the forest. He gave each of 
his sons one hundred and sixty acres of 
land and his daughter, Druscilla, who mar- 
ried Silas Williams, received one hundred 
and sixty acres of the old homestead. Mary 
married Benjamin Williams, a brother of 
Silas, and also received her just proportion 
of her father's property. Druscilla became 
the mother of Bishop Williams, of the Meth- 
odist church, who was present at the cjuad- 
rennial convention held in Omaha, Nebras- 
ka, in 1892. Gideon Jennings lived to the 
age of four score years, dying on his farm 
August 28, 1843. He played an important 
part in the early development of the state and 
well deserves mention in this history. 

David Jennings was his seventh son and 
was born near New Philadelphia, Ohio, July 
13, 1 8 10. He pursued his education in the 
old leg school house which had been built 
on his father's farm, ind his teacher wore a 
buckskin suit. In 1831, in the neighborhood 
of his nativity, David Jennings married 
Elizabeth Laughlin, who was born February 
'12, 1814, in Allegheny county, Pennsyl- 
vania, a daughter of James Laughlin, a pio- 
neer farmer of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, 
descended from Scotch-Irish ancestry who 
located in America in colonial days. By 
their union ten children were born, all of 
whom reached honorable manhood and 
womanhood, namely : Susannah, born Feb- 
ruary 18, 1832; Solomon; Abel, born April 
13, 1836; James W., May 4, 1838; Isabel, 
March 4, 1840; Mary, June 27, 1842 ; Aaron, 
August 7, 1844; Druscilla, October 30, 
1846; Samuel, November 22, 1849; ^^'^^ 
Charles W., January i, 1853. Of these 



Abel died in 18G8, Samuel in 1870, Charles 
W. in 1872 and Aaron in 1876. In 1833 
David Jennings, the father, removed to 
Sugar creek, near Lima, Ohio, and there 
cleared a tract of land and developed a farm. 
Through the dense forest bear, deer and 
wolves roamed at will, and everything was 
wild and unimproved in this section of the 
state. For many years David Jennings re- 
sided upon his farm. In 1863 he removed to 
Williams county, Ohio, and purchased a 
farm near Bryan, on which he passed the 
remainder of his days. He lived to the age 
of sixty-six years, dying in Millersburg, In- 
diana, October 30, 1876, while visiting his 
son, James. His wife died on the home 
farm near Bryan September 30, 1866. 

Dr. Jennings remained upon the old 
homestead with his parents and pursued his 
elementary education in the common schools. 
He read medicine with Dr. Samuel Jenkins 
and Dr. Milton Booth, of West Cairo, Ohio, 
and attended lectures at the University of 
Buffalo, Buffalo, New York, being gradu- 
ated in that institution. Thus well qualified 
for his chosen calling he practiced in West 
Cairo for a short time and in 1863 came to 
West Milton, where for more than thirty- 
seven years he has been in continuous prac- 
tice. He rapidly worked his way upward un- 
til he occupied a commanding position in the 
medical fraternity and enjoyed a very lib- 
eral and lucrative patronage. 

In 1859 Dr. Jennings was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Helen C. Cratty, daughter of 
James B. Cratty, who is now eighty years 
of age and makes his home with the Doctor 
and his wife. Doctor and Mrs. Jennings 
have one child, Gainor, who for some years 
has been associated with his father in prac- 
tice. The Doctor was a Republican until 
1896, when, on account of his views on the 



roO 



GEXEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



money question, he severed his connection 
witli the old party and became a free-silver 
man. He is an active and exemplary mem- 
ber of the Masonic lodge of West Milton. 
He and his wife are members of the Chris- 
tian church and are people of sterling worth, 
enjoying the high regard of their many 
friends in this community, The Doctor 
long since gained prestige as a representa- 
tive of the medical profession, and has ever 
maintained his high place in its ranks. He 
has taken post-graduate and special courses 
in Chicago and New York. He does an 
office practice, only going out on special oc- 
casions of consultation. He has made a spe- 
cialty of the treatment of diseases of women 
and of surgical practice. He has the latest 
electrical apparatus and a well appointed of- 
fice, splendidly equipped for doing all kinds 
of work. Long since he has left the rank? 
of the many to stand among the successful 
few and his prominence is well merited. 

Gainor Jennings, his son, was born in 
West Cairo, Allen county, Ohio, June 4, 
i860, and until about seventeen years of age 
he attended the common schools. He then 
pursued a three-years collegiate course, after 
which he spent one year as a student in the 
Baltimore College of Physicians and Sur- 
geons. He next entered the Cincinnati Col- 
lege of I^Iedicine and Surgery, where he con- 
tinued for one year, being graduated in 1883. 
Immediately afterward he returned to West 
Milton and joined his father in practice. 
He attends to all of the visiting practice, 
is surgeon for the Cincinnati, Hamilton & 
Dayton Railroad, health officer and is a 
popular physician, whose genial manner and 
well known skill make his presence in the 
sick room very welcome. 

On the i8th of February, 18S5, Dr. 
Gainor Jennings married Miss Nellie Pear- 



son, a daughter of Alfred Pearson, of West 
Milton, and they now have two sons, Paxton 
and Ewing, aged, respectively, thirteen and 
nine years. The Doctor is a stanch Demo- 
crat, earnest in his ad\ocacy of the party 
and well informed on the issues of the day. 
He served as examining surgeon for the 
bureau of pensions under President CIe\-e- 
land for four years. Dr. Gainor Jennings 
is a member of the American Medical As- 
sociation, of the Ohio State and Miami 
County Medical Societies. He is a charter 
member of ^lilton Lodge. Xo. -,--, F. & 
A. ]M., of which he served as the first senior 
wanlen; also belongs to Coleman Com- 
mandery, Xo. 17. K. T:, of Troy, and to 
Antioch Temple of the ]ilystic Shrine, of 
Dayton. He is likewise a valued repre- 
sentative of the Knights of Pythias lodge, 
of Milton, and of Stillwater Lodge, Xo. 
165, L O. O. F.. having been past district 
deputy grand master in each order. He and 
his wife hold membership in the Christian 
church, and are popular residents of the 
community in which thev make their home. 



CHARLES H. BRO\\X. 

Charles H. Brown was born in Pitts-" 
burg, Pennsyhania, on the 14th of Feb- 
ruar}-, 1866, and is a brother of Hon. Mc- 
Pherson Brown, in whose sketch, on an- 
other page of this work, api>ears the family 
history. He spent his boyhood days in his 
native city, and in the public schools ac- 
quired his education, pursuing his studies 
there until twelve years of age, wh.en he 
began to learn engraving, but he did not 
complete his course in that calling, turning 
his attention to other pursuits. He ac- 
cepted a clerkship in a retail grocery house, 
where he was employed for four years, after 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



757 



\\liicli he spent two years in a wholesale 
grocery house, having charge of the pack- 
ing department for one year and during the 
second year was salesman in the city depart- 
ment. On the expiration of that period he 
aljandoned the grocery tirade and secured 
employment in the rolling mills, being at 
that time about twenty-three years of age. 
He was first employed as rollingman in a 
sheet mill, and, applying himself diligently 
to his work, he soon mastered both the prin- 
ciple and detail of the work in his depart- 
ment. In November, 1889, he came to 
Piqua, where he has since remained, ac- 
ti\ely associated with the iron manufactur- 
ing interests of this city. He began here 
as a roughman and for four years was em- 
ployed at the heating furnace. He was then 
made rollman — a work which commands 
higher wages than that of any other depart- 
ment of the rolling mill. He is an expert 
workman, competent and reliable, and en- 
joys the unqualified confidence and trust of 
his employers. 

On the 18th of August, 1887, Mr. Brown 
was united in marriage, in Mercer county, 
Pennsylvania, to Miss C, May Arbuckle, of 
Mercer county, and to them have been born 
two children, — Mamie Orr, whose birth oc- 
curred August 8, 1889, and Frank Arbuckle, 
born in July, 1891. Mr. and Mrs. Brown 
ha\e a wide acquaintance in Piqua and are 
favorably known on account of their many 
excellent qualities. They are both active 
members of the Presbyterian church, tak- 
ing a leading part in its work. Mr. Brown 
has served as chorister in the church, Sun- 
day school and Young Men's Christian As- 
sociation, also as superintendent of the Sun- 
day school and is an active member of the 
Young Men's Christian Association. He 
votes wi^h the Republican party on questions 



of national importance, but at local elections 
regards only the fitness of the candidates 
to discharge the business duties connected 
with the conduct of municipal affairs. He 
is public spirited and progressive, a man 
at all times honorable and upright, and his 
co-operation is freely given to every move- 
ment ^\•hich he believes will prove of public 
lienefit to the city along educational, social, 
material and moral lines. 



JOHX REED. 

On the present site of the elevator in 
Pleasant Hill stood the little home in which 
occurred the birth of John Reed. He was 
born May 12, 1818, his parents being John 
and Elizabeth (Miller) Reed, both of whom 
were natives of A'irginia, whence they emi- 
grated westward to Ohio, making the jour- 
ney with a four-horse team. This was about 
the year 18 14. The father purchased a farm, 
where occurred the birth of our subject, be- 
coming owner of one hundred acres of land, 
which he bought from James and Robert 
Long. A few acres of the place had been 
cleared and upon it had been erected a log 
cabin containing one room with a puncheon 
floor. Mr. Reed afterward ]3urchased an- 
other farm of eighty acres in 1821. His 
death was occasioned by accident. He was 
struck by a falling limb and died a few- 
hours afterward. His wife survived for 
some time and passed away at the age of 
sixty-three years. In the family of this 
worthy couple were six children. Polly, 
who became the wife of Abraham Deeter 
and died at the age of sixty years: Betsey, 
who married Jacob Deeter ; Sally, who is the 
wife of John Deeter and is living in Syra- 
cuse, Indiana, at the age of eighty-seven 
years; Frederick, who died when twelve 



758 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



years of age; John, of this review; and Car- 
oline, deceased wife of J. K. Teeter. 

After his father died, John Reed, of this 
review, went to Hve with Joshua Sowders, 
with whom he remained for two years. He 
then returned to his mother's home and after 
living with her for two years, spent some 
time in the liome of an elder sister. At the 
age of fourteen he hegan working as a farm 
hand for five and a half dollars per month 
and was thus employed for two years, when 
he began learning the carpenter's trade in 
Covington, serving an apprenticeship of 
about the same time. He was then married, 
remaining on the old home farm where he 
lived for two years and then purchased 
eighty acres of land in Xewton townshin. 
Soon one-cjuarter of the place had been 
cleared and a log cabin afforded shelter for 
the family. With characteristic energy Mr. 
Reed continued its cultivation and develop- 
ment and soon the well tilled fields showed 
how earnestly he applied himself to the work 
of clearing and cultivating his land. He fol- 
lowed farming with gi;iod success in that 
place until 1885, when he removed to his 
present home, which had previously been 
owned by his father. 

John Reed was married, in 1836, to Miss 
Katie Deeter, and by their marriage they 
became the parents of thirteen cliilrlren : 
Elizabeth, the widow nf Adam Urant; Will- 
iam ; Jacob, David and Xancy, these three 
being deceased; Christina, wife of Samuel 
Furlong; Malinda, wife of Tilman Furlong; 
Lucintla, wife of F'eter Xull : Frederick; and 
four who died in infancy. The mother of 
this family passed away in 1893, ^"^l i" ^'O" 
vember, 1894, Mr. Reed married Mrs. Eliza 
Moist, widow of George Moist and a daugh- 
ter of George Swank. She was born in 
Montgomery county, Ohio, in 1827, and by 



her first husband she had four children : 
Aaron, "Moses, Isabella, deceased, and Emma. 
Mr. Reed is truly a self-made man, for 
at a very early age he was thrown upon his 
own resources and has since depended en- 
tirely upon his own efforts to secure a live- 
lihood. He was educated in the old-time 
subscription school, held in a log building, 
where greased j^aper was used for window 
panes. His advantages in that connection, 
however, as in all others, were very meager 
and it has been through his own efforts that 
he has become a well-informed man. His 
business abilitv has enabled him to accjuire a 
comfortable competence ami he now owns 
four acres of the old homestead, upon which 
he lives, and two farms, one of eighty acres 
and the other of one hundred and eight acres. 
His labors have been vigorously prosecuted 
and his life's record illustrates what can be 
accomplished by those who are not afraid 
cf hard work. In his political views he has 
always been a Republican and he and his 
wife are members of the Dunkard church. 
For eighty-two years he has resided in Mi- 
ami countv being one of its oldest native 
citizens and his life's history forms the con- 
necting link between the pioneer past and 
the prosperous present. 



HEXRY Y. RUSH. 

An able representative of the Chrisf'an 
cliurch. Rev. Henry Y. Rush has labored ef- 
fectively in the cause of Christianity. He 
is a man of ripe scholarship and marked ex- 
ecutive ability whose life has been conse- 
crated to the cause of the Master and to the 
uplifting of man. He has devoted himself 
without ceasing to the interests of humanity 
and to the furtherance of all good works. 
His reputation is not of restricted otder and 



I 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



759 



his power and influence in his holy office 
have been exerted in the spirit of deepest 
human sympathy and tender soHcitude. He 
ifi nut at the present time connected with any 
rehgious organization as its pastor, but is 
hving retired in West Milton, Miami county. 
Mr. Rush was born in Randolph county, 
•North Carolina, August 25, 1835. His fa- 
ther, Azel Rush, was also a native of Ran- 
dolph county and was a son of Benjamin 
Rush, whose birth occurred near Philadel- 
phia, Pennsylvania. The great-grandfather 
was a native of England and became the 
founder of the family on American soil. Dr. 
Benjamin Rush, of Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, a cousin of the grandfather, was one 
of the signers of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. When a young man the grandfa- 
ther of Rev. Henry Y. Rush removed from 
Pennsylvania to North Carolina. A lame- 
ness prevented army service in the Revolu- 
tionary war, but he became an officer in the 
home guards. He was a planter and slave- 
holder, carr3nng on an extensive business in 
his adopted state. At one time he owned a 
large number of slaves and his landed posses- 
sions were also extensive. In politics he was 
an active Whig and was a member of the 
Methodist church, in the faith of which he 
died when about eighty yearsof age. His wife 
bore the maiden name of Dorcas Vickery and 
was born in North Carolina. She belonged to 
one of the old families of this country. One 
of their sons, Zebedee, was elected to the 
legislature by the Whig party of North 
Carolina and served for seven consecutive 
terms. The family was one of prominence 
in that state, exerting a wide influence in 
party affairs. When the trouble arose be- 
tween the two sections of the country nearly 
al! the representatives of tlie name became 
loyal adherents of the Union cause. 



Azel. Rush, the father of our subject, 
was reared in the state of his nativity upon 
the home plantation, and afterward became 
the owner of a large tract of land and sev- 
eral slaves. But about the vear 1834 he 
freed his negroes, ten in number, for he be- 
came convinced that slavery was wrong. He 
sent most of them to Wayne county, Indi- 
ana, and aided them in securing homes, but 
two of them would never leave him — a fact 
which indicates that he must have been a 
very kind and considerate master. In 1850 
he sold his property in the south and removed 
t<5 Grant county, Indiana, where he pur- 
chased about five hundred acres of land, 
which he improved, transforming the tract 
irito a highly cultivated farm. He made 
his home there until his death, which oc- 
curred when he was eighty years of age. 
In early life he was a Whio-, and on the or- 
ganization of the Republican party ioined 
its ranks. His business affairs were crowned 
with a high degree of success and he became 
a well-to-do citizen. In early life he was 
an ardent memlier of the Methodist church, 
but later joined the Society of Friends on 
account of their opposition to slavery. He 
married Sarah Young, a native of Randolph 
county. North Carolina, where she was 
reared and educated. Her parents were 
Henry and Lizzie (Ritter) Young, both of 
whom were natives of Maryland, hut their 
parents were born in Germany. Mrs. Rush 
also held membership relations with the So- 
ciety of Friends. She became the mother 
of three children: Thomas E., a farmer of 
Jonesboro, Indiana; Henry Y. ; and Noah, 
who carried on agricultural pursuits near 
Fairmount, Indiana. 

In his eleventh year the subject of this 
review began a two-years apprenticeship in a 
printing office at Ashboro, North Carolina, 



760 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the county seat of his native county. W'hen 
his term of service had ended he entered 
the Brooks Male Academy and continued 
as a student for two years. In iS^o he emi- 
grated with his parents to Grant county, In- 
diana, and after some months passed on a 
farm in that locahty he spent a year in the 
Friends high school at Back Creek, where he 
continued his education under the direction 
of Professor William Neil. Later he was 
a student in the Doan Academy at ]\Iarion, 
Indiana, and on leaving that school he en- 
gaged in teaching in select and day schools 
for a year. Subsequently he matriculated 
in Antioch College at Yellow Springs, Ohio, 
which institution was then under the presi- 
dency of Horace Mann. After two years, 
however, he was compelled to leave tliere on 
account of failing health, caused by hard 
study and manual labor performed outside 
of school hours in order to meet his ex- 
penses. For nearly a year thereafter he de- 
voted his attention to teaching, in the mean- 
time preaching at different places as oppor- 
tunity offered. He had become imbued with 
a desire to enter the ministry and devote his 
life to the uulifting of his fellow men, and in 
1854 he entered the Meadville, Pennsyl- 
vania, Theological Seminary, in which in- 
stitution he was graduated in the year 1857. 

On the 27th of April, 1858, Mr. Rush 
was united in marriage to Miss Mary J. 
Kepper, daughter of John and Lucinda Kep- 
per, and about the same time began pastoral 
work at the Cove Springs Christian church, 
also having charge of adjacent churches in 
Clark and Champaign counties. 

In July, 1862. prompted by a spirit of 
patriotism, Mr. Rush aided in raising a large 
part of Company E, of the One Hundred and 
Tenth Regiment of Ohio Infantry, and was 
commissioned first lieutenant bv Governor 



I'od, but the hard services of marches, scout- 
ing and battles so seriously aft'ected his 
health that he was honorably discharged in 
October, 1864. Returning from the army 
he soon resumed the work of the ministry. 
In 1865 he was elected to the editorship of 
the Herald of Gospel Liberty, a religious 
paper published in Dayton, Ohio. He held 
that position for thirteen years, and on the 
exoiration of that period was called to the 
pastorate of the Franklin Christian cliurch, 
in Warren county, Ohio, where he remained 
for ten years. Resienin^ the charge at that 
place, he then removed to West Milton, 
\>here he has since made his home. For a 
number of years he was pastor of the church 
at this place and afterward of adjoining 
churches, all prospering and maintaining 
good audiences and growing interest under 
his ministry. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Rush has been liorn 
a daugliter, Et^e May. She was graduated 
with honor in the Glendale Female College, 
at Glendale, Ohio, in her eighteenth vear, 
and while her parents resided in Franklin 
she was married to Daniel H. Pfontz, of 
Dayton, Ohio, a member of the present law 
firm of Pfontz & Hartranft. Both Rev. Rush 
and his wife ha\'e exerted strong influence 
for good in every community with which 
they have been connected, their eft'orts being 
effective in social, intellectual and moral cir- 
cles. Tlieir home is the center of a cultured 
society circle, and their circle of friends is 
almost co-extensive with that of their ac- 
quaintance. Rev. Rush belongs to the Ma- 
sonic lodge of West Milton, and to Cole- 
man Commandery of Troy, and is a member 
of the Grand Army post. His is that prac- 
tical appreciation of the affairs of life that 
lends greater potency to his ministerial la- 
bors, while as a pulpit orator he is logical. 



1 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



761 



convincing and eloquent, appealing not alone 
to the emotional side of human nature, but 
to the most mature jutlgment and most crit- 
ical wisdom. His strength as an organizer 
and practical worker is evidenced sufficiently 
ill his accomplishments, and the Christian 
religion has an able and dexoted supporter 
and advocate in the honored subject of this 
sketch. 



GEORGE MUMFORD. 

Proniinently iilentified with the agricult- 
ural interests of Miami county, George 
Mumford is a representative of one of the 
pioneer families of this section of the state. 
His father, George Mumford, was born in 
Maryland, February i6, 1812, and died on 
the old homestead farm in Elizabeth town- 
ship, this county, September 25, 1882, having 
reached the Psalmist's span of three score 
years and ten. His parents were John and 
Hannah Mumford, the former a native of 
England and the latter of Maryland. John 
Mumford died in Maryland, but his wife 
spent her last days in Ohio, attaining the very 
advanced age of one hundred and five years. 
In their family were fourteen children, those 
\vho came to Miami county being: Richard, 
who died in Shelby county, Ohio; John, the 
father of William R. Mumford, of Alcony; 
William, who spent his last days in Miami 
county, leaving a son, John, who yet resides 
in this section of the state; George, of this 
review ; Elizabeth, wife of Preston Moore, 
who resides in Elizabeth township ; Miranda, 
wife of Michael Cramer, who resides near 
Alcony; and Hannah, who married Jacob 
Dick and died at Miami Citv. All of that 
generation have now passed away, George 
Mumford, the father of our subject, havingr 
been the last survivor of the family. 



From Maryland the family came to the 
Buckeye state, and after one year spent in 
Muskingum county, George Mumford, Sr., 
returned to Maryland, where he was mar- 
ried, August 6, 1835, to Ruth Ann Martin, 
daughter of Isaac and Ruth Ann Martin. 
They began their domestic life in Musking- 
um county, and about 1845 located in Pike 
township, Clark county, where they remained 
until 1854. In that year they settled on the 
farm where their son, George, is now living. 
The land was covered with a heavy growth 
of timber and the father cleared the greater 
part of it himself, thus becoming the owner 
of one hundred and forty acres, constitut- 
ing one of the valuable farming properties 
of the neighborhood. He also purchased 
two adjoining farms, his landed possessions 
thereby aggregating four hundred and six- 
teen acres. He operated the entire amount 
himself and did an extensive business, being 
one of the practical and progressive agricul- 
turists of the communit}'. He managed the 
property until his demise, although two years 
before his death he had a leg broken 
and was therefore obliged to ride over 
his farm in a buggy. The immedi- 
ate cause of his death, however, was 
tvphoid fever. He left a valuable prooerty 
to be disposed of through his will. His 
wife died June 8, 1888. She was a member 
of the Lutheran church, and like her husband 
enjoyed the warm regard of many friends. 
In politics Mr. Mumford was a Whig until 
the dissolution of the party, when he joined 
the ranks of the new Republican party. He 
took an acti\-e interest in the substantial im- 
provements of the county, and was largely 
instrumental in building free pikes in this 
section of the state. For eighteen years, or 
up to the time he was disabled by the acci- 
dent, he served as a school trustee, and the 



76-2 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



cause of education found in him a warm 
friend. 

Unto Air. and Airs. Alumford were born 
ten children, two of whom died in early life. 
Those who survive are : Martha Josephine, 
wife of John Huggins, of Indiana; Eliza- 
beth, wife of John Harod, who is living near 
Troy, Ohio: Wilbur Harrison; Isaac; Maria 
M., wife of J. T. Hermann, of Elizabeth 
township; George; Melissa, wife of George 
Jackson, of Tippecanoe City; and Clara 
Belle, wife of John Rockey. of Lost Creek 
township. The three sons remained at home 
until their marriage, after which Harrison 
and Isaac located on farms owned by their 
father. George, however, remained with his 
father until his death and is now operating 
the old homestead. 

In the schools of the neighborhood 
George Mumford, Jr., received his education 
and early learned lessons of industry and en- 
terprise under the direction of his father. 
He assisted in the work of the field and 
meadow throughout his minority and con- 
tinued on the old homestead, which he in- 
herited at the time of his father's death. 
Ele is now accounted one of the leading ag- 
riculturists of the community, his methods 
being systematic and commendable. The 
well tilled fields yield to him a golden tribute 
in return for his labors and the improve- 
ments upon the place indicate his care and 
supervision. For ten years he has served 
as school director and has labored most earn- 
estly and effectively in securing good teach- 
ers and upholding the high standard of edu- 
cation in the township. 

On the 23d of December, 1883. Mr. 
Mumford was united in marriage to Miss 
Mary Ellen Boswell, daughter of George 
and Luvina (Taylor) Boswell. Her father 
was a native of Maryland and her mother of 



Logan county, Ohio, her parents moving to 
Indiana, whence she returned to Ohio at 
the age of fourteen years, living with an 
aunt, Luvina Goodwin, in Elizabeth town- 
ship. Mr. and Mrs. Boswell were married 
in Miami county and are now residing near 
Alcony. Mrs. Mumford, the eldest of their 
seven children, was born in Elizabeth tmvn- 
ship, April 21, 1855, and by her marriage 
she has become the mother of four children : 
Blanche, Xora, \"ernon Dale and Ruth. 
Airs. Mumford is a member of the Method- 
ist church. Air. Alumford is a stalwart 
Republican in his political views and often 
attends the local conventions of his party. 
His life has been quietly passed, in the faith- 
ful performance of each day's duty, and he 
possesses those sterling traits of character 
which ever command respect and are at all 
times worthy of emulation. 



VICTOR E. CAAIPBELL. 

Victor E. Campbell is the proprietor of 
an elevator and grain warehouse at West 
Al'ilton and handles much of the grain' 
shipped from this section of the county. He 
is widely known as a progressive and repre- 
sentative business man, and it is therefore 
with pleasure that we present to our read- 
ers his life record, which began in Johns\-ille, 
Alontgomery county, Ohio, on the 25th of 
August. 1873, when he first opened his eyes 
to the light of day. His father, Jesse K. 
Campbell, was a son of John G. and Alar- 
garet (Ware) Campbell, and was a native of 
Atontgomery county, his birth having oc- 
curred near Pyrmont, on the 8th of Alarch, 
1836. On the old homestead farm the days 
of his boyhood and youth were passed and 
in the public schools he acquired his ele- 
mentary education. W'hen about twenty- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



7t5S 



five years of age he began teacliing, follow- 
ing that profession for two years in both 
Trotwood and Eaton, Ohio. Subsequently 
he was traveling salesman for a grocerv 
firm for two years and then engaged in the 
grocery business in Liberty, Ohio, for a 
similar period. On the 29th of May, 1864, 
he was married and removed to a farm near 
Johnsville, Ohio, and spent the summer 
months in the fields, while in the winter sea- 
son he engaged in teaching school for seven 
years. In 1879 he removed to West Milton, 
where, in connection with his brother John, 
he built an elevator, carrving on business as 
a grain merchant until his death, which oc- 
curred February 10, 1899, when he was 
sixty-two years, eleven months and five days 
old. He also owned and operated an ele- 
vator at Lewisburg and in partnership with 
his son, Victor E., owned an elevator at 
Kessler Station. Prosperity attended his 
business pursuits, which were prosecuted 
along well defined lines of l.abor, and in addi- 
tion to his grain business he was owner of a 
valuable farm in Union township of sixty 
acres, one in Preble county, of one hundred 
and six acres, one in Darke county of eighty 
acres, and his elevators and home residence 
in West Milton. All that he possessed was 
acquired through his own efforts, and to his 
capable management and keen discrimina- 
tion his success was attributable. He voted 
with the Republican party, but never sought 
or desired office. In earl}' life he was an 
active member of the United Brethren 
church, but after his removal to West Milton, 
as there was no organization of that denom- 
ination here, he attended the services of the 
Society of Friends. He was a teacher in the 
Sunday school, having charge of the old 
people's Bible class for fifteen years. Ever 
active in church work, he did all in his power 



to promote the cause of Christianity among 
his fellow men, and gave one-tenth of his 
earnings to church and charitable work. 
He wedded Mary A. Hutchinson, who was 
born near Troy, Miami county, and when 
fifteen years of age went with her parents 
to Dayton, where she was married at the 
age of twenty-three years. She, too, was a 
member of the United Brethren church and 
reared her family in that faith. She be- 
came the mother of seven children, all of 
whom are yet living, namely: Jennie V., 
wife of Charles T. Pierce, of Lewisburg, 
Ihio; Lola Belle; Victor E. ; Celia, who has 
attended college at Valparaiso, Indiana ; 
Margaret, who is a student in a medical col- 
lege at Indianapolis, Indiana: John G., who 
is pursuing his education in the high school 
at West Milton: and Jessie Gaynell, who is 
living with her eldest sister in Lewisburg. 

Victor E. Campbell was only six years 
old when he came with his parents to West 
Milton, where his boyhood days were passed. 
He obtained his literary education in the 
schools here and afterward pursued a com- 
mercial course in the school conducted by 
A. D. Welt, of Dayton, Ohio. At the age 
of nineteen years he entered the employ of 
a proprietor of an elevator at West Milton, 
in whose service he continued for three years, 
when he entered into partnership with his 
father, owning a half interest in the busi- 
ness. They carried on operations here for 
four years, at the end of which time they 
each purchased a third interest in an elevator 
at Kessler, and the firm of Campliell, Younce 
& Campbell was formed. They still retain 
tl.eir interest in that enterprise, but Mr. 
Campbell, of this review, continues to make 
his home in West Milton and is active in 
the management of the grain business at this 
place. 



764 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



On the 23d of Xovember. 1893. was 
celebrated his marriage to Miss Mattie B. 
Tliompson, of Union township, Miami 
county, a daughter of \\'esley Thompson. 
Their home is blessed with the presence of 
two daughters : Gladys, who was born June 
21, 1894; and a baby, born May 2, 1900. 
Mr. Campbell votes with the Republican 
party on questions of national importance, 
but at local elections, where no issue is in- 
volved, he is independent in politics. So- 
cially he is connected with Stillman Lodge, 
No. 165, I. O. O. F., of Milton, and attends 
the Friends church. His mother died May 
15, 1899, surviving her husband only three 
months. Both passed away at the eighth 
hour of the day. At the request of the fa- 
ther the property has never been divided and 
is managed by our subject and his brother- 
in-law. Mr. Campbell is widely recognized 
a? a leading young business man of the town, 
energetic, capable and resolute, and in the 
control of his interests he has added to the 
success which has long attended the conduct 
of the grain business in W^est Milton. 



GEORGE W. SPEELMAN. 

George \\'. Speelman, a representative 
cf the industrial, interests of Covington, was 
born in Rising Sun, Indiana, September 10, 
1842. His father, John Speelman, a native 
of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, was 
born in 18 12 and was of German lineage. 
In 1837 he removed to Indiana with his wife 
and family, making the journey 1:)y wagon. 
In 1 85 1 he became a resident of J^Iiami coun- 
ty, Ohio, here spending his remaining days, 
his death occurring near Piqua, about 18S9. 
]\Irs. Speelman bore the maiden name of 
Margaret Morgan and was born in \\'est- 
moreland county, in 181 1, her parents being 



John and [Margaret Morgan. Her paternal 
grandfather was a native of the north of 
Ireland and became the founder of the fam- 
ily in America. Mrs. Speelman. surviving 
her husband several years, died April 9, 
1896. 

In the town of his nativity George W. 
Speelman spent the first seven years of his 
life and then accompanied his parents on 
their removal to \'ersailles, Darke county, 
Ohio, where they remained two years, and in 
1 85 1 came to Washington township, Miami 
county. He was first employed as a farm 
hand, entering upon his business career in that 
capacity, after acquiring a good education in 
the public schools and in the Kerr school in 
IVoy. After the inauguration of hostilities 
between the north and the south he respond- 
ed to his country's call for troops, enlisting 
for three years, on the 7th of July, 1 861, as a 
member of Company I, First Ohio Cavalry, 
under the command of Captain S. C. Rieter 
and Colonel O. P. Ransom. The first en- 
gagement in which he participated was on 
the 30th of May, 1862, and it is what is 
known in history as the evacuation of Cor- 
inth. Later he took part in the battles of 
Blackland. Stone River, Chattanooga, Chick- 
amauga, Atlanta, Lovejoy Station, Golds- 
boro, Nashville, the Wilson raid and Jones- 
boro. He was also in many skirmishes, and 
although wounded many times he spent only 
four days in the hospital He was wound- 
ed in the right foot near Corinth, his right 
thigh was pierced by a musket ball at Decatur, 
Alabama, and he received two other bullet 
wounds in almost the same place on the same 
day. Mr. Speelman was taken prisoner there 
and was incarcerated in different prisons in 
Mississippi, after which he was sent to Mo- 
bile, Alabama, and later to Vicksburg, where 
he was exchanged. Rejoining his regiment in 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



765 



October, 1863, lie veteranized with his com- 
mand on the 4th of January, 1864. at Pulas- 
ki, Tennessee, and was given the rank and pay 
of sergeant. Wlien the war was over he re- 
ceived an lionorable discharge at Columbus, 
November zj, 1865. and with a most credit- 
able military record returned to his home at 
Piqua. 

There Mr. Speelman engaged in carpen- 
tering for four years, after which he re- 
moved to Covington and learned the black- 
smith's trade, which he has since followed. 
He conducts one of the leading shops in the 
city and enjoys a liberal patronage, which is 
accorded him by reason of his capable work- 
manship and his honesty in all business trans- 
actions. 

Mr. Speelman was married in Piqua, on 
the 1 8th of February, 1864, to Miss Eliza- 
beth Kiger, of that citv, who died April 9, 
1899, leaving two children: Altitia, wife of 
John Rike, and William A., of Chicago. Mr. 
Speelman is a valued member of Langston 
Post, G. A. R., and served for one term as 
vice commander. He is also a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, both 
of the subordinate lodge and the encamp- 
ment. His life has been quietly and unos- 
tentatiously passed, but his career has ever 
been characterized by fidelity to duty, 
whether on the fields of battle or in the peace- 
ful pursuits of c'wW life. 



DAVID M. COATE. 

A retired farmer and merchant of \\'est 
Milton, years of activity in business well en- 
title Mr. Coate to the rest which he is now 
enjoying. His has been an honorable and 
useful business career, and the comforts 
which he is now enjiiying are the reward of 



well-directed labor. He has a wide ac- 
<;uaintance throughout Miami, his native 
county, his birth having occurred in Union 
township, on the 9th of July, 1823. His fa- 
ther, Henry Coate, was born in South Caro- 
lina, and in that state was rearetl and edu- 
cated. He became a sickle-maker and black- 
smith, following the dual pursuit for a nutn- 
ber of years. In 1803 he came to Miami 
county, Ohio, settling by Ludlow creek, 
w here he conducted a smithy for a time, but 
through fear of the Indians the fan.iily 
wished to reside elsewhere and he ren.io\'ed 
to Waynesville, Warren county, where he 
lived for ten or twelve years. He then re- 
turned to his farm in Union township, and 
carried on agricultural pursuits in connection 
with blacksmithing until his death, which 
occurred in 1848. when he was seventy-eight 
years of age. He was a very industrious 
aiid energetic man, who W(in success in his 
Ijusiness ventures and was at one time the 
ownerof two thousand acres of land. All that 
h& had he acquired through his own labors, 
and his prosperity stood in exemplification 
of what may be accomplished through de- 
termined purpose, when guided by sound 
judgment. In his political affiliations he 
v.-as a Whig and in his religious belief was a 
Quaker. His father, Marmaduke Coate, the 
fourth, was probably a native of England, 
or may have been born near Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania, after the arrival of the family 
in the Keystone state. He, too, was a member 
of the Society of Friends. He wedded Mary 
Coppic, a nati\'e of South Carolina. On the 
maternal side our subject also represents an 
old Pennsylvania family. His mother, who 
liefore her marriage was Rebecca Wilson, 
was born in the Keystone state and was 
married at Waynesville, Ohio, to Henry 
Coate. She, too, was a member of the So- 



76G 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ciety of Friends and died at the age of thir- 
t_\--fi\-e years. 

David M. Coate, of this review, was only 
lour years old at that time. He remained 
with his father on the home farm until he 
was married and went to a home of his own. 
It was in 1843 that this important event in 
his life occurred, at which time he took up 
his abode upon a farm one mile west of West 
Milton. The place was a tract of wild tim- 
ber land, which his father had entered from 
the government, at a dollar and a quarter j)er 
acre. This Mr. Coate cleared and improved, 
continuing its cultivation until 1865, when 
he removed to Kokomo, Indiana, where he 
was engaged in merchandising for a few 
m.onths. He then disposed of his interests 
there and purchased the store of Mr. Ran- 
cialj, in West Milton, being numbered among 
the enterprising merchants of this place un- 
til 1872, when he sold in order to enter upon 
the duties of county commissioner, to which 
office he had been elected. In all his busi- 
ness undertakings he had prospered, ha\-ing 
that determined and enterprising spirit 
which enabled him to carry forward to suc- 
cessful completion whatever he undertook. 
He added to his farm from time to time until 
he now owns two hundred and seventy acres 
of valuable land, all under a high state of 
cultivation. 

On the 20th of September, 1843, Mr. 
Coate was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Teague, of Newton township, Miami coun- 
ty, who died October 2, 1894, in the faith 
of the Society of Friends, of which she was 
a consistent member. They had two chil- 
dren: John, a resident of West Milton, and 
Orrin, who is engaged in merchandising in 
this place. Mr. Coate is also a member of 
the Society of Friends, and his upright life 
has ever been consistent with his professions. 



In politics he has taken a deep and active 
interest, voting the Republican ticket and 
warmly advocating the principles of the 
party. He served as county commissioner 
for four j^ears, was a member of the council 
of West Milton for a number of years and 
for some time served on the district school 
board, discharging his duties in a very 
prompt and commendable manner. His 
business affairs were ever energetically prose- 
cuted, and all that he possesses has been ac- 
quired through his own efforts, having had 
no assistance save that his father gave him 
a tract of timber land. Work is the key- 
note of his prosperity, and it is the open 
sesame to success to all who care to use it. 



THEODORE G. TORLINA. 

One of the most extensive and successful 
enterprises of Aliami county is the Troy 
Buggy Works, and at the head of its vari- 
ous departments are men of marked skill and 
ability, whose trustworthiness is a matter 
of record. Among this number is Mr. Tor- 
lina, who is superintendent of the black- 
smithing department. A native of Cincin- 
nati, Ohio, he was born December 2j, 1856, 
unto George and Dorothy Torlina. His 
parents were natives of Germany, but during 
childhood came with their respective fam- 
ilies to the new world, taking up their abode 
in Indiana. On leaving the Hoosier state 
the father located in Cincinnati, where he 
learned the druggist's trade, being employed 
in a wholesale house of that city. 

The subject of this review pursued his 
education in the public schools of Cincin- 
nati and, on putting aside his text books, 
prepared for an active business career by 
learning the blacksmith's trade. He applied 
himself diligently to the mastery of his cho- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



767 



sen vocation and for ten 3^ears was foreman 
of the Favorite Carriage Company of Cin- 
cinnati. In 1894 he came to Troy and has 
since been superintendent of the l^Iacksmith- 
ing department of the Troy Buggy Works. 
The product of this extensive enterprise 
ranks very high in the country and also in 
foreign lands and includes every style of 
carriage and buggy known in the market. 
A specialty is made of pony carts. No 
workman is more familiar with the duties 
of his department or better equipped 
for their discharge than Air. Torlina, 
a fact which is attested by his long 
connection with the Troy -Buggy Works 
Company and with his old company in Cin- 
cinnati. He possesses superior mechanical 
genius and skill and his own thorough and 
practical knowledge of the business enables 
him to capably direct the labors of the men 
under him. He has the entire confidence 
of his employers and has exclusive charge of 
the work done in his department. 

Mr. Torlina was married in Cincinnati, in 
1880, to Miss Mary Griffin, daughter of 
Michael Griffin, of Boston, Massachusetts. 
They occupy a pleasant home on East Main 
street and have two children : George J. and 
Dorthea S. A good library attests the 
literary taste of the members of the house- 
hold and indicates their appreciation of in- 
tellectual advancement. The family are 
members of the Catholic church, of Troy, 
and enjoy the warm regard of those with 
whom thev have been brought in contact. 



JOHN G. SENOUR, M. D. 

A native of Troy, Ohio, Dr. Senour was 
born on the 4th of July, 1855, ''•'^ parents 
being William and Clara Maria (Gahagan) 
Senour. The father was a native of Ken- 



tucky and by occupation was a silversmith. 
In 1853 he came to Troy, his death occurring 
in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1880. The Doctor's 
mother was born in Troy and still resides in 
that city. 

Under the parental roof Dr. Senour 
spent his boyhood days and in the public 
schools acquired his preliminary education. 
In 1873 li^ entered upon his business career 
as an employee in the drug store of Dr. 
Horace Coleman, with whom he remained 
for two years. Later he spent one year with 
the firm of McKinney & Company, also 
druggists, and in the latter part of 1875 
he began the study of medicine in the of- 
fice and under the direction of Dr. J. H. 
Green, of Troy. Having secured a good 
fundamental knowledge of the principles of 
medicine, he afterward pursued a course of 
lectures in the Ohio Medical College, at 
Cincinnati, and in 1878 was graduated in 
the Bellevue Hospital Medical College, of 
New York city. Immediately returning 
to his native town he opened an office on 
the 1 8th of April of that year, and has since 
been a member of the medical profession in 
Troy, where he has gradually worked his 
way upward until he now occupies a com- 
manding" position in the front ranks of the 
medical fraternity. He has ever been a close 
and thorough student of his profession and 
his knowledge is comprehensive and exact. 
His efforts have been blessed with success, 
his skill and ability winning him a liberal 
patronage. 

On the nth of December, 1878, the 
Doctor was united in marriage to Miss 
Sadie L. Ross, a daughter of J. W. Ross, 
who died in 1877. They now have two inter- 
esting children, Lillie M. and Laura B. The 
Doctor is very fond of a good horse and has 
been the owner of some fine specimens of 



768 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



the noljle steed. In politics he is a Democrat 
and on that ticket lie was elected coroner of 
Miami county in 1884, filling the position 
for two years. Socially he is connected with 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In 
all life's relations he has commanded the 
confidence and esteem of his fellow men, 
and as a representative citizen of Troy he 
well deserves mention. 



THEODORE J. ZELLER. 

Among the citizens that the Keystone 
state has furnished to Ohio is numbered 
Theodore J. Zeller. who now follows farm- 
ing in Union township. Miami county. His 
Ijirth occurred in Lancaster county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 26th of August, 1832, and 
he is of German lineage, the family having 
been established in America by his grand- 
father, who came to the new world from 
Germany. His parents were Henry and 
Maria (Miller) Zeller, both natives of Penn- 
sylvania, the former born February 15. 1805, 
the latter on the 10th of October, 1808. 
Reared to manhood in his native state, Henry 
Zeller there learned the saddler's and paint- 
er's trades, following those pursuits in Penn- 
sylvania until 1850, when he took up his 
abode in Clark county, Ohio, near Medway, 
where he worked at his trade until about 
1852, when he came to Miami county and 
for several years conducted a general mer- 
cantile establishment in Laura. He won a 
liberal patronage and derived from his busi- 
ness a good income. All that he had was 
the result of his labors and he justly won 
the title of a self-made man. In politics he 
was a Republican and religiously was con- 
nected with the Christian church. He was 
married, on Christmas day of 1827, to Miss 
]ilaria Miller, and they became the parents 



of ten children, three of whom are now de- 
ceased. The father died at the age of sev- 
enty-five years and the mother, who held 
membership in the Lutheran church, passed 
away on the 23d of October, 1872. 

Theodore J. Zeller followed plastering 
until his health failed in 1S75. He was 
employed as a farm hand in Pennsyh-ania 
until the spring of 1850, when he came with 
his parents to Ohio. Five years later, in 
1855, he was married and in the autumn of 
that 3'ear he came to Laura, where he fol- 
lowed the plasterer's trade for seven or eight 
years. In the spring of 1864 he went to 
West Milton, where he followed plastering 
until 1875, '^'icl then invested the capital 
he had acquired in a farm of seventy-two 
acres in Union township, on which he has 
since made his home. He now rents his 
farm to his son-in-law, Horatio Elleman. 

Mr. Zeller wedded Miss Susan Brosev, 
of Clark county, Ohio, and unto them were 
born six children : Orres A. and Clara 
Amanda, both deceased: Elizal)eth. wife of 
Horatio Elleman; Effie K.. Walter K. and 
Harry B., at home. The parents hold mem- 
bership in the Christian church and are 
l>eople of sterling worth in the community, 
enjoying the warm regartl of all with whom 
they have been brought in contact. ]vlr. 
Zeller is a member of the Independent 
Order of Odd Fellows. In the spring of 1864 
he manifested his loyalty as a citizen of the 
republic Iiy responding to the call for men 
to serve one hundred days. He joined Com- 
pany D, One Hundred and Forty-seventh 
Ohio Infantry, and went to the defense of 
Washington. He participated in the battle 
of Fort Stephen, and on the expiration of his 
term was honorably discharged. All who 
know him esteem him for his fidelity to 
principle. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



769 



LEWIS S. HOOVER, M. D. 

Engaged in the practice of medicine in 
Laura, Dr. Hoover has secured a large and 
distinctively representative patronage. He 
was horn in Frankhn county, this state, in 
Grove City, Septemher 12, 1848, and be- 
longs to a family that since early pioneer 
clays has been connected with the develop- 
ment and progress of Ohio. His great- 
grandfather, John Hoover, was probably a 
nati\e of Germany, and on leaving that 
country crossed the Atlantic to the new 
world, taking up his abode in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania. He served in the 
Re\'nlutionary war under General Washing- 
ton and was afterward granted a pension in 
recognition of the aid whicli he rendered 
in establishing the American republic. Li 
1806 he came with his family to Ohio, where 
he followed farming and made his home 
until his death, hving to be one hundred 
years of age. He could not read or sijeak 
English, but was very successful in his busi- 
ness affairs. The grandfather of our suli- 
ject, George Hoover, was born in Kentucky 
and came to the Buckeye state with his father 
when eleven years of age, the year of their 
arrival being 1806. A settlement was made 
near Grove City, Franklin county, and there 
amid the wild scenes of frontier life George 
Hoover was reared to manhood. He hunted 
deer where the city of Columbus now stands 
and witnessed the marvelous transforma- 
tion which occurred in the pioneer epoch of 
Ohio's history. He followed farming with 
creditable success and lived to the age of 
seventy-five years. 

George W. Hoover, the Doctor's father, 

was a native of Franklin county, Ohio, and 

has spent his entire life on the farm where 

he is now- living, at the age of seventy-five 
45 



years. He, too, has won success in liis busi- 
ness affairs and now is living retired, renting 
his land. His political support is given the 
Democracy. He wedded Nancy Smith, a 
native of Ohio, who in early life lived in 
various parts of the state, her father mak- 
ing many removals from place to place. Her 
grandfather, Jonas Smith, is buried near 
Columbus, where at one time he owned a 
large tract of land. Her father, Silas Smith, 
was a shoemaker, but later in life read medi- 
cine and engaged in practice .for a number 
of years prior to his death. Mrs. Hoover 
became the mother of twelve children, of 
whom the Doctor is the eldest, and died at 
the age of sixty-two years. 

Dr. Hoover, of this review, spent his 
boyhood days under the parental roof and 
in the common schools of the neighborhood 
accjuired his education. He continued his 
studies until eighteen years of age in the 
district schools and then began work as a 
farm hand by the month in order to obtain 
the money necessary to permit him to pur- 
sue a two-years academic course. He spent 
one 3'ear as a student in the normal school 
at Lebanon and afterward engaged in teach- 
ing. When about twenty-two years of age 
he took up the study of medicine, and pur- 
sued his reading and investigation along that 
line while devoting -his energies through the 
day time to teaching. His studies were 
directed by Joseph Bulen, of Grove City, 
and later he was for one term a student in 
the Miami Medical College, of Cincinnati. 
Subsequently he studied in the Cincinnati 
College of Medicine and Surgery, and was 
graduated at the Starling Metlical College, 
of Columbus, in the class of 1874. Im- 
mediately afterward he began practice in 
Grove City, where he remaineil for eighteen 
years, w'hen, in 1892, he came to Laura, 



770 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



where he has been in practice continuously 
since. 

On the 24th of December. 1874, the 
Doctor was united in marriage to Miss Eliza 
Sibray, a native of Grove City. She died 
in 1 89 1, leaving a daughter, Fay. now the 
wife of L. M. Jones, of Laura. The Doc- 
tor afterward married Mrs. Ella Grant, of 
Grove City, and they now have one child, 
Lucile, who is four years of age. 

Dr. Hoover is a conservative Democrat 
and keeps well informed on the issues of 
the day, but has never sought or desired 
political office. Socially he is a member 
of Laura Lodge. No. 594. K. P., which 
he joined on its organization, and in his 
life exemplifies the beneficent principles of 
the order. The greater part of his time and 
attention, however, are given to his profes- 
sional duties, and he keeps in touch with 
the progress that has been made by the medi- 
cal fraternity. He holds membership in the 
Miami Medical Society and the American 
Medical Association. His interest in his 
profession and his fellow men is deep and 
sincere, and thus he has attained an enviable 
standing in medical circles. 



FRANK E. CAMPBELL. 

Perseverance is a potent feature in at- 
taining prosperity. It has opened the jwr- 
tals of success to many worthy men. The 
subject to whose life history we now direct 
attention has. by ceaseless toil and endeavor, 
attained a marked success in business affairs, 
has gained the respect and confidence of men 
and is recognized as one of the distinctively 
representati\e citizens of Piqua. where he 
has l^een conducting a furniture and under- 
taking business for fourteen years. 

He was born in Lockington, Shelby coun- 



ty. Ohio, on the iSth of January, 1859. The 
family was early established in Pennsylvania, 
and the grandfather of our subject removed 
from the Keystone state to Shelby county 
during its pioneer epoch. Robert R. Camp- 
bell, the father of our subject, was a native 
of Shelby county, and having arrived at 
years of maturity he wedded Sarah J. Mel- 
linger, a daughter of Squire William Mel- 
linger, who, with three brothers, came from 
Pennsylvania, taking up their abode in 
Lockington, where he became very widely 
known. When the Miami canal was built 
at that place Lockington was a very im- 
portant town, and Squire Mellinger was 
called upon to settle all disputes arising 
among the mixed population during those 
early days. His rulings were so fair and 
impartial that he won the confidence of all 
and was held in high esteem. He was there- 
fore a man of great influence not only among 
the white people, but also among the Indians 
who relied upon his judgment, knowing that 
they would recei\'e even-Iianded justice. 
For many years he continued to fill the office 
of justice of the peace, and at the advanced 
age of eighty years his long and useful career 
was ended. His wife passed away at the age 
of seventy-six. One of their sons is now 
living on the old homestead in Shelby county. 
Frank Edwin Campbell, whose name in- 
troduces this review, came to Piqua when 
seven years of age, his father having lo- 
cated here, where he became a contractor 
and builder. After many years of active 
connection with industrial interests he re- 
tired to private life, at the age of seventy 
years, and with his wife, who is now se\'enty- 
one years of age. he is still living in Piqua, 
an honored and respected resident of the 
city. He served for two terms in the city 
council. L'nder the parental roof the sub- 



< 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



771 



ject of this review was reared and in the 
high school of Piqua he completed his edu- 
cation. On putting aside his text books he 
learned the cabinetmaker's trade, and stead- 
ily working his way upward became fore- 
man of a factory. He also attended Clark's 
Embalming School, at Springfield, Ohio, 
becoming thoroughly proficient in that line. 
His business has steadily increased and his 
patrons are now found throughout the coun- 
ty. He carries a very large and well se- 
lected stock of furniture and house furnish- 
ing goods and has a well equipped under- 
taking department. He is also president of 
the Forest Hill cemetery board, to which he 
has been elected for a second term. 

Mr. Campbell has been twice married. 
He first wedded Miss Lyda Gerhart, a 
daughter of Finley Gerhart, deceased, for- 
merly of New Carlisle. They have one son, 
Clinton, who is seventeen years of age and 
is now attending the high school, where he 
is recognized as a good student and a young 
man of promise. For his second wife Mr. 
Campbell chose Miss Mary E. Kerns, a 
daughter of Joseph Kerns, of Spring Creek 
township. They have a large circle of 
friends in the community. Mr. Campbell 
is a valued member of the Masonic fra- 
ternity, of which he has served as secretary ; 
and to the Odd Fellows, Knights of the 
Maccabees and Knights of the Golden Eagle 
he also belongs. In his political views he is 
a stalwart Republican and in religious faith 
is a Presbyterian. A man of broad sym- 
pathies, social, intellectual, fraternal and 
moral interests have occupied his attention 
and received his support, and at the same 
time he is a very prosperous and prominent 
business man, whose success has been credit- 
ably won. He possesses untiring industry, 
keen discrimination and resolute purpose. 



and these qualities have enabled him to work 
his way steadily upward until he is now num- 
bered among the leading representatives of 
commercial interests in Piqua. 



CONOVER HALL. 

Conover Hall, who is engaged in gen- 
eral farming in Spring Creek township, is 
numbered among the honored veterans of 
the civil war who joined the blue and went 
to the south to defend the cause of the 
Union. He was born near Carlisle, in War- 
ren county, Ohio, December 15, 1832, and 
is a son of Joseph and Sophia (Conover) 
Hall. In the family were eight children, 
four sons and four daughters. In 1852 they 
removed from Warren county to Miami 
county, locating in Spring Creek township, 
where the father purchased eighty acres of 
land on section 13. This is the farm upon 
which our subject now resides. The father 
there made his home until his death, which 
occurred in 1879, when he had attained the 
age of seventy-two years, his birth having 
occurred in 1807. His wife was also born 
in that year and died in 1882. 

Mr. Hall, whose name introduces this re- 
view, remained upon the old farm until 
thirty years of age, when, prompted by a 
spirit of patriotism, he responded to the call 
for troops, enlisting on the 8th of August, 
1862, as a private of Company A, One Hun- 
dred and Tenth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. 
He was mustered in at Camp Piqua and was 
first under fire at the battle of Winchester. 
Later he participated in the engagements at 
New Market, Union Mills, Star Fort and 
Stephenson's Depot, and was also on duty 
near New York from August 17th until 
September 6, 1865, after which he partici- 



172 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



pated in a skirmish near Hazel Run. He 
also participated in the battles of Rappa- 
hannock, Mine Run, Locust Grove, the cam- 
paign of the Wilderness, Brock Road, Spott- 
sylvania, Poe River. Bloody Angle. Lon- 
don Heights, North Anna, Cold Harbor, 
the flank moveinent against Petersburg, the 
battle of that city, the assault on Gurley 
House, the battle of Weldon Railroad and 
JMonocacy, the Shenandoah campaign, and 
the engagements at Cedar Creek, Summit 
Point, Charleston, Sm.ithfield, Flint H^ll, 
Fisher's Hill and Fort Fisher. He was hon- 
orably discharged with the rank of corporal 
on the ^^th of June, 1865, for the war was 
then ended and the country no longer needed 
his services. He had been a most true and 
faithful soldier, whose war record was a 
credit to the army in blue. 

Returning to Spring Creek township, 
jMr. Hall has since made his home there, 
.with the exception of three years passed in 
Darke county and three years in Staunton 
township, Miami county. In 1885, how- 
ever, he returned to the old homestead farm, 
and here owns and operates fifty-eight acres 
of land, which is under a high state of cul- 
tivation. He was married, December 14, 
1865, to ]\Iiss Louise E. Edge. They lost 
one child in infancy, and their other chil- 
dren are : Ollie M., wife of Charles J. 
Lentz ; Lillian S., wife of William H. Neg- 
ley. a resident of Colorado Springs, Colo- 
rado; Xat Madison, a teacher; Minnie E., 
wife of William Eldridge, a farmer of 
Spring Creek township; and Laura B., at 
home. Mr. Hall entertains pleasant relation- 
ship with his old army comrades through 
his membership in Alexander Post, Xo. 1 58, 
G. A. R., of Piqua, and there recalls mem- 
ories of the days when they sat around the 
camp fires upon tented fiel Is. He is also a 



member of the Presbyterian church and 
gives a liberal support to all measures which 
he believes will prove of public benefit. 



FRANK T. PRIEST. 

Throughout the entire development of our 
country's history the Priest family has been 
represented in America, for the ancestors 
of our subject came to the new world with 
the little band of Pilgrims who crossed the 
Atlantic in the ?^Iayflower and made the 
first settlement on the shores of New Eng- 
land. Since that time representatives of 
the name have been important factors in 
promoting the substantial development and 
improvement of the communities with which 
they have been connected, and the present 
representative, Frank T. Priest, is likewise 
numbered among the valued and respected 
citizens of Piqua. His birth occurred Feb- 
ruary 10. i86g, on a farm in Clark county, 
Ohio, which was also the birthplace of his 
father, \\'illiam H. Priest, and his grand- 
father. T'lhn Priest. The latter was num- 
bered among the pioneer residents of Clark 
county. William H. Priest was one of the 
loyal defenders of the Union during the 
civil war. .\bout 1S68 he married INIiss 
Florence JMargaret Dunn, of ^Marion, In- 
diana, and took up his abode in \^an Wert 
county, Ohio. In 1879 'i^ rem(i\-ed to Eliz- 
abeth township, iliami county, and resided 
upon a farm near Miami City. In April, 
igoo, he remo\-ed to Troy. His wife died 
in 1898. In their family were three daugh- 
ters : Mrs. W. K. ^lumford, of Conover, 
Ohio: Mrs. Oliver Reaver, of Alcony; and 
Mary Delight, also of Alcony. 

Mr. Priest, of this review, pursued his 
education in the common schools and in the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



773 



schools of Casstown. He entereel upon a 
business career in a grocery store in Troy, 
and later secured employment with the tele- 
phone company at Muncie, Indiana, as in- 
spector, also doing- some office work. Upon 
his return to Troy he re-entered the grocery 
business, and also aided in establishing the 
electric light plant in that city. In 1889 he 
became an employe of the express company 
of Troy, and in 1890 was made transfer 
agent at Peru, Indiana. He also served as 
money clerk at Toledo and was depot agent 
and bill clerk at Columbus. In June, 1895, 
he was made agent for the e.xpress com- 
pany at Pic|ua and has held the position 
continuously since. His business methods 
are thorough and reliable, and his industry 
and fidelity have won him the confidence 
of the corporation, while his obliging man- 
ner has made him very popular with the 
patrons of the office. 

Mr. Priest was united in marriage to 
Miss Ida B. Wyant, of Bradford, Ohio, and 
in Pic|ua they have many warm friends. 
Their only child is a little daughter, Flor- 
ence. Mr. Priest is past chancellor of the 
Knights of Pythias lodge, is secretary and 
recorder of the Uniform Rank, is a mem- 
ber of the Essenic Lodge and is secretary 
and treasurer of the Knights of Pythias 
band, one of the best in the state, its serv- 
ices being in constant demand throughout 
Ohio and in other states. He is also treas- 
urer of Piqua Lodge, No. 294, of the Mod- 
ern Brotherhood, and is highly esteemed in 
all these various organizations. He belongs 
to the IMethodist church and is a Repub- 
lican in politics, but has never sought or 
desired office, preferring to give his time and 
attention to his business interests. In man- 
ner he is genial and courteous, and his so- 
cial qualities have made him very popular. 



ROBERT SPROUL. 

Eighty-eight years have passed since 
Robert Sproul became a resident of Miami 
county. He belonged to that class of true 
pioneers who sought homes in the unbroken 
forests, which the Indians still regarded as 
their hunting ground and which were the 
haunts of many wild animals. Dangers and 
difficulties beset the frontiersmen on every 
hand, but with courageous spirit Robert 
Sproul and other pioneers set to work to re- 
claim the wild land for purposes of civiliza- 
tion, thus securing good homes where once 
were waste places of the earth. 

Mr. Sproul was born in Bride Hill, coun- 
ty Tyrone, Ireland, in February, 1775, and 
when about twenty-one years of age came to 
America for the purpose of returning to 
Ireland with his sister, whose husband had 
died here. Her son, however, opposed her 
return, and Robert Sproul also decided to re- 
main. He purchased a little farm and was 
married in South Carolina to Isabella Hays, 
who was born in November, 1782, in Ire- 
land. She had come to America in 1793. 
Their wedding occurred in 1803 and they be- 
gan their domestic life in the south, where 
they continued until 1812, when they came 
to Ohio, making a settlement in this vicinity. 
In 18 13 Mr. Sproul secured the farm upon 
which his daughter now resides. During 
the first winter of his residence here he was 
drafted to serve in the war, but, hiring a 
substitute, he turned his attention to the 
farm. The title of his property has never 
been transferred from the family. With 
characteristic energy he began the arduous 
task of clearing away the trees and trans- 
forming the raw land into richly cultivated 
fields. In 1829 he erected the residence 
which is still standing, bu'lding it of brick, 



774 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



which was made upon the place. He had 
previously erected a saw-mill and cut all the 
timber and lumber used in the house. He 
also built a dry kiln, and thus all the ma- 
terials for the new home were prepared upon 
the farm. It was one of the finest houses 
in the county at the time of its erection and 
is still in a state of good preservation. The 
mantel in the parlor is a fine specimen of 
hand work, being carved out in handsome 
patterns. The parlor carpet is forty years 
old and was made by the children, the girls 
spinning the wool, which was woven by the 
elder sisters. It is also a fine heirloom. 
The half-section of land which Robert 
Sproul secured was placed under a high 
state of cultivation through his own efforts. 
He conducted a saw-mill for many years 
and also ground a great deal of grain used 
for distillerv purposes. The location of the 
mill is still shown by old pillars. His life 
was one of industry and close application 
to business, the farm and mill occunying his 
attention through many years and bringing 
th him a handsome competence. 

At the advanced age of eighty-three 
years Air. Sproul passed away, his death 
occurring June 14, 1858. He was a 
well-preserved did man, his mental and phys- 
ical faculties being unimpaired. He was 
never a church member, but had the strictest 
regard for honesty, justice and right and 
reared his children so that they became useful 
and honorable members of society. In early 
life he was a Jacksonian Democrat, but later 
became a Whig, and on the organization of 
the Repuljlican party joined its ranks. As 
the family to which he belonged was one of 
means, he obtained a good education in his 
youth, and in the early days of Ohio was con- 
sidered the best informed man in his localitv. 
For this reason he was often calletl upon to 



perform clerical work, and was regarded 
as one of the leading and influential citizens 
of the county. His wife survived him 
eleven years, dying on the 2d of April, 1869, 
in her eighty-seventh year. Her life had 
been devoted to her family and she enjoyed 
the esteem and lo\-e of many friends in the 
community. She had eight daughters and 
four sons, who w^re carefully trained to 
habits of industry, economy and honesty. 
Elizabeth, the eldest, became the wife of 
John Scott and was the mother of Thomas 
Scott, of Troy; SamueL the second eldest 
child, died in his sixty-second year, his 
widow still residing in this neighborhood ; 
Margaret and Sarah H. were the next of the 
family; Frances died at the age of twenty- 
nine years; Xancy is still living on the old 
homestead ; Thomas died in Auglaize a )un- 
t)', Ohio, in his sixty-seventh year; James 
was also a resident of Auglaize county and 
died in his seventy- fourth year; Isabella was 
the next of the family ; Rebecca Jane became 
the wife of Henry Gardner and died in her 
sixty-seventh year; Alaria Matilda is the 
wife of James Gearheart ; and Robert died 
in his s'xty-second year, leaving a daughter, 
Mrs. Belle Hufford, of Elizabeth. 

After the father's death five sisters, Mar- 
garet, Sarah, Xancy, Isabelja and Frances, 
lived upon the home farm. Frances died at 
the age of twenty-nine years. Xone of these 
sisters married, but remained together until, 
one by one, they were called to the home 
beyond. Margaret was the first to pass 
down the corridors of time, her death oc- 
curring in 1870, in her sixty-third year. 
Belle died in 1896, in her seventy-seventh 
year, so that three of the sisters remained 
together for twenty-six years without a 
death in the household. The third to pass 
away was Sarah Hays, who died January 5, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



775 



1899, in her ninetieth year. She was always 
the most dehcate, yet she attained this very 
advanced age. Although her health was 
poor, she possessed a very sunny disposition 
and was ever ready to enjoy a good laugh 
over a humorous story. The only survivor 
is Miss Nancy Sproul, who is now in her 
eighty-seventh year, and her attention has 
been given to the supervision of the farm 
and to the many duties and light labors 
which occupy the attention of ladies. Many 
excellent specimens of her handiwork are 
seen in the homes of her friends. All of the 
sisters were members of the Presbyterian 
church, at Troy, and did their part in the 
church work, contributing liberally to its 
support. Among the old heirlooms in the 
family is a tine old clock, which is highly 
prized. The works were sent from Ireland, 
about 1828, by a nephew of Robert Sproul 
and the case was made in Troy. Miss Sproul 
is also the possessor of a set of silver spoons 
that were used by the family in Ireland dur- 
ing the boyhood of her father, and she has an 
old Bible printed in three volumes, which 
was presented to Robert Sproul in 1826 by 
his nephew\ It is a handsome specimen of 
the printer's art, and with many other heir- 
looms is greatly treasured by the mis- 
tress of this attractive old home, which 
throughout the greater part of the nine- 
teenth century has been in possession of the 
family. 

. GEORGE W. LOONEY. 

Among the venerable citizens who have 
reached the age of four score years and now 
receive the respect and esteem of their fel- 
low townsmen in a high degree is George 
W. Looney, who resides in Spring Creek 
township. He was born in Mechanicsburg, 



Ohio, February 9, 1819, his parents being 
Jonathan and Mercy (Holsten) Looney. 
In 1832 the father sold his farm in Cham- 
paign county and started for Quincy, Illinois, 
but had only traveled as far as Louisville, 
Kentucky, when he was stricken with cholera 
and died. In the family were eight chil- 
dren : Mary, Margaret, Henry. Stephen, 
George W., Thomas J., Jonathan, now de- 
ceased, and Sarah. 

When George W. Looney was a lad of 
fifteen years he accompanied his mother and 
her family on their removal to Allen county, 
Ohio. He obtained his education in an old 
log school house, where the expenses were 
met by the subscriptions of the scholars. He 
continued his residence in Allen county until 
1852, when he came to Miami county and 
worked at. teaming and aided in construct- 
ing the Panhandle Railroad. He was em- 
ployed in the latter way for two months, but 
afterward turned his attention to farming, 
and on the 27th of January, 1853, he pur- 
cliased ninety-five acres of land on section 
19, Spring Creek township. Since that time 
he has added to his landed possessions until 
the aggregate is now four hundred acres, 
three hundred and thirty acres on section 
19, and the remainder on section 25. He 
now has three hundred and fifty acres of 
land under cultivation and carries on gen- 
eral farming. He erected his fine brick 
residence in 1877, and has a highly improved 
property. When he started out in life on 
own account he had but twenty-eight dollars, 
but steadily he has augmented his capital until 
to-day he is accounted one of the substantial 
residents of his community. He may truly be 
called a self-made man, for what- he has 
achieved is the merited reward of his earnest 
and persistent labor. Hard work has been the 
kejmote to his success and it will prove an 



776 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



open sesame to all who wish to enter the 
realms of prosperity. 

George W. Looney was married, on the 
5th of Nevember, 1845, to Miss Charlotte 
Hardman. She died in 1875. and on the 
28th of March, 1877, he was again married, 
and Ijy the second union he had fi\'e children : 
George \\'., Lee, William, Earl, and one 
who died in infancy. His second wife died 
February 12, 1900. In his early life he 
was a supporter of the Whig party and cast 
his first presidential vote for William Henry 
Harrison. On the organization of the Re- 
puljlican party he joined its ranks and has 
since been a stalwart advocate of its princi- 
ples. For forty-seven years he has been a 
member of the Methodist Episcopal church 
of Pitpia, and has long served as one of its 
trustees. His life has ever been honorable 
and upright, and the qualities which go to 
make up an honorable manhood have been 
manifest in bis career. He has lived to 
witness many changes in the county and has 
ever taken a deep interest in those things 
uhich have led to advancement along ma- 
terial, intellectual and moral lines. He has 
now reached the venerable age of eighty-one, 
and as he passes down the hillslope of life 
he needs ha\e no regret for opportunities 
wasted. 



WILLIAM GIESSEMAN. 

The improvements on one of the finest 
farms of Miami county stand as monuments 
to the thrift, enterprise and labor of William 
Giesseman, who for many years was active- 
ly and honorably connected with its agricult- 
ural interests. He was torn February 28, 
1817, and was a son of W^illiam Giesseman, 
a native of Pennsylvania. Leaving the Key- 
stone state, the father removed to Ohio, tak- 



ing up his residence in Bethel township, Mi- 
ami county, where our subject was reared 
to manhood, remaining on the old homestead 
until thirty-one years of age. During his 
minority he pursued his education in the pub- 
lic schools and also assisted in the labors of 
field and meadow. After arriving at man's 
estate, however, he was married, November 
22, 1849, to Miss Malinda ]\IcClelland, who 
was born in Ross county, Ohio, December 
6, 1828, a daughter of Peter and Susanna 
McClelland, both of whom were natives of 
Pennsylvania. Mr. and Mrs. Giesseman 
began their domestic life upon a farm in 
Miami county and in 1834 removed to Cyn- 
thiana township, Shelby county, where he 
secured eighty acres of government land and 
in the midst of the heavy timber erected a 
log cabin, where they lived in true pioneer 
style. Mrs. Giesseman can remember see- 
ing deer in the garden in the early mornings, 
and other kinds of wild game, especially 
turkeys were plentiful. In 1856 Mr. Giesse- 
man purchased a farm of one hundred and 
si.xty acres on section 21, Spring Creek town- 
ship, where he made his home until his death, 
his widow still residing upon the place. They 
were the parents of five children. Margaret, 
the eldest, born September 9, 1850, is the 
wife of Joseph Chambers, of Piqua, and has 
one child. Rose, who is the wife of Edward 
Collins. Harrison, born May 11, 1852, owns 
and operates a part of the old homestead, 
carrying on general farming. He was mar- 
ried, in 1878. to Mary Schloss, and they had 
seven children : Emma, Frank and \\'illiam, 
twins, Harry, Bertha, George and Stella. 
Mary L., born September 16, 1855, is the 
wife of Henry Ciphers, and they have six 
children : Edna, Martha, Ollie, Muriel. Allie 
and Maggie. Harvey, born December 7, 
1857, is still living on the old homestead. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Ill 



He wedded Katie Hines, and they have four 
children : Cloyd, May, CHfford and Blanche. 
Luella, born June 22, 1864. is the wife of 
George Simmons, a farmer of Brown town- 
ship, and they have two children, Charles E. 
and Ravmond. 

Mr. Giesseman purchased the old home- 
stead farm of Amos Gray. Upon the place 
stood a double log cabin, which was used as 
a block-house by Gamier Boboe. The land 
had been entered from the government by 
him and he erected the cabin. The old 
structure is still standing and is now con- 
verted into a stable. In 1855 Mr. Giesseman 
manufactured the brick used in the erection 
of the present house and the woodwork was 
all done by hand, the timber being secured 
upon his place. The farm comprises two 
hundred acres of valuable land, all in one 
body, and Mr. Giesseman successfully carried 
on general farming, his well-directed efforts 
bringing to him an excellent income. 

In politics he was a Democrat, and in re- 
ligious belief was a Methodist. His life 
was ever honorable and upright and was par- 
ticularly pure. He never used tobacco or 
intoxicants in any form, and at all times he 
endeavored to mould his conduct by the ex- 
ample furnished by the lowly Nazarene. He 
was a man five feet seven inches tall and 
weighed one hundred and sixty pounds. In 
manner he was cordial and genial, and his 
many excellent characteristics gained for him 
warm regard. He passed away July 25, 
1887, and his remains were interred in For- 
est Hill cemetery. Mrs. Giesseman still re- 
sides upon the old homestead. She has 
long been a resident of this community and 
deserves mention among the honored pioneer 
women whose labors have contributed in no 
small degree to the present prosperity and 
advancement of the locality. 



SAMUEL P. MILES. 

Engaged in general farming and tobacco 
growing on section 35, Newton township, 
Mr. Miles claims this township as the place 
of his nativity. He was born on the old 
farm homestead within its borders October 
5, 1838. His father, William Miles, was 
born November 7, 1807, on the farm now 
owned and occupied by Joseph Street, his 
birth occurring at a very early epoch in the 
pioneer development of this section of the 
state. He was reared during that period 
v.-hen the homes were log cabins, when the 
land was being reclaimed for purposes of 
civilization and when the Indians still shared 
with the white men the ownership of the 
forests. He married Sarah Coate, a daugh- 
ter of Samuel Coate, who was born Decem- 
ber 18, 1804, and they became the parents 
of twelve children, namely : James, who re- 
sided in Kansas, but is now deceased ; Mary 
J., the widow of W. R. Sloan, of Denver; 
Elwood, who is living at Ludlow Falls ; Abi- 
jah, a practicing physician of Cincinnati ; 
Samuel P., John, Benton and Wade, de- 
ceased; Henry; Maggie, who is the wife of 
Reuben Asher, of Hillsboro, Ohio ; Phcebe, 
who died in infancy; and an infant, who 
died unnamed. The father of this family 
is still, living, at the age of ninety-four years, 
and makes his home with our subject. He 
has long been a member of the Christian 
church and is a man of upright character. 
His wife passed away April 28, 1878. 

Samuel P. Miles was reared in Newton 
township and at the time of the civil war, 
prompted by a spirit of patriotism, responded 
to the country's call for troops. He en- 
listed in the fall of 1861, as a private in 
Company F, Fifth Ohio Cavalry, and was 
mustered in at Cincinnati. The regiment 



778 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



was then sent to Camp Dennison and in the 
spring of 1862 took boat for Pittsburg Land- 
ing. There were ninety-six transports and 
two gunboats in tlie expedition. The first 
engagement in wliic-h our subject participated 
was near Sliiloh cliurch. He afterward took 
part in tlie battles of Shiloh, Corinth. Hatch- 
er's Run, Memplhs, Chattanooga, Mission 
Ridge, Burnt Hickory, Big Shanty, Peach 
Orchard and Atlanta, and was with Sherman 
in all the engagements of the Atlanta cam- 
paign until its close at Jonesboro. After 
that engagement Mr. !\Iiles returned with his 
regiment to the pursuit of Hood, and at 
Chattanooga, Tennessee, on the expiration 
of his three years' term of service, received 
an honorable discharge, in 1864. He was 
taken prisoner near Grand Junction, Tennes- 
see, being captured by Jackson's men, but 
after twenty-four hours was paroled. 

On receiving an honorable discharge Mr. 
Miles returned to his home and in the spring 
of 1865 took up his abode upon the farm 
where he now lives. He has cleared the land, 
made excellent improvements and is now en- 
gaged in general farming and in the raising 
of tobacco. His fields are clean and well 
kept and the neat and thrifty appearance of 
the place indicates his careful supervision 
and his progressive business methods. 

In i860 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Miles and Miss Sarah R. Gearhardt, a 
daughter of John Gearhardt, of Xew Car- 
lisle, Ohio. Seven children have been born 
cl their union, namely : Flora, wife of Henry 
Davis; Davis; Roger; Sarah; Olive P., wife 
of George Pleasant; Clark C, and Clara. 
The family is widely and favorably known in 
this locality, the members occupying enviable 
positions in social circles. In politics ]\Ir. 
Miles is a Republican and socially is connect- 
ed with the Knights of Pythias fraternity. 



ROBERT M. EVAXS. 

Robert M. Evans is a representative of 
one of the oldest families of Miami county, 
the name Evans being interwoven with the 
history of this locality through almost the 
entire nineteenth century. His grandfather 
and father took an active part in the work 
of reducing the wild land to purposes of 
civilization, and gave their support to many 
measures which promoted the material prog- 
ress and substantial upbuilding of this sec- 
tion of the state. The grandfather. Joseph 
Evans, resided near Milledgeville. Georgia, 
and in 180 1 started with his family for the 
Northwest Territory. The journey was made 
by team and the party passed the site of the 
present city of Dayton en route for La Porte, 
Indiana. That was the year before Ohio 
was admitted to the L'nion. In 1804 the 
family returned to the Buckeye state and es- 
tablished a home in Montgomery county, 
upon the farm adjoining the boundar}' line 
of Miami county. This property is now oc- 
cupied by John Johnson and the little cabin 
home of the Evans family stood on the site 
where Mr. Johnson's large brick residence 
is now located. Their nearest neighbor at 
the time was a Mr. Pierson, who lived six 
miles away. Joseph Evans secured a tract 
of government land, which was covered with 
heavy timber, and erected a one-story double 
log house, in which he spent his remaining 
days, his death occurring when he had at- 
tained an advanced age. He was a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends or Quakers. 
In his family were three children, who came 
to Ohio, namely : Robert, Joseph and Sarah. 
The daughter became the wife of John Fur- 
nas. 

Robert Evans, the father of our subject, 
was born near IMilledgeville, Georgia, Feb- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



79 



ruary /, 1789, accompanied his parents to 
Indiana, and when fourteen years of age 
came with the family to Ohio. He grew to 
manh(5od in Montgomery county and re- 
mained upon the home farm until ahout 
twenty-three years of age. He was mar- 
ried, ahout 181 2. to Esther Jenkins, and 
thev hecame the parents of ten children, 
namely: Thomas J., who was born April 
4, 18 1 3, and died in Tippecanoe City Feb- 
ruary 6, 1854; Joseph, who was born April 
12, 1815, and died August 5, 1845 • Eleanor, 
who was born February 4, 181 7, became 
the wife of James Coppock, and died Jan- 
uary 20, 1847; Jiilia M., who was born 
i\.ugust 18. 18 19, and died February 19 
1823; Esther, who was born August 31, 
1 82 1, and died in infancy; William, who was 
born March 9, 1824, and is living in Shelby 
county, Ohio ; Moses, who was born June 
17, 1826, and resides in Montgomery coun- 
ty, Ohio; Eli H., who was born July 26, 
1832, and died in Peru, Indiana; Maris, who 
was born November 20, 1828, and is the 
widow of Jonathan Jay, of Kokomo, Indi- 
ana ; Esther Ann. who was born November 
27, 1834, and died in 1835. After the death 
of his first wife Mr. Evans was married, 
about 1834, to Mary Jenkins, and their chil- 
dren were: Mary L., who was born Au- 
gust 29, 1836, became the wife of Thomas 
Hollingsworth, and died Novemlier 10, 
1861 ; Aaron, who was born February 5. 
1839, and died January 2j. 1842; Jesse J., 
who was born August i, 1841, and died 
June 8, 1900, in Kentucky; Keren H.. who 
was Ijorn July 24, 1843, 's the wife of Davis 
Jester, a resident of Montgomery county, 
Ohio; Robert M., of this review; and Eliz- 
abeth, who was born May 25, 1848, is the 
wife of William Macy, a resident of Miami 
county. After his marriage the father re- 



moved to the Martin Eide Miller farm and 
later purchased the south half of the land 
upon which Tippecanoe now stands. There 
he lived for a few years, but about 1836 
traded that farm to John Clark for one-half 
of the northwest quarter of section 28, Mon- 
roe township. He then removed to this 
eighty-acre tract and there spent his re- 
maining days, his death occurring on the 
25th of June, 1863. He was a very suc- 
cessful business man and accumulated con- 
siderable property. For many years he be- 
longed to the Quaker church, but prior to 
his death joined the New Light church. 

Robert M. Evans was born on the old 
homestead farm on section 28. Monroe town- 
ship, March 18, 1845, and there spent his 
boyhood days, obtaining his education in the 
district schools. He remained on the home 
until after his father's death, and on the 
17th of July, 1863, in company with his 
brothers, Jesse and Moses, he enlisted in 
Company G, Twenty-fifth Ohio National 
Guards, which responded to President Lin- 
coln's last call in March, 1864, going to 
Washington to defend that city, which the 
Confederate officers had planned to attack. 
When the war was over he returned to the 
old homestead, where he remained until 1879, 
when he embarked in the grocery and dry- 
goods business in Ginghamsburg, Ohio, 
carrying on merchandising at that place until 
August 2, 1894, when he sold out to A. C. 
Gleason. For fifteen years he remained in 
the store and conducted a successful busi- 
ness, which brought to him good financial 
returns. In 1890 he purchased his present 
farm and in 1896 erected thereon the large, 
tasteful residence in which he now lives. 

On the 2d of March, 1867, Mr. Evans 
was united in marriage to Miss Jane Keller 
and to them have been born ten children : 



780 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Alaris A., who was born October 20. 1S68, 
died April 16, 1870; Lillie H., who was born 
August 4, 1870. is the wife of Adam Under- 
wood, of Monroe township ; Sarah A., who 
was born September 22. 1872, is the wife of 
Harry Barnliardt, of Monroe township; 
Korah W., who was born October 11, 1S74. 
is now the proprietor of the Troy Novelty 
Works ; Zenitia, who was born October 26, 
1876, died June 5, 1895; Laura A., born 
September 10, 1878: Annie P., who was 
born January 9, 1881, is the wife of William 
Kendall, of Piqua; Howard V., who was 
born February 2y, 1884, died April 23, 1885 ; 

.Ellen H., who was born October 28, 1886, 
died November 19 of the same year; and 
Rhoda M., who was born October 25, 1889, 
completes the family. 

On the 6th of November. 1876. Mr. 
Evans was elected to the office of justice 
of the peace and has filled that position con- 
tinuously since, discharging his duties in a 
most creditable manner, his rulings being 
strictly fair and impartial. His political 
support is given the Republican party. He 
belongs to D. M. Rouzer Post, G. A. R., of 
Tippecanoe City, and the United Brethren 
church of Ginghamsburg, in which he has 
served as Sunday school superintendent and 
as class leader for fifteen years. The farm 
upon which he now resides comprises eighty 
acres of land and in addition to this he also 
owns forty acres of the old homestead. He 
is one of the substantial and highly re- 
spected agriculturists of the community and 
belongs to the progressive class of citizens 
who believe that time should bring improve- 

"ment and that the enterprise of to-day should 
advance beyond that of former years. Dur- 
ing his active career he has been found true 
to the duties of citizenship and to those of 
public and private life in every particular, 



and well does he deserve representation in 
the history of the county wherein his entire 
life has been spent. 



MARK C. JONES. 

Mark C. Jones was born in Union town- 
ship, Miami county. May 2, 1841. His 
father. Alexander Jones, remained in Union 
township until the son was fifteen years of 
age. when he removed to Newton town- 
ship. After a happy married life of sixty- 
one years Alexander Jones and his wife were 
called to the home beyond. The mother died 
on the 6th of March, 1900. the father on the 
9th of the same month, and they were buried 
on the same day. Mr. Jones was then 
eighty-two years of age, his wife seventy- 
seven, and they were people of the highest 
respectability, enjoying the warm regard and 
friendship of all who knew them. They 
held membership in the Friends' church and 
their exemplary Christian lives commended 
them to the confidence, regard and lo\-e of 
all with whom they were associated. 

Mark C. Jones remained with his parents 
until the time of his enlistment for service 
iri the civil war. On the 22d of August, 
1862, he joined Company G, One Hun- 
dred and Tenth Ohio \^olunteer Infantry, as 
a private, and was mustered in at Piqua. 
He then went down the Ohio river to Vir- 
ginia, and the first engagement in which he 
participated was the battle of Winchester, 
on the 13th, 14th and 15th of June, 1863. 
He also took part in the engagement at Port 
Royal, July 25, 1863; Kelly's Ford, No- 
\ember 27; Brandywine Station, Novem- 
lier 8; Locust Grove, November 2j\ Mine 
Run. November 28 : the battle of the Wil- 
derness from the 5th to the nth of May, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



781 



1864; Spottsylvania, from the 12th to the 
2ist of May of the same year; Gainesville. 
May 30 and 31 ; Cold Harbor, from the ist 
to the 1 2th of June; Bermuda Hundred, 
June 19; Petersburg, June 22 and 22,; Alon- 
ocacy, July 9; Charleston, August 21; 
Smithfield, August 29 ; Winchester, Sep- 
tember 19; Flint Hill, September 21; Fish- 
er's Hill, September 22 ; Cedar Creek, Octo- 
ber 19; and Sailor's Run, which was the 
last battle in which he participated. His 
regiment formed a part of the Eighth Army 
Corps, and was under the command of Gen- 
eral Sedgwick until his death, and afterward 
under the command of General Wright. 
Mr. Junes was promoted to the rank 
of corporal. He was in the hospital 
for some time suffering with measles and 
mumps, but was never wounded. He 
received his final discharge at Columbus, in 
1865, and with a creditable military record 
returned to his home. 

When the war was over and the coun- 
try no longer needed his services, Mr. Jones 
began farming upon the place where he 
now lives. In the spring of 1866, however, 
he removed to Union township, where he 
carried on agricultural pursuits until 1893, 
the date of his return to his old home. He 
has here forty-seven acres of rich land, all 
under a high state of cultivation, and makes 
a specialty of the raising of tobacco. As a 
companion and helpmate on life's journey he 
chose Mrs. Alary C. Pierson, a daughter of 
Isaac Coppock. They were married Feb- 
ruary i, 1866, and became the parents of 
eight children : Nora, deceased ; Elizabeth, 
Harry, Elmer, Laura and Julia, who have 
passed away; Juclson Rav, and one who died 
in infancy. After the death of his first 
wife Mr. Jones was married, on the 6th of 
April, 1893, to ]\Irs. Emma Coate, the 



widow of James Coate antl a daughter of 
Hiram Jones. 

In his social relations Mr. Jones is a 
Mason, belonging to the lodge at Pleasant 
Hill. He is a charter member of Ludlow 
Grange, in which he has served as the mas- 
ter, and in politics he is a Republican. He 
belongs to the Christian church, and his 
daily life is in harmony with his profession. 
As a citizen he is as true and loyal as when 
he followed the starry banner on the battle- 
fields of the south. 



WILLIS A. PEARSON. 

We are now permitted to touch briefly 
upon the life history of one who has retained 
a personal association with the affairs of 
Aliami county for a number of years, and one 
whoso ancestral history traces back to the 
colonial epoch. His life has been one of 
honest and earnest endeavor, and due success 
has not been denied him. The Pearsons set- 
tled in the C&rolinas as early as 1680, and 
in the latter part of the eighteenth cent- 
ury representatives of the name sought 
a home in Ohio. The grandfather, 
Jesse Pearson, cast in his lot with 
the pioneers of Miami county, coming 
hither from Newberry, South Carolina, 
with that host of hardy, freedom-loving 
men who, owing to the ordinance of congress 
of 787 that slavery, while permitted south 
of the JMason and Dixon line, should never 
extend to the Northwest Territory, left the 
south and passing by the tempting blue-grass 
land of Kentucky did not stop until safely 
across the Ohio river in the beautiful Miami 
vallev. The conflict concerning the negro 
race was but postponed until 1861, when it 
was to be settled by the grandsons of these 
earlv pioneers. Throughout the history of 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Miami county members of the Pearson fam- 
il}' have l^een active in promoting its substan- 
tial growth and development. Jesse Pear- 
son wedded Anne Macy, who also belonged 
to an old Carolina family distinguished in 
state and national history, and for whom 
Fort Macy was named. 

Paul Pearson, the father of our subject, 
was born in Monroe township, Miami county, 
in the '30s, and spent his youth on the old 
homestead farm. Having arrived at years 
of maturity he wedded Rachel Perry, a 
daughter of Amos Perry, one of the early 
settlers of Newberry township, Miami coun- 
ty. He also came to this section of the state 
from the Carolinas and was one of the 
earliest educators in this portion of Ohio, 
teaching the first school in Ludlow Falls. 
A man of marked individuality and strong 
force of character, he became a recognized 
leader of public thought and opinion and 
represented his county in the state legisla- 
ture in 1832. He belonged to the same family 
of which Commodore Perry was a member. 
Mrs. Pearson's mother bore the maiden name 
of Douglas, and was descended from an old 
Scotch family that at one time was more 
potent in the affairs of Europe than kings or 
emperors : in fact they constituted the power 
behind the throne, and the record of their 
deeds forms the major part of the history of 
Scotland through many centuries. 

Willis A. Pearson was born in Monroe 
township, Miami county, September 4, i860, 
and his early years were spent upon the 
farm, assisting in the work of richly culti- 
vated fields and verdant meadows. To the 
public schools of the neighborhood he is in- 
debted for the educational privileges which 
he received. On attaining his majority he 
learned the carpenter's trade and spent four 
years in an architect's office, in Dayton, 



Ohio. Thus well qualified for practical 
work in the building line, he was made super- 
intendent of a planing-mill at Dayton, and 
occupied that position for a year, having 
charge of the outside work. In 1894 he came 
to Troy, where he engaged in contracting and 
building on his own account. Many of the 
first residences of the city stand as monu- 
ments to his thrift and enterprise, and in ad- 
dition to this he did all of the work on the 
Hayner distillery and warehouse. He is 
now proprietor of the Troy Planing Mill, 
Sash & Door Factory, located at the corner 
of Lincoln avenue and Raper street. His 
plant is equipped with the latest improved 
machinery, and he is thus prepared for turn- 
ing out a high grade of work. This indus- 
try furnishes employment to a large number 
of workmen and is accounted one of the 
leading manufacturing concerns of the city. 
Mr. Pearson is enjoying a large and increas- 
ing patronage, his business success resulting 
from his close application and honorable 
efforts. He is now serving as electric light 
trustee in Troy. 

In Milton, Miami county, occurred the 
marriage of our subject and Miss Mollie 
Winans, a daughter of Major I. C. Winans, 
of Concord township, now of South Dakota. 
Her father was an active officer of the militia 
in the early days of the county and was a 
\-ery prominent and influential citizen. 
Lhito Mr. and Mrs. Pearson were born two 
sons, Howard and Clifford, who are students 
in the Troy schools. The family attend the 
services of the Methodist church, and socially 
Mr. Pearson is a valued representative of 
the Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias 
fraternities. His political support is given 
the Republican party, but the honors and 
emoluments of office have no attraction for 
him as his time is fully occupied with his 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



783 



business interests. A man of unswerving 
integrity and honor, one who has a perfect 
appreciation of the higher ethics of Hfe. he 
has gained and retained the confidence and 
respect of his fellow men, and is distinctively 
one of the leading citizens of Troy with 
whose interests he has so long been identi- 
fied. 



J. ALBERT DEWEESE. 

J. Albert Deweese is tiie owner of the old 
Deweese homeetead of one hundred and sixty 
acres in Staunton township, two miles from 
Troy. It was on this farm that his birth 
occurred, June 30. 1864. His father, James 
Dewesse, was born on the same farm June 
15, 1833, and was the son of Lewis De- 
weese, who founded the family in Miami 
county, taking up his abo(de on the old 
liomestead. His original tract comprised 
one hundred and sixty acres of land in 
Staunton township. He was married, 
April 10, 1823, to Hannah Clyne and they 
became the parents of five children : Isaac, 
wdio was born January 14, 1824, and died 
on the nth of October, following; William, 
who was born May 3, 1827; Olive, who was 
born April 22, 1829; Jacob, who- was born 
April 2, 183 1 ; and James. At the time 
when the grandfather located upon the farm 
it w^as a tract- of wild and unimproved land, 
not a furrow having been turned or an im- 
provement made. With characteristic en- 
ergy he began its development, clearing 
away the trees on many an acre and then 
preparing the land for the plow. After his 
death his widow erected a brick residence, in 
which our subject was born and now makes 
his home. She lived to the very advanced 
age of eighty years, passing away on the 22d 
of January. 1884. 



James Deweese, the father of our subject, 
spent the days of his boyhood and youth 
on the old homestead, there remaining until 
his marriage to Miss Frances Yaste. Not 
long after he took up his abode in Troy, but 
subsequently returned to the farm and was 
prominently connected with the agricultural 
interests of the county until his death, which 
occurred on the 22nd of April, 1895. His 
wife died when her son Albert was only two 
years of age. Three children were born of 
their union, but two died in infancy so that 
Albert Deweese is now the only survivor 
of the family. 

After his mother's death Mr. Deweese, 
of this review, lived with his grandmother 
until he was thirteen years of age, when he 
took up his abode in the home of his uncle, 
Cornelius Brandenburg, of Spring creek 
township. There he continued to reside 
until twenty-two years of age, when he re- 
turned to the old homestead, assuming its 
management. It has since been his place of 
residence, and in return for the care and cul- 
tivation which he has bestowed upon his 
fields he has garnered good harvests that 
have brought to him a comfortable compe- 
tence. Of the quarter-section of land which 
he owns one hundred and thirty-five acres 
are under cultivation, while the remaining 
twenty-fi\'e are woodland. It is situated on 
the Troy and Casstown pike and its close 
proximity to the city of Troy enables him 
to secure the conveniences of city life while 
enjoying the freedom of farm life. 

On the loth of February, 1886, was cel- 
ebrated the marriage of Mr. Deweese and 
Miss Eva Yaste, of Troy. Six children 
graced their union, namely: Wilbur S., Ar- 
thur, Lester, Edward, Myrtle and Marvin, 
and with the exception of Myrtle, all are yet 
living. The family is widely and favorably 



784 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



known in this locality and the Deweese 
household is a hospitable one. ^Ir. Deweose 
is a Democrat in ixjlitics, and socially is 
connected with Troy Lodge, Xo. 43. I. O. O. 
F. His entire life has been passed in Miami 
county and he is a worthy representative of 
one of the pioneer families that throughout 
almost the entire century has been identi- 
fied with its agricultural interests. 



JOHX F. MITCHELL. 

John F. ^litcholl, one of the most enter- 
prising and progressive farmers of Washing- 
ton township. ^liami county, Ohio, was born 
in Piqua, May i, 1852, and on the paternal 
side is of Scotch descent, his great-great- 
grandfather being a native of Scotland and 
the founder of the family in America. The 
grandfather, William Mitchell, was born 
in Pennsylvania in 1754, and married a Miss 
Patterson, also a native of that state. At 
an early day he brought his family to Ohio, 
and located at Columbia, now a part of Cin- 
cinnati. They floated down the Ohio river 
on flat-boats, in company with several other 
families, including the Espys, Robinsons and 
Pattersons. Mr. Mitchell lived for a time 
in Sycamore township, Hamilton county, 
and in 181 7 moved to Piqua. where he died 
in 1842, at the age of eighty-eight years. 
His wife died in the same place. He was a 
soldier of the Revolutionary war, and his 
son James, the grandfather of our subject, 
served under General Harrison in the war of 
181 2. The latter was mily eighteen years 
old when he enlisted, and was living at that 
time with his brother-in-law, Thomas Mor- 
ton, in Cincinnati, at the corner of Sixth and 
Main streets. He was born in Berks county, 
Pennsylvania, in 1794. and on reaching 
manh(iod was married, in Hamilton countv. 



Ohio, to Sarah McChesney, a daughter of 
John McChesney, and by that union had one 
son, John. She died on the McChesney 
homestead, and from her Mr. ^litchell in- 
herited a part of that farm. He was again 
married in Sycamore township, Hamilton 
county, his second wife being Sabina Lucas, 
by whom ho had five children, namely : 
Eliza, a resident of Covington, Ohio, who 
married, first. John Stiftler, of Pennsylvania; 
and, second, Gilbert Adams, now deceased; 
David A., father of our subject; Mary, who 
married Aaron Tyler and died in Piqua ; 
William, who died in the same city ; and 
IMartha. wife of James Clark, of Dayton, 
Ohio. 

David A. ^litchell, our subject's father, 
was born in ^lontgomery, Sycamore town- 
ship, Hamilton county, August 11. 1823, 
and his boyhood was passed at Lockland, 
whither his parents had removed, their farm 
adjoining that of Mr. Van Zandt, a very 
noted man (known as Van Trump in Harriet 
Beecher Stowe"s Uncle Tom's Cabin ). r^Ir. 
]\Iitchel] saw the first canal boat built and 
launched on the Miami & Erie canal, it being 
built by Jonathan Haleman, and calletl the 
Plow Boy. 1 he town of Lockland w as built 
after the canal was opened up. In the fall of 
1837, at the age of fifteen years, ^Ir. iNIitch- 
ell attended school in the basement of the 
Methodist Episcopal church at Piqua, taught 
by John and Jonathan \'ale, and finished his 
education in the old Baptist church, on Vine 
street, under the instruction of James H. 
Bristow. In 1838 his father moved to Piqua 
and David A. learned the saddler's trade 
with his uncle, Thomas ^Mitchell. He worked 
by the month as a journeyman for Jonathan 
Dungan, who was an expert and from whom 
he recei\e(l valuable instruction. On leav- 
ing him he moved to Fletcher and opened 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



785 



a shop of his own although he had only 
thirty-seven cents with which to begin busi- 
ness. He formed a partnership with a tan- 
ner who furnished the material; 'Squire 
Landis gave him a stove; and he traded an 
old watch for a "buck." At Piqua he was 
married, March 25, 1845, by Rev. John E. 
Thomas, to Sarah Dungan, and the follow- 
ing day took Iiis brido to Fletcher, but having 
little to go to housekeeping with she returned 
to Piqua and got together a few household 
goods. They had been married only a short 
time. when she was takon ill at Piqua, and 
being unable to return to Fletcher Mr. Mitch- 
ell removed to Piqua, where his wife died, 
January 22, 1846. Disposing of all his 
property he paid his debts and with the re- 
mainder purchased a tombstone for his wife's 
grave. He then began life anew, his posses- 
sions consisting only of his clothes and tools. 
Hearing that work was to be had in Beams- 
villo, Darke county, he walked to that place, 
a distance of twenty-ft\'e miles, and began 
life there with a capital of fifty cents, but at 
the end of twenty years he was worth twenty 
thousand dollars, a part of which he made by 
speculating in farms and property in Piqua, 
and since then that amount has been more 
than doubled. On the 19th of April, 1849, 
in Washington township, this county, he was 
married, by Rev. M. J. Meeks, to Ann Eliza- 
beth McAndliss, who was born in Shippens- 
burg, Pennsylvania, April 4. 1829, and when 
a small child moved to Clark county, Ohio, 
with her parents, James and Jane (High- 
lands) McAndliss. The children born of this 
union were Oscar D., who married Laura 
Tate and is a traveling salesman living in 
Muncie. Indiana; John F., our subject; Mary 
Jane, wife of William Grosvenor, of Piqua; 
and Lillie B., wife of Lewis A. Ziegenfelder, 
of Troy, Ohio. After his second marriage 

46 



Mr. Mitchell moved to Piqua, where he has 
made his home ever since, and is now the 
oldest resident voter of the place. He owns 
much real estate in that city and several 
good farms. He has taken an active part in 
public aiYairs; has served as township trus- 
tee, six terms, water works trustee and 
superintendent of the works for two 
years ; and also served on the boom commit- 
tee. Politically he was first a Whig and is 
now a stanch Republican. In 1843 '^^ united 
with the Baptist church, under the preaching 
of Rev. John E. Thomas, and has continued 
one of its active and faithful members. His 
wife has also been a member of the church 
since 1855. ' 

Reared to manhood in Piqua, John F. 
Mitchell continued his education in the high 
school of that city to the age of sixteen 
years, and then commenced work in his 
father's saddlery shop. When his father 
disposed of that business and formed a part- 
nership with Amos McAndliss in the lumber 
business and the manufacture of sash 
and doors, our subject learned the 
carpenter's trade, which he followed for 
a time, but after his marriage, in 1885, 
he located upon his present farm of 
seventy acres in Washington township, 
and has since devoted his energies to 
agricultural pursuits, meeting with good suc- 
cess in this undertaking. He has erected all 
the buildings upon his place and made other 
extensive improvements, so that it is now 
one of the most desirable farms of its size 
in the community. In connection with his 
farming operations he also buys and sells 
horses, and through the winters boards 
horses for people living in Piqua. He was 
reared in the Baptist faith and affiliates with 
the Republican party. In Piqua Mr. Mitch- 
ell was married, in 1885, to Miss Fannie 



786 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Simons, of that place, a daughter of John C. 
Simons, and to them were born three chil- 
dren, namely: Lizzie B., now the wife of 
Frank Adams, of Piqua; Nellie, at home; 
and Marion, who died at the age of eight 
years. 



A. W. MILES. 



One of the oldest families of Miami 
county is that of which our subject is a rei> 
resentative. In the opening year of the 
present century his ancestors located here 
and since that time those of the name have 
figured conspicuously in connection with the 
history of the substantial development and 
material progress of this section of the state. 
Like those who have given the best service, 
Mr. Miles has attained to a prominent posi- 
tion in connection with the business interests 
of the county, and is also regarded as a 
public-spirited citizen who contributes to the 
general welfare while promoting his indi- 
vidual success. He made a creditable rec- 
ord as one of the "boys in blue" during the 
civil war. and at all times he has labored 
for the ad\ancement and progress of the 
county of his birth, for he is a native of 
Miami county. He opened his eyes to the 
light of day in Newton township, on the 
27tli of November, 1839. and in the same 
township his father, Wade Miles, was born 
on the 7th of November, 181 9. 

Jonathan Miles, the grandfather, was a 
native of South Carolina, and was the first 
of the name to locate in Ohio. He wedded 
Mary Pearson and early in the nineteenth 
century he came to the Buckeye .state with 
the tide of emigration which was rapidly 
causing the settlement of this favored sec- 
tion of the L^nion. He was accompanied by 
his wife, and continued his travels on horse- 



back until he reached what is now the town- 
ship of Newton and located on section 31. 
Jonathan Miles reared a large family, nine 
children, and lived to the advanced age of 
ninety j-ears. A great hunter and trapper, 
he found ample opportunity to indulge his 
love for those sports, and at the same time 
his trapping and hunting probably added 
materially to his income. He took an act- 
ive part in the work of progress of his com- 
munity, did much toward laying out roads, 
organizing the public schools of the town- 
ship, and in other ways labored to impress 
his individuality upon the public life. He 
was a consistent member and active worker 
in the Society of Friends, and throughout 
his business career he followed the pursuit 
of farming. 

\\'ade Miles, the father of our subject, 
learned the carpenter's trade in early life, 
but after his marriage purchased eighty 
acres of improved land near the old Miles 
h.omestead and erected a log cabin on the 
farm. While it was being builded his wife 
did the cooking over a wood fire in the yard. 
The little pioneer hi'ime contained only two 
rooms, and the family experienced many 
hardships and difficulties, but also enjoyed 
many pleasures which are unknown at the 
present time. ^Ir. ]\Iiles spent his entire 
life on the farm which he there developed, 
dying in 1854, at the age of thirty-five years. 
Both he and his wife were members of the 
Society of Friends. He married ?^Iary B. 
Tucker, a daughter of Nichcilas Tucker, and 
to them were liorn eight children : Jane, 
who became the wife of Layton North, and 
died in 1857; A. W., of this review; Naomi, 
who wedded Amos Brandon ; Allen, who 
died in infancy; Charity, wife of Louis Ai- 
key, of ]\Iilesburg, Pennsylvania : Jacob T., 
a practicing physician of Bryant. Indiana; 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



787 



Sarah, widow of D. Anson Coppock ; and 
Vashti, wife of Harrison Coats, of Rich- 
mond. After the death of his first wife Mr. 
Miles married MaHnda W. Hayes, a daugh- 
ter of Thomas Hayes. They have one child, 
James S., who is now a merchant of Rich- 
mond, Indiana. 

A year after his father's death, when a 
lad of only fifteen summers, A. W. Miles 
took charge of the home farm. Soon af- 
terward he began teaching school in Darke 
county, for twenty dollars per month, and 
during his first term he worked night and 
morning for his board, and in this way was 
enabled to save his entire salary. In 1857 
he went to Iowa, by water and stage. He 
arrived at a certain town too late to catch 
the stage and rather than wait for the next 
stage he started on foot for Leon, walking 
the entire distance of one hundred and fifty 
miles in three days. Iowa was then 
sparsely settled and one night he slept on 
the prairie. He made the trip in or- 
der to view the country, but in the 
spring of 1858 he returned to New- 
ton township, Miami county, making his 
home near Pattytown for a short time. 
Later he came to Tippecanoe City, with 
John Gerhardt and his family. Soon after 
his arrival he went to work for John Danid- 
der, spending a few months on a farm. 
Later he was employed as a farm hand by 
A. J. Selby, and then again came to Tippe- 
canoe City, spending the winter as a student 
in the public schools. 

In the spring of 1859 he began clerking 
in the store of John H. Long, with whom 
he remained until the breaking out of the 
civil war. He was visiting an aunt at the 
time, and while on the return trip learnerl 
that Fort Sumter had been fired upon, and 
before reaching Tippecanoe City he met C. 



M. Kauffman and John Cotteral on the cross 
roads -Df the Dayton and Troy pike. They 
were looking for volunteers, and there in the 
middle of the road Mr. Miles put down his 
name, being the first to join the army from 
Tippecanoe City. He enlisted at Columbus 
in Company H, Ele\-enth Ohio Infantry, 
April 20, 1861, and with his regiment re- 
mained at Camp Dennison for three months, 
being drilled for field service. Shortly af- 
terward they went to West Virginia. The 
first engagement in which he participated 
was at Hawk's Nest. Joining the eastern 
army, that is, the Army of the Potomac, he 
afterward participated in the battles of Bull 
Run, South Mountain and Antietam. Sub- 
sequently his regiment was attached to the 
Army of the Cumberland at INIurfreesboro, 
Tennessee, and took part in the engage- 
ments at Chickamauga, Mission Ridge, 
Ringgold and Rocky Face Ridge. .Vt the 
battle of Mission Ridge he and the color- 
bearer were the first two to set foot on the 
enemy's breastworks. The latter was se- 
riously wounded there, but Mr. Miles 
snatched up the colors which he carried 
through the battle and until after the battle 
of Atlanta, when he was detailed for ser- 
vice at the quartermaster's department as 
commissary sergeant, in which capacity he 
served throughout the remainder of the war. 
He was with Sherman on the memorable 
march to the sea, and was discharged at 
Columbus, Ohio, in 1865. with a most cred- 
itable military record, having faithfully 
aided in the defense of the Union through- 
out the entire war. 

Upon his return to Tippecanoe City Mr. 
Miles engaged in clerking in the dry-goods 
store owned by Youart & Jay from March, 
1866, until May, 1868. He then served as 
assistant postmaster under C. M. Kauff- 



788 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



man until ]\Lirch, 1S69, when he was ap- 
pointed postmaster of Tippecanoe City, 
holding that position continuously until 
1884, when he became one of the organ- 
izers and stockholders of the Tippecanoe 
City National Bank. From the beginning 
he has filled the office of cashier and the 
success of the institution has been due in a 
large measure to his efforts. He is a most 
able financier whose conservatism is not a 
bar to progressiveness, and yet whose meth- 
ods are always safe and reliable. In 1876 
he became the secretary of the Monroe 
Building & Loan Association, and has filled 
that office continuously since. During the 
last twelve years he has also discharged the 
duties of treasurer, and he is also the treas- 
urer of Tippecanoe City and of Monroe 
township. These facts certainly indicate 
how honorable he is in all financial transac- 
tions, and well may his fellow men repose 
their confidence in him, for it has never been 
betrayed in a single instance. He has also 
been one of the school board for a number 
of years, and the cause of education has 
found in him a friend. 

Mr. ]\Iiles has been thrice married. On 
the 17th of January, 1867, he wedded Mary 
C. \\^esler, of Tippecanoe City, and to them 
were born six children: Harry J., who is 
a government photographer at Matanzas, 
Cuba; Holland W., who died at the age of 
thirteen months; Herbert L., who is con- 
nected with the Interstate Association at 
Cincinnati; Jessie died in infancy; Earl is 
connected with the Pittsburg, Cincinnati, 
Chicago & St. Louis Railroad, and is located 
at Xenia, Ohio; and Joseph R., who is as- 
sisting his brother, Harry J., in Cuba. The 
mother of this family died February 2, 1880, | 
and Mr. Miles was again married on the i 
17th of August, 1882, his second union 



being with Jennie Kittering, whose death 
occurred March 8, 1884. He married his 
present wife October 26, 1887. She bore 
the maiden name of Ada Herman, and was 
the widow of Charles Dunhalter and the 
daughter of Jacob and Sopha Herman, of 
Cincinnati, Ohio. By this union there have 
been born two children: Xaomi I., who 
dietl in infancy: and Kathryn G. 

Mr. rallies maintains pleasant relations 
with the "boys in blue" through his con- 
nection with D. ^I. Rouzer Post, G. A. R., 
of Tippecanoe City, in which lodge he is a 
past commander. He also belongs to the 
Alasonic lodge, of Tippecanoe City, of 
Franklin Chapter, R. A. M., and of Cole- 
man Commandery, K. T., of Troy. In his 
religious l^elief he is a Baptist, and has taken 
an active part in the church work, serving 
as Sunday school superintendent for a num- 
ber of j'ears. His wife is a member of the 
Lutheran church. In politics Mr. Miles is 
a Republican, and has always given his 
earnest support to the party in wlnise princi- 
ples he so firmly believes, and at all times and 
under all circumstances he has been loyal to 
truth, honor and right. His business ca- 
reer has been crowned with success, which 
has been worthily won ; but he holds as in- 
finitely preferable to wealth the well-de- 
served esteem of his fellow men. He is a 
worthy representative of the honorable pio- 
neer families of Miami county, and in the 
history of this part of the state well deserves 
mention. 



JA:^IES R. RUSSELL. 

James R. Russell, who follows farming 
in Washington township, is a son of 
Thomas Russell, who was born in Augusta 
county, \'irginia. and at an early age in life 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



789 



was left an orijhan. Some time after liis 
parents' death he accompanied his sister and 
two other iDrothers to Allen county, Ohio, 
where he was reared. There he married 
Miss Louisa Hubbell, and later removed to 
a farm half a mile from Troy, where he en- 
gaged in gardening. After the death of 
his wife he became a member of his son's 
household, there dying on the 19th of Jan- 
uary, 1879. He was a very kind-hearted 
man, ,honored and respected by all who 
knew him, and was a consistent member of 
the Baptist church, of Troy. In politics he 
was a life-long Democrat, never wavering in 
his support of the principles of the party. 
His children were: Mrs. Mary Elizabeth 
Matthias, who died in Darke county; Jane, 
who died in childhood; George Harrison 
and Sarah, who also died in childhood; 
James R. and George, who passed away in 
early life. 

James R. Russell was born on Novem- 
ber 13. 1847, 01'' the home farm near Troy, 
and was there reared to manhood. His 
educational privileges were very limited for 
when there was work to be done he was kept 
at home, and his attendance at school was 
thus greatly interrupted. His wages were 
given to his father until his marriage. On 
the 28th of December, 1869, he wedded 
Miss Malinda Smith and then rented a small 
home on a farm adjoining the property 
which he now owns. He started out in life 
in a \-ery humble way, working as a farm 
hand, but in time, as the result of his indus- 
try and economy, he accumulated enough 
money to purchase sixty acres for a farm. 
To this he has since added a tract of twenty- 
one acres, which is just across the line in 
Shelby county. He has erected a large 
modern barn and made other excellent im- 
provements upon his place, and now has a 



valuable property supplied with all conven- 
iences and modern accessories. 

Mrs. Russell is a daughter of Philip and 
Susan (Harmon) Smith. Her father was 
one of the early settlers of Newberry town- 
ship, and became actively identified with its 
agricultural interests. Nine children have 
been born of the union of our subject and 
his wife, namely : Margaret C., who was 
born September 28, 1870, and died in child- 
hood ; Susan Mary, who was born August 
29. 1872, and is the wife of Wesley Lyon, 
of Piqua ; Lottie Luella, who was born Oc- 
tober 22, 1874, and is the wife of John Re- 
sor, of Piqua ; Sarah Jane, who was born 
August 31, 1876, and is the wife of Ellis 
Pearson, of Newberry township, Miami 
county; Thomas James, who was born Oc- 
tober I, 1879; Emma, born May 16, 1882; 
Clara Belle, born August 25, 1885; John 
Arthur, born January i, 1888; and Ivy 
Pearl, born April 16, 1898. 

Mr. Russell gives his political support 
to the Democracy and keeps well informed 
on the issues of the day but has never sought 
public office, his time and energies being 
given to farming interests. His life has 
been characterized by untiring industry and 
strong determination, and it is these quali- 
ties which ha\-e gained him a place among 
the substantial citizens of I\Iiami county. 



JOSEPH C. DOWLER. 

Joseph C. Dowler, deceased, was a high- 
h- respected citizen of Newberry township, 
Miami county, and his connection with agri- 
cultural interests made him a valuable factor 
in the improvement and development of the 
rich lands of this locality. He was born near 
Cincinnati, Ohio, October i, 1819, and was 
a son of William Dowler, whose birth oc- 



790 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



curred September lo, 1792. For many years 
the father carried on agricultural pursuits, 
but for a short time prior to his death he 
engaged in conducting a grocery store in 
Clayton, Miami county, where he made his 
home until April 11, 1849, when called to 
his final rest. His wife, who bore the maiden 
name of Eleanor Rey, was born March 19, 
1793, and died July 19, 1840. Their chil- 
dren were Jiiseph C. : Huldah Jane, who was 
born in October, 1821. and died in 1842; 
Margaret, who was born June 15, 1823, 
and is a widow residing in \\'ebster, Ohio ; 
Sarah Ann, who was born September 2, 
1827, and died April 28, 1842; Rebecca, 
who became the wife of William H. Rike, 
and died in Miami county; James H., who 
was born July 8, 1830, and died April 27, 
1842 ; and Mary Ellen, who was born August 
22. 1832, and died April 25, 1842. By his 
second wife the father of our subject had 
two children : Emeline, who became the wife 
of Oliver Perry and removed to Missouri; 
and EUza, wife of Joshua Furnass, of 
Miami county. 

Mr. Dowler, of this re\iew, was provid- 
ed with good educational privileges and 
taught school for many years, being recog- 
nized as one of the successful educators in 
this section of the state. At an early day his 
father removed the family to Xewberry 
township and built a home in the midst of the 
forest. After his death ]Mr. Dowler, of this 
review, purcliased the old homestead from 
the other heirs and to its further develop- 
ment and improvement he devoted his ener- 
gies untiringly. Twice married, he first 
wedded Dorothy Snow, who was born Feb- 
ruary 6, 1829, and died on the old home- 
stead October 24, 1855. They had two chil- 
dren, but both died in early childhood. On 
the 14th of August. 1856, Mr. Dowler was 



again married, his second union being with 
Susannah Rike, who was born July 29. 18 18, 
in Montgomery county, Ohio, near Dayton. 
Her father, John Rike, was born and reared 
in ^Maryland and was a soldier in the war of 
1812. At an early day he took up his abode 
in Montgomery comity, where he engaged in 
farming for many years, after which he re- 
moved to Newberry township, Aliami county, 
and located on a small tract of land which 
continued to be his home until his death. 
He wedded Catherine Shell, also a native of 
Maryland, and they became the parents of 
ten children, namely : Elizabeth, who became 
the wife of Samuel Ury and removed tn In- 
diana, where her death occurred ; ]Mrs. Dow- 
ler; Lydia, the widow of T. Ingle; Henr}-, 
who lived in Xewberry township and mar- 
ried Rebecca Dowler, a sister of our sub- 
ject ; Margaret, who became the wife of 
John McMaken and died in Xewberry town- 
ship; Adeline, wife of James Mc^Iaken; 
Reuben, who wedded Martha ^IcMaken, 
and died in X'ewberry township ; Joseph, who 
married Sally Ingle; Catherine, who is the 
wife of Joseph Caterlin. of Xewberry town- 
ship ; Mary, wife of Ewing ilcMaken ; and 
John, who married Emma Cooper and re- 
sides in Kansas. The father of this family 
died at the age of sixty-two years and the 
mother, long surviving, passed away at th.e 
advanced age of eighty-eight years. 

Airs. Dowler was reared in her native 
county in the home of an aunt, her parents 
having removed to Miami county. She re- 
ceived but limited educational privileges, for 
the schoolhouse was situated miles away 
from her aunt"s home and to reach it she 
had to make her way through dense forests, 
the trees having been blazed in order to indi- 
cate to the children the path which they 
must follow. She came to Miami countv 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



791 



when twenty-one years of age and made her 
home with her parents until her marriage. 
She has always been a very industrious and 
energetic woman. During her girlhood she 
aided in supporting some of the other chil- 
dren of the family. She took in sewing, 
spun flax and wove and made their own 
clothes. After her marriage she became to 
Mr. Dowler a faithful helpmeet on life's 
journey. They resided upon a farm until 
their son, John W'.. was fifteen years of age, 
when they removed to Covington in order 
to provide him better educational privileges. 
At the end of six years, however, they re- 
turned to the farm, where Mr. Dowler carried 
on agricultural pursuits until his death, which 
occurred April i, 1892, his remains being 
interred in Highland cemetery. He was a 
devout Christian gentleman, a faithful mem- 
ber of the Presbyterian church; and over the 
record of his life there falls no shadow of 
wrong or suspicion of evil. He enjoyed the 
respect and good will of many friends and 
his death was deeply mourned throughout 
the community. Mr. Dowler is survived by 
his son and their only child, John W.. who is 
the present county surveyor of Miami coun- 
ty. He was born July 3, 1857, and was grad- 
uated in the Covington high school at the age 
of nineteen years. He wedded Mary Al- 
mina Freshower and they have two children 
— George L. and James. They reside at 
Troy, Ohio, and, like Mrs. Dowler, enjoy the 
warm regard of many friends. 



IRA C. MINNICH. 

Ira C. Alinnich carries on business in 
Georgetown as a dealer in buggies, bicycles 
and live stock. He possesses the essential 
qualifications of a successful merchant, being 
methodical and systematic in business, at all 
times reliable, manifesting uniform courtesy 



and the spirit of accommodation in his 
treatment of his patrons. In this way he has 
built up an extensive trade and is regarded 
as the leading representative of commercial 
interests in the town where he makes his 
home. He was born near Union, Montgom- 
ery county, Ohio, on the 23d of December, 
1863. His father, Adam Minnich, is a re- 
tired farmer living in Georgetown. He was 
born in Montgomery county, near Salem, 
on the 6th of April, 1835, and the grandfa- 
ther of our subject was born in Dauphin 
county, Pennsylvania, where he was reared 
and married. In 183 1 he came to Ohio, 
taking up his abode near Brookville, Alont- 
gomery county, where he erected and operat- 
ed a grist-mill for several years. He then 
purchased sixty acres of farming land near 
Salem and thereon made his home for three 
years, after which he purchased ninety acres 
near Union, in the same county. On the 
latter farm he devoted his energies to agri- 
cultural pursuits throughout the remainder 
of his life, and at the age of seventy-two 
was called to his final rest. He voted the Re- 
publican ticket and was a member of the 
German Baptist church, in the work of which 
he took an active interest. Both he and his 
v.-ife belonged to old Pennsylvania families. 
The latter is still living at the advanced age 
of eighty-eight years, and, like her husband, 
holds membership in the German Baptist 
church. By her marriage she became the 
mother of five children, of whom three are 
yet living. 

Adam Minnich, the father of our sub- 
ject, spent his boyhood days under the par- 
ental roof and assisted in the work of the 
farm until twenty-one years of age, when he 
rented land for eight years in Montgomery 
county. He then removed to Noble county, 
Indiana, where he bought an eighty-acre 



792 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



farm, continuing its cultivation for two and 
a half years. He then sold that property 
and purchased land in Darke county, there 
carrying on agricultural pursuits until 1882, 
when he retired from active work and pur- 
chased property in Georgetown. He still 
owns the farm in Darke county. Here he 
has been engaged in contracting and build- 
ing, and at one time also conducted a butcher 
shop. He now owns eighty acres of land, 
and is a self-made man whose success is at- 
tributable entirely to his own efforts. He 
was married in Montgomery county to Cath- 
erine Ziegler, of that county, and they have 
five children, one of whom died in infancy. 
The others are: Granville W.. who is en- 
gaged in the grain business in Trotwood, 
Montgomery county; Solomon E.. who is 
engaged in the livery business at Arcanum ; 
Harvey C., superintendent of schools in 
Hillsboro, Ohio; and Ira C. The father is 
a Prohibitionist in his political views and 
for several years has capably filled the office 
of school director. Both he and his wife 
hold membership in the German Baptist 
church, are active in its work, and for eight 
years he served on the book and tract com- 
mittee. He was also a member of the mis- 
sion board for nine years. 

Ira C. Minnich spent his boyhood days on 
the home farm until seventeen years of age, 
when he entered upon an independent 
business career as a butcher and dealer in live 
stock for fourteen years, on the expiration 
of which period he disposed of his 
market, but continued dealing in live stock, 
and opened a store for the sale of vehicles. 
He has since added a stock of bicycles. He 
also has a large buggy repository and his 
sales in that and in the implement line are 
very extensive. His trade has constantly and 
steadilv increased, his honorable business 



methods securing him a liberal patronage. 
He sells more buggies for the Bimel Car- 
riage Company, of Sidney, Ohio, than any 
other merchant in the United States. His 
purchase and sale of live stock are also ex- 
tensive, and in his business career he exem- 
plifies the western spirit of enterprise for 
v.hich this section of the country is noted. 
In connection with other business interests 
he is a member of the Progress Telephone 
Company. He carries forward to successful 
completion whatever he undertakes, and his 
sound judgment in business affairs carries 
weight among his friends and associates. 

Mr. Minnich was united in marriage to 
Miss Amanda W'enger, daughter of Samuel 
\\'enger, of Union township. She died Sep- 
tember 27, 1884, and their only child died 
in infancy. On the sth of ]\Iarch, 1896, Mr. 
Minni-ch was again married, his second union 
being with Delia, daughter of Robinet Bran- 
don, of Xewton township. They have one 
son. Walter B., who is now four years old. 
In his political views Mr. Minnich is a Pro- 
hibitionist, believing most firmly in the 
adoption of stringent temperance meas- 
ures. His fellow townsmen recognized his 
worth as a citizen and his ability for the dis- 
charge of public duties and thus has he been 
three times chosen as a member of the citv 
council, serving now in his ninth year. He 
is also serving for the third term as presi- 
dent of the school board of his township, and 
his labors in behalf of the cause of education 
have been very effective and commendable. 
He withholds his support from no measure 
or movement which he believes will prove of 
public good and is recognized as one of the 
most valued citizens of Georgetown. His 
fidelity to principle is above question, and 
he is a popular, genial gentleman who has 
nianv warm friends. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



793 



BENJAMIN LONGANECKER. 

A retired farmer ni;)\v living in George- 
town, Mr. Longanecker was born in Juniata 
county. Pennsyh-ania. on the 19th of June, 
181 7, his parents being Henry and Annie 
(Hart) Longanecker. both of whom are na- 
tives of the Keystone state. Thence they 
came to this county; locating in Newton 
township, in 1834. They were members 
of the Dunkard church, and the father be- 
longed to the ministry of that denomina- 
tion. He lived to be eighty-two years of 
age. while his wife reached the age of 
se\-enty-five. The paternal grandfather of 
our subject also was born in Pennsylvania, 
where he died at an advanced age, but his 
father was a nati\-e of Germany and became 
the founder of the family in America. 

Under the parental roof Benjamin 
Longanecker spent the first seventeen years 
of his life and then came with the famih^ 
from Pennsylvania to Miami county. At 
the age of twenty-three years he began learn- 
ing the lilacksmith's trade, ^\•hich he fol- 
lowed in Georgetown for about ten years. 
He conducted a shop of his own and en- 
gaged in the manufacture of plows. On the 
expiration of that period, with the capital 
which he had acquired through his own well- 
directed efforts, he purchased a farm of 
sixty-five acres in Union township and 
turned his attention to agricultural pursuits, 
continuing the cultivation of his land until 
1888, when he rented the farm and retired 
from business life, taking up his abode in 
Georgetown. He has met with a fair de- 
gree of success in his undertakings, and 
still owns two farms, one of one hundred 
and twenty-five acres and another of eighty 
acres. He has also been called upon to set- 
tle four dift'erent estates, his business ability 



and trustworthiness well qualifying him for 
the position of administrator. 

On the 13th of December, 1838, Mr. 
Longanecker was married to Miss Rebecca 
^Vellbaunl. who died on the 26th of July, 
1849, leaving five children: Jeremiah, a 
resident of Kansas ; Samuel, who is livuig 
in Anderson, Indiana; Sarah Ann, the 
widow of William Mote, of Georgetown: 
and Joseph and Henry, twins, both of whom 
are now farmers in Preble county, Ohio. 
On the 14th of April, 1850, Mr. Longa- 
necker was again married, his second union 
being with Magdelena Wellbaum, of Miami 
county. She was bom, however, in Mont- 
gomery county, on the ist of November, 
1825. and by her marriage has become the 
mother of eight children, all of whom are 
living, namely : Caroline, the widow of 
Michael Miller; Susanna, the wife of Levi 
Miller, a farmer of Darke county; Ephraim. 
who is engaged in agricultural pursuits; 
Ezra, M. D., of Anderson. Indiana; Davis 
and Harvey, who are farmers of Union 
township; Ella, the wife of Willis Stutz- 
man, a farmer near Georgetown; and Will- 
iam, a bookkeeper in Columbus, Ohio. 

In religious belief the parents are Dunk- 
ards, holding- membership in the church in 
Georgetown, and take an active part in its 
work and growth. He has been a deacon 
in the church for sixty years, and has done 
all in his power to advance the church work 
along its various lines. In his political 
views Mr. Longanecker is an earnest Re- 
publican, and keeps well informed on the 
issues of the day. He has served his county 
as supervisor for two or three terms, and 
in all relations of life his conduct and atti- 
tude has been influenced by high moral prin- 
ciple, and the golden rule has been his guide 
through a long, useful and active career. 



794 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



He is now eighty-three years of age and 
can look back over the past with httle regret 
for opportunities left unimproved and for- 
ward to the future without fear. 



JOSEPH F. HASKETT. 

From one of the old families of South 
Carolina Mr. Haskett, of this review, is de- 
scended. His paternal grandparents were 
Isaac and Rebecca (Evans) Haskett, both of 
whom were natives of South Carolina, in 
which state they were reared and married. 
The grandfather was a farmer and carpen- 
ter, and came to Miami county about 1807, 
making the journey across the country on 
horseback. He settled near Ludlow Falls, 
and died when about se\'enty-eight years of 
age, his wife passing away at the age of 
eighty-two. They were both Quakers in 
religious belief. 

Thomas Haskett, the father of our sub- 
ject, was born in Union township, Miami 
county, November 22. 1809, and was reared 
amid the wild scenes of the frontier, for his 
boyhood embraced the earliest period in the 
pioneer development of this section of the 
state. His life was spent in farming and 
carpentering, and in 1S39 he purchased the 
farm now owned by the subject of this re- 
view. There he spent the remainder of his 
days, and was fairly successful in his busi- 
ness pursuits. He was called upon to act 
as school director, and took a deep interest 
in everything pertaining to the welfare and 
progress of the community. He held mem- 
bership with the Society of Friends, and 
died in the faith of that organization on 
the 20th of November, 1887, at the ad- 
vanced age of seventy-eight years. Thus 
was ended a long life spent entirely in 
Miami county, whose remarkable growth 



and progress he witnessed through four- 
score years. He had married . Luvenia 
Jones, who was born in Union township, De- 
cember 22, 181 5, her parents being Thomas 
and Sarah (Jones) Jones. Her father was a 
native of Georgia, her mother of South Car- 
olina, and both came to Miami cbunty about 
1805. Mr. Jones was a farmer, cooper and 
shoemaker, and followed all three pursuits 
in the days of the county's early develop- 
ment. In 1 81 6 he removed to Darke coun- 
ty, and in the midst of the forest established 
a cabin home. He died upon that farm 
when about fifty years of age, after which 
his widow and her son removed to Indiana, 
where she died, at the age of eighty-three 
years. Both were members of the Friends' 
church. They had three children. The 
parents of our subject were married March 
7, 1839, and they became the parents of 
eleven children, five of whom died in child- 
hood. Those still li\-ing are: Robert, who 
is engaged in the dry goods business in 
Chicago ; Reese and Byron, who are also in 
Chicago; Malinda, wife of Andrew J. Id- 
dings, a farmer of Union township; Joseph 
F., and Ledrew, who is engaged in the dry 
goods business in Spokane, Washington. 
The parents were members of the Friends' 
church, and took an acti\e part in its work. 
The mother is still living, and is a well pre- 
served old lady, now making her home with 
our subject. 

Joseph F. Haskett spent his boyhood 
daj's on the home farm and upon his father's 
death assumed the management of the prop- 
erty. Subsequently he purchased the 
farm, becoming the owner of eightv acres. 
He had obtained his elementary education 
in the district schools and afterward pur- 
sued his studies in Alilton and then entered 
Spiceland Academy, in Spiceland, Indiana. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



r95 



He was then well fitted for life's practical 
and responsible duties. He now owns 
eighty acres of the old homestead property 
which his father improved, comprising one 
hundred and thirty acres, pleasantly situated 
about a mile from the village of West Mil- 
ton. This is a well improved farm under a 
high state of cultivation, and yields to the 
owner a golden tribute in return for the care 
and labor he has bestowed upon it. 

On the 4th of October. 1882, Mr. Has- 
kett as married to Miss Ada Hoover, a 
daughter of W. J. Hoover, of Union town- 
ship, and their home is now brightened by 
the presence of three chiklren — Mabel, Jes- 
sie and Robert. 

In his political views Mr. Haskett is a 
stanch Repuljlican and has served for sev- 
eral terms as a memljer of the school board, 
the cause of education finding in him a warm 
friend whose labors have greatly benefited 
the schools of the neighborhood. He holds 
membership with the Society of Friends and 
his wife is a member ofthe Christian church. 
They are widely and fa\-orably known in this 
community, and Mr. Haskett is an enter- 
prising and worthy citizen of Miami county, 
who through a long and active business ca- 
reer has always been loyal to the interests 
and welfare of his community. 



FREDERICK STEIL. 

Frederick Steil, the leading merchant of 
Troy, was born in Bavaria, Germany, No- 
vember 15, 1850. He is the son of John 
Steil, who was a teacher in the public schools 
of Ungstein, Bavaria, for many years, serv- 
ing in one school room from i860 to 1897. 
In the last named year he died, respected 
and honored by all. He was a graduate of 
the University of Kaisers Lantern, which 



is the normal school for the training of 
teachers in Bavaria. The school system of 
Germany is the best in Europe. The stu- 
dents are advanced step by step from one 
school to another, and the schools are noted 
for the thorough education of the pupils as 
they are promoted from one grade to an- 
other. 

Frederick Steil attended the public 
schools of his native place until ten years of 
age. when he was graduated to the Latin 
school, in which Latin, French and English 
are taught to the scholars, who begin the 
study of languages when they are about ten 
years of age. The scholars thus gain much 
time, as compared with the system of Ameri- 
can schools. 

In 1865, at the age of fifteen years, Mr. 
Steil emigrated to the United States and 
came to Troy at the special rec^uest of his 
uncle, Adam Steil, then a leading merchant 
of this city, who in 1859 founded the dry 
goods business which is now continued by 
the subject of this sketch. He entered his 
uncle's store as a clerk, and so continued un- 
til the death of his uncle, Adam Steil, in 
December, 1876, when he became the pro- 
prietor of the store. While a clerk he de- 
voted his leisure time to mastering the Eng- 
lish language until he became a good Eng- 
lish scholar. In the meantime he gave close 
attention to the mercantile business, famil- 
iarizing himself with all its details, until now 
he is one of the best posted merchants of 
ISIiami county. 

On October 28, 1875, Mr. Steil was 
united in marriage to Miss Christina Zieg- 
enfelder, a daughter of George Zieg- 
enfelder, of Troy. They have one son, 
William, who is a graduate of the Troy 
high school, of the class of 1899, and has en- 
tered his father's store with the resolve to 



796 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



learn the mercantile business, having de- 
termined to make it his life's work. Under 
the experience and skillful tutelage of his fa- 
ther he will undoubtedly succeed, as he is a 
young man of good habits, active, energetic 
and popular. He has established an envia- 
ble reputation for strict integrity, and his 
store has a good patronage which is increas- 
ing year by year. 

The writer has known Frederick Steil 
for twenty-five years, and speaks from per- 
sonal knowledge in saying that Mr. Steil is 
a model American citizen, strictly attentive 
to business, and while he loves the father- 
land, he is yet devoted to the stars and 
stripes and the principles of personal and 
political liberty for which they stand. He is 
a thorough merchant, but he is also a stu- 
dent and a thinker, ^^'hile he affiliates with 
the Republican party he is not so partisan 
that he surrenders the right of his own per- 
sonal convictions on the policy that should 
control the government. He is a good citi- 
zen, and he and his wife are active working 
members of the German Lutheran church, 
of which he has been treasurer for twenty- 
five years, and is also a member of the offi- 
cial board. He is a member of the ^^lasonic 
order, and has progressed to the Knight 
Templar degree in Masonry. He is in the 
vigor and i^rime of mature manhood, and, 
happy in his family relations and prosper- 
ous in his Ijusiness, the future has for him a 
bright outlook of a long and useful life. 



CHARLES H. ^L\Y. 

The unostentatious routine of private 
life, although of vast importance to the wel- 
fare of the community, has not figured to 
any great extent on the pages of history. 
But the names of men who have distin- 



guished themselves by the possession of those 
qualities of character which mainly contrib- 
ute to the success of prixate Hfe and to the 
public stability, and who have enjoyed the 
respect and confidence of those around them, 
should not be permitted to perish. Their 
example is more valuable to the majorit)- of 
readers than that of heroes, statesmen and 
writers, as they furnish means of subsist- 
ence to the multitude whom they in their 
useful careers have employed. Such are the 
thoughts that involuntarily come to our 
minds when we consider the life of him 
whose name initiates this sketch, and who 
stands today as one of the leading owners 
of business property in Picjua. 

He was born in Troy, Miami county, on 
the 31st of March, 1859. He spent the first 
eleven years of his life in his native city, and 
then came with his parents to Piqua, where 
he continued his education in the public 
schools, receiving his business training in 
his father's drug store, where he was em- 
ployed continually until 1879. If there is 
in Piqua or Miami county one who is a self- 
made man in every sense of the word that 
man is Charles H. May, for when, in 1879, 
he left his Ohio home for Philadelphia to 
enter college he had but three dollars, and 
with no assistance from any one he made 
his way through the most noted college of 
pharmacy in America, the Philadelphia Col- 
lege of Pharmacy, and was graduated with 
honors in a class of two hundred and forty- 
one members, on the i6th of March, 1881, 
being the thirty-ninth in rank. He then re- 
turned to Picjua and the following Decem- 
ber purchased the drug store which had for- 
merly belonged to his father, conducting the 
enterprise with marked success until March, 
1896, when he sold the store in order to de- 
vote his entire attention to his real estate in- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



797 



terests. He was only tliirty-seven years of 
age at the time of his retirement. In the 
meantime he had made judicious invest- 
ments in property, both buying and selhng. 
He borrowed money to begin his real estate 
operations, and since his retirement from 
the drug business his attention has been ex- 
clusively devoted to the care and manage- 
ment of his property interests, to the collec- 
tion of rents and to the placing of invest- 
ments, so extensix-e and important has his 
business become. His income from his 
rents is greater than that of any other indi- 
vidual in the city. He probably owns more 
good rentable property than any man in 
Piqua, hax'ing some forty-fi\-e tenants in bus- 
iness houses. In the past ten years he has 
added to Piqua no less than fifteen or twenty 
storerooms, located on some of the most 
prominent corners of the city. He was at 
one time the owner uf the corner which is 
now owned and occupied by the Young 
Men's Christian Association. This he sold 
to the present owners for eleven thousand 
dollars, and then donated one thousand dol- 
lars to the organization. When the Daily 
Dispatch and Piqua Journal came into pos- 
session of the company by which it is now 
owned he became one of the organizers and 
leading stockholders of the company, and 
its president. The Dispatch was formerly 
a Republican paper, but he had it trans- 
formed into a Democratic journal, and as 
such it ranks first in the county. 

In November, 1882, Mr. May was mar- 
ried to Miss Carrie Ploch, of Piqua, daugh- 
ter of Frederick Ploch. and unto them were 
born five children, but three died in infancy. 
Those living are Florence and Gertrude. 
The parents are well known in this locality, - 
and their circle of friends is almost co-ex- 
tensive with their circle of acquaintances. 



Mr. May is one of the prominent and active 
Democrats of Miami county and chief of the 
Miami county board of deputy state super- 
visors. He did as much to nominate and 
elect Senator Long in 1895, ^^97 '^"^1 i899 
as any other man in the county. On the ist 
of August, 1900, he was again appointed by 
the secretary of state one of the deputy state 
supervisors of elections for a two-years 
term, and on the organization of the board 
was again chosen its president. He has 
never sought office for himself, but is active 
in supporting the candidacy of his friends, 
and labors untiringly for the acceptance of 
Democratic principles. He never fails to 
attend state or national conventions, being 
at both in 1892 and again in 1896, when 
Cleveland and Bryan were nominated for 
the presidency. In religious belief he is a 
Lutheran, belonging to St. Paul's German 
Lutheran church, in which he is a trustee. 
As a business man he has been conspicuous 
among his associates, not only for his suc- 
cess, but for his probity, fairness and hon- 
orable methods. In everything he has been 
eminently practical, and this has not been 
manifest in his business undertakings only, 
but also in pri\-ate and social life. Having 
made his way through the world by his own 
efforts, he has always had a kindly sympa- 
thy for those whom he has found starting 
out in life as he started. Courteous in dis- 
position and manners, and at the same time 
warm-hearted and genial, he has drawn 
about him a circle of devoted friends. 



JOHN SHOEMAKER. 

Since attaining man's estate, and even in 
liis boyhood days, John Shoemaker has been 
actively connected with agricultural pursuits. 
He was born in Franklin county, Penn- 



798 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sylvania, on the 2d of August, 1829, his 
parents heing John and Catherine ( Min- 
nich) Shoemaker, in wliose family were six 
children, the surviving members being Cath- 
erine, widow of David Metzger, and John. 
The mother died when our subject was only 
five years of age and in 1S34 the father 
came with his family to Ohio, locating in 
Montgomery county, where he died about 
1835. 

John Shoemaker then went to live with a 
cousin, with whom he remained for iive 
years. He came to Miami county when ten 
years of age, living with a maternal uncle, 
Wendell Minnich, in Newton township for a 
similar length of time. On the expiration of 
that period he began learning the wagon- 
maker's trade near Covington, being em- 
ployed by Mr. Jones for a few months; but 
abandoning that pursuit he accepted employ- 
ment as a farm hand, his time being thus 
employed until he was twenty years of age. 
In the fall of 1849, in company with two 
companions he started for Iowa, making the 
journey westward by stage and on foot. 
During the winter of 1S49-50 he removed to 
the city of Burlington, then a small hamlet, 
and in March of the latter year started for 
California with ox teams, going by the over- 
land route. On the 30th of July, of that 
year, he reached his destination and for fif- 
teen months followed prospecting and min- 
ing on the Pacific slope, meeting with a fair 
degree of success in his undertakings. He 
returned by way of the water route to New 
York and thence came to Pleasant Hill, 
where he began farming. His attention has 
since been devoted to agricultural pursuits 
and he now owns two valuable tracts of 
land, one of eighty acres, the other of forty 
acres. 

Mr. Shoemaker has been twice married. 



In 1853 he married Miss Gulaelma Cooper 
and unto them were born five children : John, 
deceased; jMarietta, wife of Samuel Strong; 
Sarah J., who has also passed away; David 
M., who married Emma Swift; and Clara, 
who is deceased. The mother of this family 
died in 1869 and in 1881 Mr. Shoemaker 
was again married, his second union being 
with Annie E. Snyder, daughter of Henry 
M. Snyder, of Frederick countv, Marjdand. 
'Sir. Shoemaker is a Republican in his politi- 
cal associations and a Dunkard in religious 
faith. Those who have long known him and 
have watched his daily conduct regard him 
as a man of sterling worth, trustworthy and 
reliable, and as a representative farmer of 
Miami county he well deserves mention in 
volume. 



CAPTAIN SAMUEL D. PALMER. 

Captain Samuel D. Palmer is for the 
third time serving as mayor of the city of 
Covington. It is a well attested maxim that 
the greatness of a state lies not in its ma- 
chinery of government nor even in its insti- 
tutions, but in the sterling qualities of its 
mdividual citizens, in their capacity for high 
and unselfish effort and their devotion to the 
public good. Mr. Palmer is one whose official 
career is above c[uestion, and the fact that 
he has been chosen three times for the high- 
est office within the gift of the municipality 
is unmistakable evidence of his fidelity to 
duty and his efficiency in promoting the pub- 
lic welfare. 

A native of the Keystone state, he was 
born in Greencastle, Franklin county, Penn- 
sylvania, on the 19th of April, 1848. He rep- 
resents an old eastern family that was worth- 
ily represented in the war of the Revolution. 
His paternal grandfather, John Palmer, fol- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



799 



lowed farming near Frederick, Maryland, in 
which locality his death occurred. When 
the colonies attempted to throw off the 3'oke 
of British oppression he joined the army and 
loyally aided in the case of indepenilence. 
Michael Palmer, the father of our subject, 
was born in Frederickstown, Maryland, and 
after arriving at years of maturity was mar- 
ried there to Elizabeth Rowe, daughter of 
John Rowe, who was born in England and 
emigrated to America, taking up his resi- 
dence near Frederickstown. He made the 
voyage in company with his parents, for he 
was at that time but a small boy. He died 
on a farm in Maryland, leaving a widow and 
one daughter, Elizabeth. After his death 
Mrs. Rowe was again married, and Iw the 
second union had two children : Daniel, who 
died near Lewisburg, Ohio; and Jane, who 
was married and died near Brownsboro, 
Maryland. Soon after their marriage Mich- 
ael and Elizabeth (Rowe) Palmer removed 
to Greencastle, Pennsylvania, where the fa- 
ther carried on farming until his death, 
which occurred in 1878. His wife passed 
away the previous year, when sixty-nine 
years of age, her birth having occurred near 
FretIerickstown,Marylandiin 1808. The chil- 
dren of Michael and Elizabeth Palmer were 
as follows : Joshua, who married Kate Det- 
rich and is living in Franklin county, Penn- 
sylvania ; Hezekiah, of Frederick, Maryland; 
Julia Ann, wife of Peter Smith, of Green- 
castle, Pennsylvania; Peter, of Kansas City, 
Missouri ; Daniel, who married Anna Gush- 
ard and is living in Hannibal, Missouri ; Jo- 
seph, whose home is in Apton, Pennsylvania; 
Rebecca, wife of Daniel Mowen, of Green- 
castle, Pennsylvania; Catherine; Jonathan, 
of Kingston, Missouri, who was a member 
of Company K, One Hundred and Twenty- 
sixth Pennsylvania Infantry, and of the First 



Pennsylvania Cavalry, and married Amanda 
Apensellers; Levi, who died in Greencastle, 
Pennsylvania, at the age of thirty-eight 
years; George F., of Gettysburg, Ohio, who 
married Laura Shade and during the Civil 
war served as a member of Company K, One 
Hundred and Twenty-sixth Pennsylvania 
Lifantry, and of the Second Ohio 1\\- 
fantry; Simon, of Greencastle, Pennsyl- 
ania, who was a member of Company K, 
One Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Pennsyl- 
nia Lifantry, and afterward joined the First 
Cavalry Regiment of that state; Samuel D., 
of this review ; Jacob, who married Annie 
Cump, and is living in Franklin county, 
Pennsylvania; and Elizabeth, wife of John 
Kuhn, of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania. 

Captain Palmer, whose name introduces 
the initial paragraph of this review, pur- 
sued his education in the public schools of his 
native town until his fourteenth year. His 
school life ended very abruptly, owing to the 
Civil war. At the age of thirteen he was a 
member of the Pennsylvania state militia. 
Each school district was organized, and the 
boys daily met at the schoolhouse to drill. 
While the battles of South Mountain and 
Antietam were being fought those youthful 
soldiers were doing guard duty between 
Hagerstown, Maryland, and Greencastle, 
Pennsylvania, and right well did they per- 
form the task assigned to them, keeping a 
strict watch of the enemy who threatened 
a general invasion of the Keystone state. Not 
content with such amount of service, how- 
ever, Captain Palmer patriotically offered 
his services to the government as a regular 
volunteer, enlisting in Company K, One 
Hundred and Twenty-Sixth Pennsylvania 
Lifantry. Owing to his extreme youth a 
brother was sent to bring him l)ack from the 
army, and after three months' service with 



800 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



his regiment Captain Palmer, much against 
his will, was obliged to return home. On the 
1 8th of February, 1864, however, when fif- 
teen years of age, he re-enlisted, becoming 
a member of Company K. Thirty-fourth 
Ohio Infantry, afterward the Thirty-sixth 
Ohio Regiment. On the nth of January, 
1865, he was taken prisoner, and after being 
incarcerated in Libby prison for three months 
w as paroled. The morning of his capture he 
waded Green river before sunrise, when the 
thermometer was twelve degrees below zero. 
When paroled he was sent to the hospital at 
Annapolis, Maryland, and was also in the 
hospital at Camp Chase for a time. \\'hen he 
had somewhat recuperated his health he 
joined his regiment in the latter part of 
April, 1865, at Winchester, and remained 
with his command until the close of the war, 
receiving an honorable discharge at Colum- 
bus, Ohio, in July, 1865. He then returned 
to his home in Gettysburg, this state, and 
well may he be proud of his militarj' record, 
for as a soldier boy he displayed bravery 
equal to that of many a time-tried veteran. 
While at the front he participated in the 
following engagements : Wjtheville, Vir- 
ginia; Cloud ^Mountain, Staunton, Lexing- 
ton, Buchanan, Lynchburg, all in \'irginia 
in 1864; Liberty, Snicker's Gap, Meadow 
Biufif, Martinsburg, Monocacy, Maryland, 
Stevenson's Station, both battles at Winches- 
ter, Xew Town, \'irginia. Cedar Creek, 
Fisher's Hill and Beverly. \'irginia, January 
II, 1865. 

On recovering his health Captain Palmer 
was engaged in agricultural pursuits until 
1880, Vhen he removed to Covington. He 
has always been deeply interested in military 
affairs and has been actively identified with 
the Ohio National Guards. In 1875 he was 
instrumental in organizing Company L, of 



the Fifth Battalion, afterward the Third 
Ohio Regiment, and was elected first ser- 
geant on the 1st of May of that year. On 
the 1 2th of February. 1876, he became sec- 
ond lieutenant and on the loth of September, 
1880, was commissioned first lieutenant, 
while on the 9th of April, 1881, he became 
captain, serving in that capacity until July 
4, 1 89 1. On the 28th of July, 1895, he was 
appointed captain of Company A, Third 
Regiment of Covington, and on the outbreak 
of the Spanish- American war he took his 
company to Columbus, arriving in that city 
on the 26th of April, 1898, and was with his 
company until May 10. There he was placed 
on the retired list, but when the company re- 
turned he again assumed command, and was 
re-elected captain January 28, 1900, for five 
years. He is a valued and prominent mem- 
ber of Langston Post, G. A. R., and in De- 
cember, 1898, was elected commander, to 
which position he was re-elected in Decem- 
ber, 1899, so that he is the present incum- 
bent. He is also a member of the Masonic 
and Knights of Pythias orders. 

On the 13th of June. 1869. Captain Pal- 
mer was married, in Gettysburg. Ohio, to 
Miss Belle Hill, who was born March 2, 
1850, and is a daughter of Samuel and Eliza- 
beth Hill. Two daughters have graced their 
union — Ida }vlaud, who is now the wife of 
William Eichelbarger, of Piqua : and Lor- 
etta Pearl, who was born May 7, 1873, and 
is the wife of Dr. Walter B. Carey, of Phila- 
delphia, Pennsyhania, by whom she has one 
child, Bernard Palmer. The Captain and his 
wife hold membership in the Methodist 
church, in which he has served as steward 
and class-leader. In politics he is a stalwart 
Republican and on that ticket has been elect- 
ed for the third time as mayor of the city. 
He handles the reins of government with a 



1 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



801 



steady hand and exercises is official preroga- 
tive in support of all measures which he be- 
lieves will promote the material prosperity 
and general welfare of the city. Outside of 
office he has also given a generous support to 
the movements which he believes will prove 
a public good. 

At this point it would be almost tauto- 
logical to enter into any series of statements 
as showing our subject to be a man of broad 
iritelligence and genuine public spirit, for 
these have been shadowed forth between the 
lines of this review. Strong in his individual- 
ity, he never lacks the courage of his convic- 
tions, but they are, as dominating elements 
in his individuality, a lively human sympathy 
and an abiding charity which, as taken in 
connection with the sterling integrity and 
honor of his character, have naturally gained 
to Captain Palmer the respect and confidence 
of men. 



WILLIAAI KOETITZ. 

The beauty of a city depends largely 
upon its architecture, and to those who design 
and construct its buildings is due the credit 
of the position it holds in this direction. 
Among the firms that have done a large 
amount of the work which adorns the streets 
and avenues of Tippecanoe City is the Tip- 
pecanoe Building and Manufacturing Com- 
pany, of which Mr. Koetitz is the superin- 
tendent and architect. In this way he has 
aided materially in the upbuilding, progress 
and improvement of the city, and in business 
circles he occupies an enviable position, 
being widely and favorably known for his 
reliability as well as for his excellent work- 
manship. 

A native of Germany. Mr. Koetitz was 

born on the 7th of Februarv, 1858. in the 
47 



town of \\'eimar. His parents were August 
and Caroline Koetitz, in whose family were 
eight children, four sons and four daughters. 
In the public schools of his native town Ihe 
subject of this review acquired his education, 
and when fifteen years of age started out 
to earn his own living, serving an apprentice- 
ship at the carpenter and joiner's trade. 
He also learned the mason's trade, and after 
completing a five-years apprenticeship he 
spent one year in a training school. Later 
he entered the German army, in accordance 
with the laws of that land, serving for three 
years in a military organization. In the 
fall of 1 88 1 he resolved to come to America, 
believing that he might better his financial 
conditions here. Accordingly he crossed 
the Atlantic and made his way direct to 
Tippecanoe City, where he entered the em- 
ploy of the C. Trupp Manufacturing Com- 
pany, in the capacity of foreman. He con- 
tinued his connection as an employe of that 
firm until October, 1887, when he pur- 
chased an interest in the business and was 
made the superintendent. In 1895 the busi- 
ness was reorganized, the plant was im- 
proved and enlarged and the name of the 
Tippecanoe Building & Manufacturing Com- 
pany was chosen. Since that time Mr. 
Koetitz has served as superintendent and ar- 
chitect for the compan}', which is extensively 
engaged in the manufacture of lumber, op- 
erating saw-mills and planing-mills. In ad- 
dition it does contracting and building on a 
large scale and has erected many of the 
finest structures in the town. Many of the 
attractive residences of Tippecanoe City 
stand as monuments to the skill and enter- 
prise of Mr. Koetitz. who ranks very high in 
building circles. 

On the 1st of January. 1882. Mr. Koetitz 
was united in marriage to Miss Johanna 



802 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Westphal, and they now have three children, 
Lizzie, Walter and Herman. Mr. Koetitz 
is a member of the Royal Arcanum and the 
German Lutheran church. He spends con- 
sideral)le time in the study of the political 
questions and issues of the day and gives an 
earnest support to the principles of the Re- 
publican party. From the "little Gorman 
home across the sea" he made his way to the 
new world and entered upon a career which 
is indeed enviable on account of the- prosper- 
ity which has attended it, and yet his success 
is not the outcome of propitious circum- 
stances but is the honest reward of labor, 
without which qualities no man can win 
good management, ambition and energy, 
prosperity. 



I JOHN C. HENDERSON. 

Devoting his energies to farming and 
the manufacture of lumber, Mr. Henderson 
is recognized as a leading and influential 
business man of Union township, Miami 
county. He was born in Brown county, 
Ohio, July 22, 1837. His father, Jonathan 
Henderson, was born July 2^, 1797,. '" Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, and w-as reared 
upon a farm, remaining with his parents 
until about twenty-eight years of age, when 
he began farming on his own account, locat- 
ing on a tract of land in the midst of the 
forest. This was about 1825, and his home 
was located near Winchester, Ohio, where 
he built a log cabin and improved a good 
property. There he successfully carried on 
agricultural pursuits until his death, which 
occurred when he was sixty-eight years of 
age. He became the owner of one hundred 
and sixty acres and his farm yielded to him 
a good return for the care and labor he be- 
stowed upon it. His support was given the 



Democracy, and his fellow townsmen, rec- 
ognizing his worth and ability, frequently 
called him to public office. He was a mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church and 
his well spent and upright life commended 
him to the confidence and regard of all with 
whom he was associated. His wife bore the 
maiden name of Nancy Carl, and was born 
in Adams county, Ohio, in 1823, but died 
in Brown county, February 20, 1894, at the 
age of seventy-one years. She held mem- 
bership with the Christian church. In the 
family of this worthy couple were ten chil- 
dren, namely : Andrew, Ellen, ^Nlary, Eliza- 
beth, John C, Joseph, William, Michael, and 
two who died in infancy. 

During the days of his boyhood and 
youth John C. Henderson, of this review, 
worked on the home farm, following the 
plow almost from the time he was large 
enough to reach the handles. He continued 
with his parents until he was twenty-two 
years of age. In 1862 he organized a wagon 
train of twenty-five men for gibvernment 
work and spent the succeeding twenty-three 
months as a wagon-master. In that capac- 
ity he traveled through Kentucky, Tennes- 
see, Virginia and Georgia, but spent most 
of the time at Lexington, Kentucky. He 
was at Knoxville, Tennessee, however, Avhen 
that city was besieged. \\'hen aliout two 
years had passed, he returned to Hamilton 
county, Ohio, where he was married and en- 
gaged in the drug business and also follow- 
ing teaming. Three years later he went to 
Cincinnati, and in 1865 he came to Miami 
county, operating a rented farm in LTiion 
township for two years". In 1867 he erected 
his saw-mill on section 24, Union township, 
and in 1869 he purchased a mill on the Day- 
ton & Western Railroad in Darke county. 
In 1871 he purchased another mill near 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



803 



Castine, Darke county, operating the three 
mills at the same time. They were located 
about six miles apart, but he gave to each 
his personal supervision and ilie enterprises 
proved profitable. After seven months, 
however, he disposed of one mill and re- 
moved the Darke county mill to Pittsburg, 
same county. He has since operated that 
mill and the one in Union township, and the 
careful prosecution of his business interests 
has brought to him a good financial return. 
In 1875 hs purchased his home farm, 
comprising fifty-seven acres, and in 1878 he 
purchased one hundred and sixty acres of 
land in Paulding county, Ohio. The quar- 
. ter-section was then a tract of timlier land 
but is now highly improved. In 1877 he 
purchased forty acres of timber land in Darke 
county, which he also cleared and improved, 
and in 1889 he bought forty acres in Monroe 
township, Darke county. In 1897 he be- 
came the owner of one hundred and fort\'- 
seven acres in Union township, Miami coun- 
ty, and here he has a splendidly improved 
property, on which are found all moder.n ac- 
cessories and conveniences. For the past 
twenty years he has been engaged in raising 
tobacco and he carries on this work along 
very progressive lines. On his farm he has 
sheds in which to cure the tobacco, and ware- 
houses in West Milton in which to store it. 
He does an extensive business in the manu- 
facture of lumber, his sales annually in- 
creasing. 

March 17, 1864, Mr. Henderson was 
married in Hamilton county, Ohio, to Miss 
Elizabeth Markley, and to them were born 
two children : Emma, now the wife of 
Charles Coppock, a resident of Laura, this 
county; and John W., who is in partnership 
with Mr. Coppock in the mercantile and grain 
business at Laura. The mother died No- 



vember 5, 1885, and Mr. Hende^-son after- 
ward married Miss Mary Herman, of Union 
township, a daughter of Christian and Mary 
(Kojel) Herman, who were both natives of 
Germany. 

His political support is given to the 
Democracy and he takes quite an active part 
in the work of the party, doing all in his 
power to promote its growth and to insure 
its success. He has served as a trustee for 
ten or twelve years, and after serving one 
term as county commissioner was appointed 
to fill a vacancy on the board of county com- 
missioners at a time when all of the county 
officers were Republicans. He is so loyal 
and true to his duty that he commands the 
respect and confidence of even his political 
opponents and is recognized as a representa- 
tive citizen. Both he and his wife hold 
membership in the United Brethren church 
and to its support he has been a liberal con- 
tributor. He was one of the building com- 
mittee and has been one of the trustees since 
the edifice was completed. 



JACOB M. FRIEDLICH. 

One of the distinctively representative 
citizens of Troy, Jacob M. Friedlich has by 
earnest and consecutive efifort gained an ad- 
vanced position in mercantile circles, and is 
now in control of an extensive commercial 
enterprise of Miami county. 

He was born in Bucks county, Pennsyl- 
vania. February 16, 1846. His father, 
Moses Friedlich, removed from Pennsylva- 
nia to Piqua, Ohio, in 1849, and for almost 
fifty years was extensively engaged in the 
clothing business there, during which time 
he built up an excellent patronage and was 
widely known and uniformly respected 
throughout Miami county. He also en- 



804 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



gaged in the lirukerage business, and was 
vice-president of the Citizens' Bank, aiding 
in the organization of that sound financial 
institution. After a long and useful life of 
about eighty-one years he was called to his 
final rest, and in his death the community 
lost one of its valued and representative citi- 
zens. He was married in the Keystone 
state to Miss Emma Abel, a native of Ger- 
many. Dr. Jacoby, of New York city, who 
is not only a professor in medical colleges, 
but a medical author of renown, is a nephew 
of Mrs. Friedlich, and was reared by her in 
the fatherland. He was associated with 
Carl Schurz in the Revolution in Germany 
in 1848. Together they were imprisoned 
for one year and then pardoned by King 
William of Prussia. Dr. Jacoby went to 
England, and thence came to America. The 
friendship between him and Mr. Schurz 
continues with undiminished strength to the 
present time. The Doctor has attained 
marked eminence in his profession, and was 
one of twenty medical men who were sent as 
representatives of the United States to the 
World's Medical Congress in Berlin. He 
was at that time offered the life chair by 
the emperor, but declined the honor on ac- 
count of the love which he bore for his 
adopted land. 

Mr. Friedlich, whose name introduces 
this review, pursued his education in the 
schools of Piqua, and in the Commercial 
College, of Cincinnati. He then went into 
business with iiis father and gained practi- 
cal experience in the methods of mercantile 
life. On leaving Piqua he removed to Chi- 
cago, and about twenty-three years ago came 
to Troy, where he established a large cloth- 
ing store. The reliable and honorable busi- 
ness methods which he learned from his fa- 
ther he has followed in his career here, and 



his labors have, therefore, been attendetl by 
success. He has direct regard for the ethics 
of commercial life, and at all times is court- 
eous and just in his treatment of patrons. 

In Chicago, on the 19th of January, 
1872. was celebrated the marriage of ]\Ir. 
Friedlich and Miss Esther Kling. Her par- 
ents lived in a residence which at one time 
was built and owned by a brother of Charles 
Dickens. This Mr. Dickens afterward be- 
came estranged from the family and was 
not recognized by his brother, the celebrated 
author, on the latter's \-isit to Chicago, for 
which the English writer was greatly blamed 
by many people. The house was built in 
the old English style and was a landmark 
of the community, but was destroyed in the 
great fire of 1871. Unto Mr. and Mrs. 
Friedlich have been born two children, Mau- 
rice and Alfred. The elder is now engaged 
in business with his father, and displays 
much of the ability shown by the subject 
of this review and by the grandfather, Al- 
fred is now a student in the law department 
of the Ohio State University, in which he 
will graduate with the class of 1900, at the 
age of twenty-two, a most creditable record 
made by few young men. He is a grad- 
uate of the Troy high school, of 1896, and 
is a young man of marked intellectuality, 
who will undoubtedly win distinction in 
his chosen profession. His strong mental 
force is supplemented by a most genial and 
companionalile manner which makes him a 
favorite in the best society of Troy and in 
Columbus. Mr. Friedlich is a member of 
the Masonic lodge, of Troy, to which his 
son Maurice als.o belongs, and is likewise a 
valued representative of the Odd Fellows 
society and the Benevolent and Protective 
Order of Elks. In business circles he en- 
joys a high reputation, and his name is 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



805 



linked with all that is best in the commu- 
nity. He belongs to that class of represent- 
ative American citizens who readily lend 
their co-operation to every movement for 
the public good, and his worth to the com- 
munity is largely recognized both in busi- 
ness and social circles. 



HARRY G. RINEHART. 

"Earn thy reward ; the gods give naught 
to sloth," said the sage. Epicharmus, and 
the truth of the admonition has been verified 
in human affairs in all the ages which have 
rolled their course since his day. The sub- 
ject to whose life history we now direct at- 
tention has, by ceaseless toil and endeavor, 
attained a marked success in business af- 
fairs, has gained the respect and confidence 
of men, and is recognized as one of the dis- 
tinctively representative citizens of Troy. 

A native of Maryland, he was born in 
Carroll county, on the 4th of September, 
1864. His father, Israel Clay Rinehart, 
was a native of the same county, while the 
grandfather's birth occurred in Lancaster 
county, Pennsylvania. The family is one of 
long connection with the history of this 
country, and many of its representatives 
ha\'e gained distinction in Maryland, Penn- 
sylvania and the western states. Israel Clay 
Rinehart is a brother of William Rinehart, 
the celebrated American sculptor whose 
studio, in Rome, is the center of the highest 
art in his line. He won the most favorable 
criticism of the critics of the world, and his 
productions will live among the classics of 
his age. He was called upon by the Ameri- 
can government to complete the bronze 
doors of the capitol, begun by Thomas. Va- 
rious sculptures of Central Park, New York, 
are some of his most admired works, and a 



number of beautiful statues resulting from 
his creative genius adorn the parks of Balti- 
more. Another brother, Daniel Rinehart, 
was a captain in the Union army during the 
civil war, and loyally aided in establishing 
the supremacy of the government at Wash- 
ington. A third brother is a respected citi- 
zen of Troy, Ohio. The mother of our sub- 
ject, who bore the maiden name of Lucinda 
Englar, was also born in Carroll county. 
Maryland, and represented a family of the 
highest respectability. 

Harry Grant Rinehart, whose name in- 
troduces this review, acquired his prelimina- 
ry education in the public schools, displaying 
marked aptitude in his studies. Later more 
advanced opportunities were afforded him 
and he became a student in Bridgewater 
College, of Virginia. After determining 
upon a commercial career, he fitted himself 
for business life by completing his educa- 
tion in the normal school at Valparaiso, In- 
diana. On laying aside his text-books he 
came to Chicago, where his ability was rec- 
ognized by some of the leading firms and 
corporations of the city. At different times 
he was employed by Hibbard, Spencer, Bart- 
lett & Company, the Commercial National 
Bank and the Pearson Lumber Com- 
pany, with each of which he filled confi- 
dential positions, including the service of 
private secretary. Failing health caused 
him to leave the city and seek an employ- 
ment which would enable him to have more 
outdoor exercise. Accordingly, in 1891, he 
took up his residence upon a fine farm about 
five miles from Troy, in Elizabeth township, 
Miami county, and there he engaged in rais- 
ing grain and stock and was quite success- 
ful in his endeavors. In 1897 he estab- 
lished an agricultural implement business 
in Troy, and has succeeded in building up 



80(5 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



a large patronage. He does not act as 
agent for manufactories Ijut buys his ma- 
chinery, wagons and plows direct, and is 
the owner of the stock which he carries. 
His popularity among the farmers of the dis- 
trict is most marked, and his honorable busi- 
ness methods, keen discernment and unflag- 
ging industry ha\'e secured to him a large 
trade, which he well deserves. 

In 1890 Mr. Rinehart was married in 
Troy to Miss Martha Studebaker, and their 
union has been blessed with three interest- 
ing children — Fred Grant, Eugene Frank 
and Grace Louise. The family have a very 
pleasant home upon the farm, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Rinehart enjoy the esteem of a large 
circle of friends. His fellow townsmen, 
recognizing his worth and ability, have for 
a second time elected him to the office of 
clerk of Elizabeth township. In politics he 
is active and unflinching in his support of 
Republican principles, and is a recognized 
leader in the ranks of his party in his com- 
munity. His sterling worth commends him 
to the confidence and respect of all who know 
him, and for the success which he has 
achieved lie deserves great credit, as it has 
been won entirelv through his own efforts. 



GUST.W'US S. HUNT. 

One of the contractors and builders of 
Piqua is Gustavus S. Hunt, whose labors 
have contributed not alone to his individual 
prosperity, but have also advanced the mate- 
rial improvement of the city. He was born 
in Butler county, Ohio, December 6, 1842, 
a son of Nathaniel Hunt, a native of New 
York, born on the 14th of May, 1810. There 
the father was reared and married, the lady 
of his choice Iieing Sophia Kenney, who 
also first opened her eyes to the light of day 



in New York state. Nathaniel Hunt became 
a brick mason and ultimately a contractor, 
and in 1854 he removed to Piqua where he 
carried on business along that line, until his 
death, which occurred on the 25th of May, 
1 87 1. He did quite an extensive business, 
and many of the substantial structures of 
the city stand as monuments to his skill and 
enterprise. He was quite successful, start- 
ing out in life empty-handed and steadily 
working his way upward to a position 
among the substantial citizens of Piqua. He 
was left an orphan when a lad of ten years, 
and thus early thrown upon his own re- 
sources he deserved great credit for what he 
accomplished. In his political views he 
was a Republican, and in religious faith was 
a Methodist, his wife also belonging to the 
same church. In the family of this worthy 
couple were nine children. 

Gustavus Stevens Hunt was about 
twelve years of age when he accompan:od 
his parents on their removal to Piqua. Here 
he attended school until fourteen years of 
age, when he began working with his father, 
continuing as his assistant until the latter's 
death. Not long afterward he began con- 
tracting and building on his own account, 
and in 1874 he formed a partnership with 
]\Ir. Scudder, which relationship has since 
been maintained under the firm name of 
Hunt & Scudder. They have long enjoyed 
a verv liberal patronage, have erected nearly 
all of the schoolhouses in the town since 
1874. and many of the other important 
buildings, including the Stove Works, the 
Bent Wood Factory, the Oil Mill and oth- 
ers hardly less important. They faithfully 
perform the terms of a contract and enjoy a 
very high reputation for reliability in liusi- 
ness circles. 

]\Ir. Hunt has been twice married. He 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



807 



first wedded Martha Hunter, of Piqua, and 
unto them were horn two children. After 
the death of his first wife he married Alice 
Osborn. and in Piqua they are widely and 
favorably known. 

In his political affiliations Mr. Hunt is 
a stalwart Republican who keeps well in- 
formed on the issues of the day, and does 
all in his power to promote the growth and 
success of his party. During the civil war 
he manifested his loyalty to the government 
by enlisting on the 7th of August, 1862, as 
a member of Company A, One Hundred and 
Tenth Infantry, serving until May, 1865, 
when he was honorably discharged on ac- 
count of wounds. He participated in the 
battles of Winchester, the seven days' bat- 
tle of the Wilderness, Petersburg and Occo- 
quan Creek, \\here he was wounded in Sep- 
tember. 1864. l:)y a gunshot wound in the 
left thigh. He then spent some time in hos- 
pitals in Baltimore and Columbus, when he 
was honorably discharged. His was a cred- 
itable military record — one of which he has 
every reason to be proud. He is now a 
member of Alexander Post, G. A. R.. of Piq- 
ua, and also belongs to the Odd Fellows 
lodge here. He is now serving his fourth 
term as cemetery trustee, and is a citizen 
whose interest in the welfare and progress of 
Piqua is manifest in many substantial ways. 
He holds membership and is deacon in the 
Presbyterian church, and is now serving as 
registrar of the Sunday school. 



PHILIP H. TRACY. 

Philip H. Tracy was born in Hocking 
county, Ohio, near the city of Logan, Octo- 
ber 5, 1840, his parents being James and Su- 
sanna (Canfield) Tracv, who continued their 



residence in Hocking county, until 1855, 
when they removed to Athens county, Ohio. 
There the subject of this review was reared 
and married, the public schools of the neigh- 
borhood affording him his educational priv- 
ileges. He gave earnest thought to ques- 
tions which engaged the attention of the 
country prior to the ci\-il war, and when the 
dissatisfaction of the south resulted in bring- 
ing on hostilities between the two sections of 
the country he resolved to strike a blow in 
defense of the Union. Accordingly, on the 
5th of Angus'., 1 86 1, he enlisted as a private 
in Company B. Seventy-fifth Ohio Infantry, 
for three years, and was mustered in at 
Athens. The first engagement in which he 
participated was at Monterey, Virginia, and 
later he took part in the battles at Bull Pas- 
ture, McCoy's Mills, Franklin, Virginia, 
Winchester and Cross Keys. He was with 
the army in its movements in the Shenandoah 
vallev, his regiment being a part of the Elev- 
enth Army Corps. Later he participated in 
the battle of Cedar Mountain, the encounter 
with the rebels at Rappahannock Bridge, the 
engagements at White Sulphur Springs and 
Waterloo and the second battle of Bull Run. 
On account of disability, however, he re- 
ceived an honorable discharge in the Army 
Square Hospital, in Washington, D. C, De- 
cember 31, 1863. 

Immediately afterward I\Ir. Tracy re- 
turned to his home, remaining there until 
1865, when he removed to Custer, in Wood 
county, Ohio, where he engaged in team- 
ing until 1870. He then became associated 
with the Howe Sewing Machine Company 
as general agent for Putnam, Wood and 
Paulding counties. In 1871 he went to Ot- 
tawa, Ohio, where he continued in the sew- 
ing machine business until 1874, when he 
became the manager of the business of Lewis 



808 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Cook, the great carriage manufacturer of 
Cincinnati, having charge of his interests 
in the states of Mississippi and Alabama. 
He continued in that capacity from 1874 
until 1876, having six men under his sui:)er- 
vision. He then formed a connection with 
Rice, Brown & Comi)any, wheel manufac- 
turers, of Ottawa, as traveling salesman and 
represented that house on the road for six 
years. On the expiration of that period he 
became a traveling salesman for Anderson, 
Frazier & Company, wheel manufacturers, 
with which firm he remained for eighteen 
months, when he came to Tippecanoe City 
and entered the employ of Ford & Company, 
wheel manufacturers. This relation was 
formed in 1883, and through thirteen con- 
secutive years he was a traveling salesman 
for that house, which fact indicates his fitleli- 
ty and capability. He was one of the most 
trusted employees of the firm and one of 
their most expert salesmen. In 1898 Mr. 
Tracy purchased the Nat Buckles livery 
stable at Tippecanoe City and his since 
conducted that business, a liberal patronage 
being accorded him. 

On the 31st of December, 1863, Mr. 
Tracy was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
J. Simmons, a native of Nelsonville, Athens 
county, Ohi(j, and thev nijw have one child, 
Nettie, who is at home with her father. The 
mother died October 8, 1898. 

Mr. Tracy is a valued and ])rominent 
member of the D. M. Rouzer Post. G. A. 
R., served as its adjutant for three years and 
is now its commander. He is a member of 
the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and 
gives his political support to the men and 
measures of the Re])ublican party. Through 
his business interests he has formed a wide 
acquaintance throughout Ohio and other 
states, and wherever he is known he is held 



in the highest regard, owing to his genial 
manner, unfailing courtesy and sterling quali- 
ties. 



FRANK EDGAR SCOBEY. 

Frank Edgar Scobev was born in Miami 
city, Miami county, Ohio, February 27, 
1866. He is the son of William and IMar- 
tha J. ( X'andeveer ) Scobey. His paternal 
grandfather was John Scobey and his ma- 
ternal grandfather was Arthur A. Vande- 
veer. a well-known and respected citizen of 
Miami county, who was born in \\'arren 
county, Ohio, February 7, 1807. and re- 
moved with his father to Miami county in 
181 5, residing for many years on the farm 
in Elizabeth township where his death oc- 
curred. The date of his death was March 
8, 1880. William Scobey. the father of our 
subject, was a farmer in his boyhood and 
early manhood. He enlisted, June 20, 1861, 
at the age of twenty-two, in Company D, 
Eleventh Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and 
served with that regiment for three years; 
was promoted to corporal January 26, 1862; 
was severely wounded in the bloody battle of 
Chickamauga, September 20, 1863; and 
was mustered out with the company, June 
21, 1864. He was a bra\'e soldier and par- 
ticipated in a number of the great battles of 
the war. He came home with impaired 
health and died in Troy, March 11. 1883, 
leaving a wife and one child, the subject of 
this sketch, who was then a youth of seven- 
teen years. There was but little to live 
upon, yet bra\ely the mother and son took 
up the battle of life, and upon the latter, to 
a great extent, fell the duty of supporting 
his widowed mother. 

He had not the opportunity of complet- 
ing his education, but in the school of expe- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



?09 



rience he was an apt scholar. He worked 
at whatever he could find to do, and in early 
manhood there came the opportunity to place 
himself and widowed mother in comfortable 
circumstances. He secured a responsible 
position as the agent, at Troy, for the Stand- 
ard Oil Company, in which business he dis- 
played so much industry and was so success- 
ful that he secured the control of their 
goods in this and adjoining counties as a 
wholesale dealer. The business prospered 
in his hands and he made money, but his 
close application to his work and exposure 
in all kinds of weather undermined his 
health, and his lungs becoming affected he 
was advised by his physicians to seek a 
change of climate. He sold out his busi- 
ness and spent three years in constant travel 
in search of health. During this time he 
visited the far west, crossed the Rocky 
mountains, and spent some time in the min- 
ing districts of the western states. He also 
traveled through the scflithern states and 
spent five consecutive winters in Texas and 
Florida. This, with his indomitable will, 
has apparently driven from his system the 
disease that threatened his life and he is 
apparently in the enjoyment of a strong, 
robust physical manhood. In 1894 he 
formed a partnership with his uncle, J. F. 
Vande\^eer, in the livery business, which 
connection continues to the present time. 
In the spring of 1897 Mr. Scobey an- 
nounced himself as one of the seven candi- 
dates before the people for the ofiice of sher- 
ifl' of Miami county. In the Republican 
primary election he received the largest num- 
ber of votes and consequently his name was 
placed on the ticket. Then followed a cam- 
paign that in many respects was noted in 
the history of Miami county. The compet- 
itor of Mr. Scobey endeavored to defeat him 



on the ground of his youth, claiming that it 
was an act of presumption for him to as- 
pire to the office of sheriff. He was called 
an "upstart" and various other names in the 
vocabulary of jealousy and envy, but after 
a bitter contest he won the election with a 
plurality of six hundred and seventy-eight 
votes. In 1899 he was renominated without 
opposition in his own party, and his record 
as an able and efficient sheriff was such that 
the Dertiocratic party made no nomination 
against him, so that he was re-elected with- 
out opposition. 

On the /th of May, 1889, at Covington, 
Ohio, Mr. Scobey was united in marriage to 
Miss Mayme Barrington. She was a teacher 
in the public schools of that village and a 
lady of talent and education. She is the 
daughter of George Barrington, a prominent 
merchant of Covington. A daughter was 
born to this union October 23, 1896, but the 
babe died August i, 1897. It was a sad be- 
reavement to the young parents, but in a 
biographical sketch it is not for the writer 
to tell the story of the little flower that came 
and passed away, for they gave "in tears 
and pain the flower they most did love." 

Mr. Scobey and his wife are members 
of the Troy Methodist Episcopal church. 
He is also prominent in \-arious social and 
benevolent orders, is a Knight Templar, a 
prominent member of Lodge No. 43, I. O. 
O. F., and a leading' member of the Trojan 
Lodge of the Knights of Pythias. Mrs. 
Scobey is likewise a valued member of the 
church and social circles of Troy, and is a 
prominent representative of the Altrurian 
Club of this city. 

The reader of this sketch will observe 
that the life of Mr. Scobev is an example of 
what a man can accomplish under adverse 
circumstances. He is a self-made man. pos- 



810 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



sessing a strong will, untiring energy and de- 
termination that does not know the word 
fail. He is pleasant and courteous to all, but 
yet preserves his own individuality and is 
firm in his own opinions. He has the ele- 
ments within him of popularity and suc- 
cess. He has behind him an honorable rec- 
ord and success achieved in the years of 
early manhood, while before him is a future 
of possibility. E. s. w. 



DAVID DAVIS. 

In one of the most beautiful homes in 
Miami count}' David Davis resides, the place 
of his residence being only about a mile 
from West Milton. Here he owns one hun- 
dred and forty-eight acres of rich and arable 
land, the greater part of which is under a 
high state of cultivation, yielding to the 
owner a golden tribute in return for the care 
and labor he bestows upon it. He was born 
in the township where he now makes his 
home January 2/. 1831. His father, Ben- 
jamin Davis, was a native of Georgia and 
was of Welsh lineage, for the paternal 
grandfather, Abiather Davis, emigrated 
from Wales to the new world when a young 
man, taking up his abode in Georgia. He 
was married in that state and came to Miami 
county, Ohio, where he entered a section of 
land, upon which the town of W'est ]\Iil- 
ton is now built. After recording his claim 
he went to Elkton, Ohio, where he remained 
for a couple of years and then removed to 
his farm, taking up his abode thereon when 
there was only one house in this section of 
the county. His land was covered with a 
dense growth of timber, but with character- 
istic energy lie began to clear it and soon 
the fields were yielding to him abundant 
harvests. He made that his homestead and 



continued to reside there until his death, 
which occurred when he was about eighty- 
seven years of age. In politics he was a 
\\'hig and was a member of the Friends' 
church. He had four sons : Annas, Sam- 
uel, John and Benjamin, and to each of his 
children he gave one hundred and sixty 
acres of land. His sons are all now de- 
ceased. 

Benjamin Davis, the father of our sub- 
ject, was a native of Georgia and with his 
parents came to Miami county in 1802, 
when ten years of age. Here he spent many 
years and was an eye witness of the pio- 
neer development and growth of the county. 
In 1856 he sold his farm in this county and 
removed to Lee county, Iowa, but in the 
meantime he had engaged in merchandising 
at West Milton for several years and was 
also interested in an oil mill there. After 
his removal to the Buckeye state he pur- 
chased three hundred acres in Lee county, 
and there followed farming until his death, 
which occurred when he was eighty-four 
years of age. He was reared in the fa-ith of 
the Society of Friends, but as he married 
outside of that church his connection there- 
with was severed. Miss Margaret Fetters, 
who became his wife, was born in Pennsyl- 
vania and emigrated to Miami county when 
about twenty years of age. She died in 
1847, leaving several^ children. In the fam- 
ily were, ten, but four of the number died 
in infancy, the others being Sarah, now 
deceased ; David, of this review ; Susan, who 
is living in Lincoln, Nebraska ; Margaret, 
a resident of Piatt county, Illinois ; AX'illiam 
H., of Oregon, who died Alay 18, 1900; 
and George, a farmer and dairyman of Lee 
county, Iowa. In his political views Mr. 
Davis was a ^^'llig until the dissolution of 
the party, when he jijined the ranks of the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Sll 



Republican party. He served as townsliip 
trustee for several years and at all times was 
loyal to his duties of citizenship. 

David Davis, whose name begins this 
record, remained with his parents on the old 
homestead until twenty-one years of age, 
when he was married and took charge of the 
farm, which he managed for three or four 
years. He then purchased eighty acres of 
his father's land, continuing its cultivation 
for ten or tweh'e years, when he traded that 
place for his present home of one hundred 
and forty-eight acres, on which he has lived 
since the spring of 1862. He now has a 
well improved property, on which is a beauti- 
ful residence that stands in the midst of well 
tilled fields. He is practical and systematic 
in his business methods and no delay is found 
in the prosecution of his work. 

On the 4th of March, 1852, Mr. Davis 
w'as married to Miss Anna M. Mote, daugh- 
ter of John and Rhoda Mote. She died in 
1891, leaving five children, namely: John 
O., of Troy, who served as count}' recorder 
for six years ; Lambert, who died at the age 
of twenty-three years: Laura E., wife of 
John William Macy, of Dayton, Ohio: 
Susan Mary, wife of Wilson Stebelton : and 
Joseph W^arren, who is living on his father's 
farm. David Davis was married the second 
time, October 4, 1896, to Miss ^lary A. 
Kelly, the youngest daughter of Seth and 
Mary Ann Kelly. Seth Kelly was a native 
of ALassachusetts and died September 19, 
1852, aged fifty-seven years and eleven 
months. Mary Ann Kelly died August 5, 
1852, aged forty-four years and nine months. 
They left four children, — David, Eli, Sarah 
and Mary A. David died in January, 1890, 
and Eli in August, 1899. Sarah married 
Oliver Jay and lives in St. Mary. Ohio. 
Mrs. Davis was a teacher in the public 



schools of Troy for twelve years and for 
four years in Iowa, thus having devoted the 
best years of her life to educational work. 
In his political views Mr. Davis is a Repub- 
lican and is deeply interested in the issues 
of the day and in the success of his party. 
He has served as school director, but has 
ne\-er cared for office, preferring to devote 
his time and energies to his business in- 
terests. 



RAMSEY L. HYDE. M. D. 

Dr. Hyde, of Piqua. has. through prep- 
aration and practical experience become 
a successful representative of both the medi- 
cal and dental fraternities. He was born in 
Mount Jackson, West Virginia, November 
18, 1858. His father. George S. Hyde, was 
a native of Tomsbrook, West Virginia, 
where he obtained his early education and 
spent his boyhood days. In his youth he 
worked at the carpenter's trade for several 
years, but believing professional duties were 
more to his taste he began reading medicine 
under private instruction and later matric- 
ulated in the Baltimore Medical College, 
in which institution he was graduated in the 
class of 1 86 1. He opened an office and prac- 
ticed in Accident. ^Maryland, for about four 
years, after which he came to Ohio, locating 
in Lockingham, Shelby county, in 1865. He 
was identified with the medical fraternity at 
that place for seven years, and in 1872 he 
came to Piqua. where he successfully en- 
gaged in practice until his death. He was 
regarded for a number of years as one of 
the leading physicians in this part of the 
state, his marked skill and ability gaining 
him prestige as a representative of his chosen 
calling. He died March 22, 1889, at the age 
of fiftv-nine years, leaving to his family the 



812 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



priceless heritage of an untarnished name. 
In poHtics he was a RepubHcan and in re- 
hgious belief was a Methodist, taking an 
acti\-e part in the work of the church. His 
father, John Hyde, traced his ancestry back 
through many generations to Edward Hyde, 
who came to America in 1660 and served 
both as lieutenant-governor and governor 
of North Carolina, in which state he died in 
1 71 2. The grandfather of our subject 
ser\ed as a private in the war of 1812. The 
Doctor's mother was in her maidenhood 
Miss Mary Newland, and she. too, was born 
near Mount Jackson, West Virginia, where 
she was reared. Becoming a resident of 
Piqua, she spent her last days in this city 
her death occurring about five years prior to 
her husband's demise, when she was fifty- 
five years of age. She was also a consistent 
and faithful member of the Methodist church 
and reared her family in that belief. She 
had three children: Ida, who died at the 
age of twelve years; Rose, wife of Joseph D, 
Sawj'er, of Piqua ; and Ramsey L. 

The last named spent the first six years of 
his life in the state of his nativity and then 
came with his parents to Miami county. His 
boyhood days were passed in Lockington. 
Having acquired his literary education in the 
public schools, he afterward pursued a course 
in the Commercial College, of Piqua, and 
then prepared for professional life as a stu- 
dent in the Ohio College of Dental Surgery 
at Cincinnati, in which he was graduated 
in 1880. He then entered upon the practice 
of dentistry, and while thus engaged also 
read medicine with his father. He then en- 
tered the Columbus Medical College, com- 
pleting the course by graduation in the class 
of 1886. In connection with his father he 
practiced medicine until the latter's death 
and also conducted his dental parlors. He 



now devotes his energies to both professions 
and his close and earnest study has gained 
him prestige along both lines. He now en- 
joys a very liberal patronage antl his busi- 
ness is continually increasmg, both in \'ol- 
ume and importance. 

Dr. Hyde was united in marriage, April 
14, 1 88 1, to Miss Addie Genshnger, of 
Piqua, and their union has been lilessed with 
two children: George S., aged eighteen 
years, and Roselyn, aged sixteen years. Dr. 
Hyde exercises his right of franchise in sup- 
port of the men and measures of the Re- 
publican party, but has never sought or de- 
sired office, preferring that his energies shall 
be given to his dual profession. He is a 
member of the Episcopal church. The suc- 
cess of his life is due to no inherited fortune 
or to any happy succession of advantageous 
circumstances, but to his own sturdy will, 
steady application, studious habits, tireless 
industry and sterling integrity. 



DAVID MYERS. 

The fitting reward of a well spent life is 
an honored retirement in which to enjoy the 
fruits of former toil and rest from the labors 
which have brought to him a comfortable 
competence, and this Mr. Myers is now en- 
joying. He was long connected with the 
agricultural interests of Miami county, and 
as the years passed he added continually to 
his capital, which now supplies him with 
all necessities and many luxuries. He was 
born in Juniata county, Pennsylvania, July 
24, 1824, and his youth was spent upon his 
father's farm. His parents were Michael 
and Elizabeth (Neman) Myers, whose fam- 
ily numbered eleven children, nine of whom 
reached years of maturity. When Da\-id 
was eight years of age the family left the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



813 



Keystone state ami traveled westward by 
team and canal boat, arriving at Dayton, 
Ohio, which was then a mere hamlet. At 
that place the father hired an ox team to 
bring the family to Miami county, and on 
reaching their destination a location was 
made in Newberry township, where Michael 
Myers purchased eighty acres of wild land, 
on which stood a log cabin. The greater 
part of the place was covered with a dense 
growth of timber. After a time he sold 
that property and purchased a farm in New- 
ton township, upon which he spent his re- 
maining days, his death occurring in 183' 

It was three years previous to this time 
when David Myers came with his parents to 
Ohio, and he was ele\-en years of age when 
the father was called to the home beyond. 
The family was left in limited circum- 
stances, and thus thrown upon his own re- 
sources Mr. Myers, of this review, began 
working as a farm hand for his board and 
clothing. He remained away from home 
for four vears ami then returned to his 
mother and assisted her in the manage- 
ment of the home farm. For some time 
afterward he was employed during the sum- 
mer months as a farm hand and gave her his 
wages making his home with her until 1847, 
when he came to the farm upon which be 
now resides. 

David Alyers had been married the pre- 
vious year to Alinda Williamson, and they 
were the parents of two children : Alonzo, 
who died in infancy, and Sarah, also de- 
ceased. The mother passed away and on the 
17th of October, 1877, David Myers was 
joined in wedlock to Miss Catherine Wack- 
ier, who was born in New York June 5, 

1845, ^"d came to Miami county with her 
father, Ernest Wackier, and his family in 

1846. Two daughters grace the second mar- 



riage, Agola M. and Delia M., both of 
whom are at home. 

In 1846 Mr. Myers purchased his pres- 
ent farm, becoming the owner of thirty- 
nine acres on section 4, Newton township. 
He took up his abode thereon in 1847, 'i^^'- 
ing erected a log cabin of one room, 18x18 
feet. The timber grew so thickly that he 
had to clear a space on which to build his 
house. Before the sturdy blows of his ax 
tree after tree was felled, and as the land 
has been cleared he has planted his crops 
and in due time has reaped abundant har- 
vests. He has also added to his property and 
is now the owner of one hundred and four 
acres, constituting one of the valuable and 
desirable farms of his neighborhood. In 
the passing years he has continually aug- 
mented his capital and thus he is to-day the 
possessor of the competence which renders 
it unnecessary for him to engage longer in 
active labor. 

JNIr. Myers is truly a self-made man, for 
his advantages in youth were very limited 
anil he had neither capital nor influential 
friends to aid him. He walked two miles 
to school during the winter months and in a 
log building pursued his studies, becoming 
familiar with the elementary English 
branches. Beyond that, however, his knowl- 
edge has been self-acquired through read- 
ing, experience and observation. When he 
took up his abode upon his farm he did not 
have money enough to buy an ax with which 
to begin clearing the land and borrowed one 
for a time. His industry and enterprise, 
however, have enabled him to triumph over 
all difficulties and to use the obstacles in his 
path as stepping stones on which he has risen 
to a place among the substantial farmers of 
his community. He is a member of the 
Christian church and a Republican in poli- 



814 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



tics, and in ever}' relation of life he is true 
to his honest convictions. The world judges 
a man by his character worth, and gauged 
by this standard Mr. Myers well deserves 
mention among the representative citizens 
of his adopted county. For almost three 
score years and ten he has resided witlrn 
its borders, and with pleasure we present 
to our readers this record of an honored 
pioneer. 



HENRY A. HAWVER. 

Henry A. Hawver, one of the reliable 
business men of Tippecanoe City, 'who for 
many years was a leading stock dealer, was 
born in Frederick county, ]Maryland, on the 
27th of August, 1832, and is a son of Jacob 
and Elizabeth (Buhrman) Hawver. In 
their family were eight children, namely : 
George W., a retired farmer and stock 
dealer; John, who died in 1896, at the age 
of seventy-two years; Jacob, who is now liv- 
ing on a farm in Bethel township; Samuel, 
who makes his home near Fort Wayne, In- 
diana; Mary A., widow of Samuel Cornell, 
her home being near Fort Wayne; Henry A., 
of this re\'iew ; Esther A., widow of H. A. 
Rodgers, of Logansport, Indiana; and Heze- 
kiah, who is living in Tippecanoe City. The 
father of this family died in Tippecanoe City 
January 29, 1864, at the age of sixty-four 
years, and the mother, long sur\'iving him, 
passed away November 18, 1891, at the ad- 
vanced age of ninety-one years. 

Born and reared on a farm, ]\Ir. Hawver, 
of this review, assisted in the work of field 
and meadow until twenty-one years of age, 
when he started out in life for himself. Go- 
ing to Brandt, Ohio, he served an apprentice- 
ship of one year at the cooper's trade, after 
which he worked as a farm hand bv the 



month for two years. On the expiration of 
that period he entered into partnership with 
John Brown and began feeding hogs and 
cattle, carrying on business on a very ex- 
tensive scale. For several years they fed 
ten thousand head of hogs annually. In the 
fall of 1863 Mr. Hawver came to Tippe- 
canoe City, where he has since made his 
liome, but continued to feed hogs and 
cattle until 1872. The capable manner in 
which he conducted his business interests, 
his keen discernment and his well-directed 
efforts brought to him a handsome com- 
petence. Since his retirement from that 
business he lias given considerable attention 
to collecting. On the 21st of September, 
1 86 1, Mr. Hawver was united in marriage 
to Miss Catherine Cecil, of Tippecanoe City, 
and their union has been blessed with six 
children : Wilbur C, who was born March 
6, 1862, and is now living in Tippecanoe 
City ; Florence, who died in infancy ; Charles 
E., who was born April 8, 1866, and is now 
a stockman of Salt Lake City, Utah; Emma 
O., who was born January 10, 1869, and died 
on the 28th of December of that year; and 
Harry, who was born July 6, 1872, and died 
on the 23d of September, 1883. 

Mr. Hawver has taken quite a prominent 
part in public affairs, and his fellow towns- 
men, recognizing his worth and ability, ha\e 
frequently called him to public office. He 
served as townshin trustee of Monroe town- 
ship for three years, and in the fall of 1879 
he was elected its assessor, filling the posi- 
tion for twenty years, a fact which indicates 
his fidelity to duty and his capability. His 
political support is ever given the Republi- 
can party, and he most loyally advocates its 
principles. Since its organization he has 
been a member of the board of trustees of 
Maple Hill cemetery, and his labors have 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



815 



been effective in improving the city of the 
dead. Long a member of the Methodist 
Episcopal church, he has served as class- 
leader for fifteen years, and has also been 
trustee and steward. He takes a deep and 
commendable interest in church work, and 
withholds his support from no measure 
which is calculated to prove a public benefit. 
His life has been well spent and his business 
reputation is unassailable. His fellow 
townsmen entertain for him the highest re- 
gard, and he well deserves mention among 
the representati\'e citizens of his adopted 
county. 



PAUL N. S. PENCE. 

For many years Mr. Pence was connected 
with the educational interests of Miami 
county, and was largely instrumental in 
promoting the intellectual activity of this 
section of the state. His labors in the 
school room were certainly very effective and 
his influence far reaching. Having retired 
from professional life, he devoted his at- 
tention to agricultural pursuits for a number 
of years, but has now put aside business cares 
and is enjoying a well earned rest. 

He was born in Lost Creek township, Mi- 
ami county, February 17, 1835, and spent 
his boyhood days on the old farmstead, 
where he early became familiar with the 
duties and labors that fall to the lot of the 
agriculturist. In the common schools he 
pursued his preliminary education, which 
was supplemented by a course in Antioch 
College at Yellow Springs, Ohio. After 
studying there for a year he began teaching 
in Brown township, and for twenty-five 
years was identified with the educational de- 
velopment of this section of the state. Dur- 
ing the greater part of the time he was em- 



ployed in the schools of Lost Creek, Brown 
and Spring Creek townships. He, however, 
spent one year as a teacher in Indiana and 
two years in Illinois. From the faithful 
performance of each day's duties he found 
inspiration and encouragement for the next. 
He had the ability to impart clearly and 
readily to others the knowledge that he had 
acquired, and his career as an educator was 
one of progress. In the spring of 1880 he 
taught his last school and then retired to 
the farm. It was in 1865 that he removed 
to Spring Creek township, where he lived 
until 1893. After putting aside his pro- 
fessional cares he engaged in farming from 
1880 until 1893, vvhen he came to Piqua, 
where he now makes his home. He is yet 
the owner of valuable property, including 
one hijndred and twelve acres of land on 
section 18, Spring Creek township, and one 
hundred and eight acres in Brown township. 
His judicious investment of his capital in 
former years now brings to him a handsome 
income. 

On the 20th of April, 1865, Mr. Pence 
was united in marriage to Miss Margaret 
A. Sayers, of Brown township. They now 
have three sons: Arthur L., who is living on 
a farm in Spring Creek township ; Harry B., 
a resident of Logansport, Indiana; and 
Frank N., who is also living in Logansport. 
There are also three grandchildren, Helen, 
Wilbur and Nellie. In his political views 
Mr. Pence as a Democrat, and has been 
honored by a number of local offices, to 
which he has been called by his fellow towns- 
men who recognized his worth and ability. 
He was township trustee for nine years, 
and his services as township treasurer of 
Spring Creek township covers a period of 
fifteen years, although it has not been con- 
tinuous. He was also a school director for 



816 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



twelve years, and in all these positions dis- 
charged his duties with a promptness and 
fidelity that awakened high commendation. 
He is a member of the Christian church ancl 
his wife belongs to the Presbyterian church, 
and in the community where they live they 
enjoy the hospitality of the best homes. 



NOAH PEARSON, Jr. 

Throughout his entire life Noah Pear- 
son has resided in Aliami county. He was 
born in Newton township, in October, 1845, 
and represents one of the honored pioneer 
families of the Buckeye state. Hardly had 
Ohio been admitted to the Union when his 
grandfather, Thomas Pearson, sought a 
home within its borders and became an active 
factor in its pioneer development. He was 
a native of South Carolina, whence he emi- 
grated by team to Aliami county, taking up 
his land in Alonroe township, where he en- 
tered a claim from the government and de- 
veloped a farm. He was accompanied on his 
westward journey by his family, includnig 
Elisha Pearson, father of our subject, who 
was born in the Newberry district. South Car- 
olina. Here, amid the wild scenes of frontier 
life, sharing with the family in all the hard- 
ships and privations which come to the early 
settlers, Elisha Pearson was reared to man- 
hood, and as a companion and helpmate on 
life's journey he chose Miss Annie \'an 
Horn. Soon after their marriage he en- 
tered a claim from the government, becom- 
ing the owner of an eighty-acre tract, upon 
which Stephen Day now resides. There he 
erected a log cabin and in the midst of the 
forest began improving his farm. .\ few 
years later, however, he sold that property 
and secured another tract of government 
land, now on the Hog Path nike. He resid- 



ed there until 18^5. when he disposed of that 
property and located elsewhere in Newton 
township. He died in 1877, and his wife, 
surviving him until 1890. passed away at the 
ripe old age of seventy-five years. They 
v.-ere both members of the Society of 
Friends, and their Christian belief was ex- 
emplified in their lives. They had six chil- 
dren, namely : James, deceased ; Jerry, a 
farmer of Newton township; Olive, who has 
also passed away ; Noah ; Enos, deceased ; 
and Alary. 

Noah Pearson was born and reared tm a 
farm and was still with his parents when, 
on the 2d of Alay, 1864, he responded to 
the president's call for aid, enlisting in Com- 
pany G, One Hundred and Forty-seventh 
Ohio \'olunteer Infantry. This regiment 
was mustered in at Camp Dennison and went 
to the defense of Washington,^ where he re- 
mained until honorably discharged, on the 
30th of August, 1864, at the close of his three 
months' service. The following spring he 
engaged in farming on his own account, rent- 
ing the land upon which he yet resides. 
After some time he had accumulated con- 
siderable capital, and in 1889 he purchased 
this place. He had no special advantages in 
his youth, and whate\-er he has achieved has 
come as the reward of his own labors. His 
education was acquired in a log school house, 
furnished with slab seats and situated two 
miles from his home. To-day he owns 
eighty acres of rich and arable land on sec- 
tion 29, Newton township, constituting one 
of the highlv developed farms i;)f the com- 
munity. 

In 1885 Air. Pearson was united in mar- 
riage to Aliss Rebecca Fockler. and their 
pleasant home is celebrated for its genial 
hospitality. He is a member of the Daniel 
W. Williams Post, No. 369, G. A. R., in 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



817 



whicli he has served as officer of the guards. 
In pohtics he is a RepubHcan and keeps well 
informed on the issues of the day. As a citi- 
zen he is always as loyal to what he believes 
will best advance the interests of his county, 
state and nation as when he "donned the 
blue" in defense of the old flag. His life 
has been quietly passed, and has been hon- 
orable and ujjright, well worthy of emula- 
tion in many respects. 



SAMUEL M. OAKES. 

A resident of Pleasant Hill, Air. Oakes 
is now living retired and his rest from active 
labor is well merited, since for many years 
he was recognized as one of the leading 
farmers of the county and his life was one 
of marked industry in connection with agri- 
cultural pursuits. Mr. Oakes was one of 
Ohio's native sons, his birth occurring in 
Union township, Montgomery county, 
March 19, 1833. His father, Samuel Oakes, 
was a native of Pennsylvania, and with the 
grandfather of our subject, Daniel Oakes, 
came to Ohio in 181 2, taking up his abode 
near the present site of the city of Dayton. 
The grandfather died in Montgomery coun- 
ty, at the age of eighty-five years, respected 
by all who knew him, for his career was 
honorable and upright. Samuel Oakes was 
a latl of six summers when he accompanied 
his parents to Montgomery county and upon 
the old homestead farm he was reared. He 
learned the blacksmith's trade with his fa- 
ther, and in 1835 he removed to Miami coun- 
ty, locating in Nashville, where he conducted 
a shop for some time. Later he took up his 
abode in Kessler and subsequently was a resi- 
dent of Concord township, in which he made 
his home until 1855. He then came to 

Newton township, settling on a small farm, 
48 



and in connection with its cultivation he car- 
ried on blacksmithing until 1885 or 1886. 
He next removed to North Star, Darke 
county, and there died in 1892. His wife 
bore the maiden name of Isabella Hammel, 
and by their marriage twelve children were 
born, of whom four sons are now living, 
namely: Samuel; Ira, a resident of Piqua; 
Davis and Joseph. 

Samuel M. Oakes started out in life 
on his own account on attaining his majority 
and followed the occupation to which he 
was reared, cultivating his father's farm in 
Concord township. As a companion and 
helpmeet on life's journey he chose Miss Ma- 
Ijnda J. Smith, their marriage occurring in 
December, 1855, and in 1857 removed to 
another farm in Concord township, Mr. 
Oakes purchasing one hundred and sixty 
acres of land, upon which he lived for three 
years. On the expiration of that period he 
purchased eighty acres in Concord township 
with his father and made his home thereon 
for six years, in the meantime extending its 
boundaries by the additional purchase of 
forty acres. He then purchased one hun- 
dred and sixty acres of land in Montgomery 
county, near Salem, but after two and a half 
years spent upon that place he returned to 
Miami county and purchased a farm of one 
hundred and forty-six acres on section 16, 
Newton township. There he lived until 
1882, when he removed to Pleasant Hill, 
where he has since made his home. 

Mr. Oakes was called upon to mourn the 
loss of his wife in 1899, her death occurring 
on the 3d of January. Six children had 
been born of their marriage, but only two 
are now living — Frank L. and Ella S. Those 
who have passed away were Charley, Har- 
vey, Kiffer and Hiram, and the last three 
died on the same day. On the 3d of May, 



US 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



1900, Mr. Oakes was again married, his 
second union being with Mrs. Rebecca Will- 
iams, the widow of Henry Williams. In 
politics he is a Republican and in religion 
is a member of the Brethren church. He has 
long resided in this county and has witnessed 
most of its growth and progress. He ac- 
quired his education in a log school house 
furnished with slab seats. Now an excellent 
school system prevails throughout the coun- 
ty and like progress has been made along 
many lines which promote the general good. 
He has served as township trustee for three 
years and proved a capable and trustworthy 
officer. His business interests have occupied 
the greater part of his time and attention, 
and his careful management and wise di- 
rection, supplemented by unflagging indus- 
try, have gained him a comfortable com- 
petence which now enables him to live re- 
tired. 



J. GUY O'DONNELL. 

Mr. O'Donnell is one of the younger 
representati\es of the bar of Miami county., 
but has already gained a position of distinc- 
tion that many an older member of the legal 
profession might well envy. He was born 
April 28, 1875, in Morrow county, Ohio, and 
is a son of James O'Donnell, whose birth oc- 
curred in the city of Cork, county Mayo, 
Ireland. When a boy he removed with his 
parents to the United States, locating at 
Washington Court House, in Fayette county, 
Ohio, where he learned the trade of the 
marble-cutter. Subsecjuently he went to 
Mount Gilead, where he met and married 
Miss Mary Williams. They returned to 
Washington Court House and there he fol- 
lowed his trade until his death, which oc- 
curred in 1S78, when he was comparatively 



a young man. His widow still survives him. 
She was born at \\'est Point, Morrow coun- 
ty, and by her marriage became the mother 
of three children: Carrie, wife of Conrad 
Buck, of Dayton, Ohio; George, of Coving- 
ton ; and Guy, of this review. 

Mr. O'Donnell, whose name introduces 
this review, obtained his education in the 
public schools, and after removing to Mi- 
ami county he spent one year in the schools 
of Troy and one year in Covington high 
school, being graduated in the latter on the 
19th of May, 189.^. In the fall of that year 
he took up the study of law in the office and 
under the direction of Judge Johnson, of 
Piqua, and remained with him until admitted 
to the bar on the 13th of October, 1896. Im- 
mediately afterward he began the jiractice 
of his profession in Covington, where he has 
won marked success for one so voung. He 
has a wide knowledge of legal ijrinciples and 
always tries to present his arguments in the 
strong, clear light of common sense and 
logical principles. On the nth of ^May, 
1899, he was admitted to practice in the 
United States district and circuit courts. 
He has won a liberal clientage and his abili- 
ties are such as to insure his further suc- 
cess. In religious belief he is a Presbyterian 
and in politics, a stanch Democrat. He 
served for one term as city solicitor of Cov- 
ington. Well known there, he is a popular 
young nian, holding a creditable position in 
the leading social circles. 



JOHN ASHWORTH. 

John Ashworth, who devotes his time 
and energies to agricultural pursuits, making 
his home in ]\Ionroe township, was born in 
Tippecanoe City on the 24th of December, 
1840. He obtained his education in the com- 



GBNEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



819 



nion schools and his boyhood days were 
spent in the usual manner of lads of that 
period, the sports of youth and his studies 
largely occupying his time. 

He became greatly interested in the 
events which led up to the civil war, and 
after the south had attempted to overthrow 
the Union he resolved to strike a blow in its 
defense. Accordingly, on the i8th of Sep- 
tember, 1 86 1, he joined the boys in blue of 
Company E, Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry, 
and was mustered in at Springfield, whence 
the regiiuent was sent to Camp Piatt, in 
West Virginia, remaining there until the 
first of November. Five companies of the 
Forty-fourth then joined General Rosecrans' 
forces near Cotton Hil! and were engaged in 
a numlier of skirmishes with the enemy, 
which resulted in driving Floyd from the 
hill and forcing him to retreat for about 
twenty-five miles. The five companies then 
returned to Camp Piatt, where they remained 
until May, 1862, when the regiment went on 
an expedition to Jackson River Station and 
succeeded in capturing that town. Later 
they proceeded to Lewisburg, Virginia, and 
Mr. Ashworth, with his command, partici- 
pated in the battle at that point. On the 
23d of May, 1862, he was also in the en- 
gagements at Charleston, West Virginia, 
Red Bird creek, siege of Knoxville and the 
battle of Rutledge. On the 5th of January, 
1864. Mr. Ashworth re-enlisted at Straw- 
berry Plains, Tennessee, where the regiment 
was reorganized as the Eighth Ohio Ca\'a1ry 
and was sent back to Charleston, West Vir- 
ginia. Mr. Ashworth was promoted as com- 
missary- sergeant. They took part in the ex- 
pedition to Lynchburg, including all the 
battles in which their regiment participated. 

Mr. Ashworth was mustered out at 
Clarksburg. West Virginia, on the 30th of 



July, 1865, for the war had ended and his 
services were no longer needed by the gov- 
ernment. 

Returning to Tippecanoe City, Mr. Ash- 
worth engaged in the nursery business in 
1866, in company with his brother, William. 
When he started for the war he had only 
eight dollars, which he obtained by selling a 
double-barreled shotgun to John Kerr, and 
while in the army he saved over seven hun- 
dred and fifty dollars. In company with his 
brother he continued in the nursery business 
until 1898, meeting with excellent success in 
the undertaking. They constantly enlarged 
their facilities to meet the growing demand 
of their trade and secured a very liberal pat- 
ronage. In 1 87 1 he purchased twenty acres 
of land within the corporation limits of Tip- 
pecanoe City; in 1885 bought one hundred 
and sixty acres on section 22, Monroe town- 
ship, for which he paid twelve thousand 
dollars; in 1881 he became the owner of a 
forty-acre tract on section 26, Monroe town- 
ship; in 1889 he purchased eighty acres on 
section 22, Monroe township; in 1893 be- 
came the owner of one hundred and seventy- 
five acres on section 34. Monroe township, 
and in 1896 purchased fifty-four acres, also 
on section 34. Thus has he become the 
owner of over five hundred acres and is to- 
day one of the extensive land holders and 
prosperous farmers of Miami county. He 
rents the greater part of his land, but to a 
small tract gives his personal attention and 
supervision. 

Mr. Ashworth has served for two years 
as a member of the board of agriculture and 
is a member of D. M. Rouzer Post, of Tip- 
pecanoe City; Tippecanoe City Lodge, No. 
174, F. & A. M. ; Franklin Chapter, No. 
114, R. A. M., and Coleman Commandery, 
No. 17, K. T., of Troy. His political sup- 



820 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



port is given the Republican party, but he 
has never sought or desired office, preferring 
to devote his time and attention to his busi- 
ness interests, in wliich he has met witli 
creditaljle and satisfactory success. He is 
to-day accounted one of the prosperous 
farmers of Miami county, a position to which 
he has attained as a result of his industry, 
careful management and honorable dealing". 



^VILLIAM WILLIAMS. 

William Williams is one of the most 
venerable citizens of Miami county and is 
a native son of Ohio, his birth having oc- 
curred in this C(iunty ninety years ago. His 
grandfather, Michael Williams, was one of 
the earliest settlers of Ohio. He was born 
in Wales about 1734, and during his boy- 
hood came to America with his parents and 
an uncle. A short time after reaching the 
new world jNIichael and his father settled in 
North Carolina, where some time afterward 
the father was accidentally drowned. His 
widow later became Mrs. Price. 

jNIichael Williams was reared to man- 
hood in North Carolina and there married 
Barbara Summa. He served throughout the 
Revolutionary war under General W'ashing- 
ton, loyally aiding in the struggle for inde- 
pendence. Removing his family to Green- 
brier county, Virginia, now West -Virginia, 
he engaged in farming there until 1798. 
In the spring of that jxar he sent his eldest 
son, George, and his son-in-law, John Mann, 
to the Northwest Territory to locate a claim, 
make a clearing and plant a crop of corn, 
so that the family would have something 
to live on when they came. After reaching 
Ohio the son and son-in-law located a claim 
on Mad river, near what is now the city of 
Dayton. At that time, however, it contained 



two huts, and some French traders were the 
representatives of its business interests. 
After carrying out the instructions of the 
father the young men returned to Virginia, 
and the family, with others, started for the 
Buckeye state, in the fall of 1798. The col- 
ony was made up of people who represented 
different religious denominations, but all met 
in general worship. They would make an 
early start each day and do their cooking and 
pasture their stock on the way. At twilight 
they would camp for the night at some good 
watering place and at Gallipolis they crossed 
the Ohio river into the state which was to 
Ijc their future home. One day, however, 
all the men went to hunt wild game in order 
to replenish their larder. One of them shot 
a huge liuffalo bull, but was unable to find 
him as he ran for a long distance after 
being wounded. The next day they again 
started out to hunt for bear and by good 
luck found the dead buffalo. 

After spending one year near Dayton 
the Williams family removed to Honey 
Creek, this county. The father went to Cin- 
cinnati on a visit and there met General Har- 
rison, who told him of the lieautiful prairie 
on the Stillwater; so, in 1800, he removed 
to Newton township, Miami county, where 
he made a squatter's claim, for the land had 
not yet been surveyed. He secured a half- 
section of land on which there was a small 
prairie ; that was afterward known as Will- 
iams prairie and bordered on the Stillwater 
river. His son-in-law, Peter Price, settled 
on a strip of land adjoining the Williams 
claim, but Mr. Price had a ([uarrel with an 
Indian and in the encounter killed him. which 
incurred the ill will of the tribe, and he was 
tlierefore forced to abandon his farm. 
Michael Williams located all of his sons upon 
the half-section. He was a cooper by trade 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



821 



and followed that pursuit in couuection with 
farming. He died about 1819 and was 
buried in Pleasant Hill cemetery. Both he 
and his wife were of the Episcopal faith 
and they reared nine children : Mary, who 
became the wife of Peter Price and removed 
to Vincennes, Indiana ; Catherine, who be- 
came the wife of Jacob Williams and resided 
near Greenville, in Darke county, Ohio; 
Barbara, wife of John Mann, who finally lo- 
cated with his family in Shelby county; 
Elizabeth, who became the wife of William 
Mann ; Frances, who married Nathaniel Hill 
and died at Pleasant Hill ; George, who 
wedded Mary Long and settled on part of the 
land which his father entered; Michael, who 
became the father of our subject ; Henry, 
who married Elizabeth Page and located on 
William prairie, and John,who wedded Mary 
Yunt and died on the old homestead farm. 
Michael Williams, Jr., was born in North 
Carolina in June, 1780, and accompanied his 
parents to Ohio. He was self-educated and 
was a self-made man. owing his advance- 
ment and success in life entirely to his own 
efforts. In 1807 he was married, in Miami 
county, to Elizabeth, a daughter of William 
Long, a pioneer of Newton township. Dur- 
ing the. war of 1812 Mr. Williams was 
a member of the home guards, a company 
which was stationed at a block house built 
about three-fourths of a mile west of what 
is now Pleasant Hill, during which time 
he was appointed adjutant. He was em- 
ployed by a couple of French traders who 
made their headquarters at Staunton, in buy- 
ing furs from the Indians, and when a suf- 
ficent number had been purchased he would 
make trips with pack horses to Waupakanati. 
Fort Wayne, Detroit and other posts to dis- 
pose of them. He taught school in Newton 
township in the winter of 181 5- 16 and for 



years continued to teach subscription schools 
in that township. 

About 1820 he removed to Newberry 
township, having purchased a farm on sec- 
tion 34, where he resided until his death, 
in 1850. He experienced all the hardships 
and trials of pioneer life and performed the 
arduous labor of developinp^ a new farm, 
but lived to witness great changes and im- 
provements in the county. He was re- 
garded as one of the leading and influential 
citizens of his community and for thirteen 
years efficiently and capably served as a 
county commissioner, filling that office at 
the time the old court house was built. His 
wife was born December 11, 1787, and died 
May 21, 1871. Their children were: Char- 
lotte, who is living with her brother, Will- 
iam, at the age of ninety-two years ; our 
subject; Elizabeth, who was born March 9, 
1813, became the wife of George Shumaker 
and died in Newberry township October 16, 
1844; Barbara, who was born July i, 181 5, 
and became the wife of Lewis Kerns, of 
Darke county; Rachel, who was born Au- 
gust 8, 181 7, became the wife of George 
Coats and died in Darke county July 9 1855 ; 
Mary, who was born in November, 18 19, 
and died January 26, 1850; Stephen W., 
who was born September 6, 1822, and died 
in Newberry township April 14, 1871 ; 
Henry H.; who was born December 15, 1824, 
was twice married and died September 8, 
1889: and Nathan H., who was born May 
6, 1827, and died October 25, 1832. 

William Williams, whose name intro- 
duces this re\iew, was born July 9, 1810, 
on what is now the Samuel Harshbarger 
farm in Newton township. During his 
youth he attended a subscription school that 
was held in an unoccupied cabin, but his 
educational privileges extended only over a 



822 



GEXEALOGICAL A.\'D BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



few months at that time. Later in life, how- 
ever, reahzing the importance and value of 
learning, he continued his studies, although 
thirty years of age. He started out in busi- 
ness life on his own account al^out 1832, 
improving and cultivating a tract of land 
given him by his father. It comprised fifty 
acres on section 30, Newberry township, and 
was in its primitive condition, but he made 
a clearing in the woods and soon built a 
house of rough logs. To this farm he added 
twenty acres, and after clearing more land 
and getting his farm in good condition he 
decided that he was able to support and care 
for a wife. He was married, in December, 
1844, to Elizabeth, the daughter of Thomas 
Gilbert, for whom he had long felt a warm 
affection. She died in 1855, after a happy 
married life of eleven years. Their children 
were as follows : Rachel Jane, who was born 
Septem1:)er 24. 1845. niarried Calvin Green, 
by whom she had two children — Lova and 
Cora — and is now deceased ; Nancy A., born 
December 11, 1846, became the wife of Sam- 
uel B. Reiber, of this county; Margaret, 
born May 11, 1848, married William Heck- 
man and died in Newberry township : Mary, 
born April 17, 1850, became the wife of 
Josiah Harrison and died in Newberry town- 
ship: William C, born February 9, 185:' 
married Minerva Grubb; Elizabeth, born 
May 2, 1854, died at the age of twelve 
years. After the death of his first wife Mr. 
W'illiams wedded Nancj' Ann \'annorman. 
an eastern lady, who died in 1858. Their 
only child, Sarah Ellen, died in infancy. 
On the 7th of January. 1869. Mr. Williams 
was a third time married, the lady of his 
choice being Sarah \\'aymire, widow of 
Isaac Williams. She died March 11, 1887. 
Mr. Williams was formerly a ^^'hig in 
his political affiliations and on the organiza- 



tion of the Republican party joined its. ranks 
and has since been one of its stanch sup- 
porters. He served in several minor of- 
fices, but has never aspired to political pre- 
ferment. Throughout his active business 
life he followed farming, but since 1868 he 
has taken no part in the work of the fields, 
simply giving his supervision to the farm- 
ing of his land. He is a member of the 
Christian church at Greenville Creek and 
for many years held oftice therein. For 
many decades he has been identified with the 
interests of Newberry township and Miami 
county, and has watched almost its entire 
growth and development, witnessing the 
wonderful transformation which has placed 
it upon a par with the older counties of the 
state, and now, at the age of ninety years, 
he is a hale, hearty man. active as a man of 
sixty-five years and takes a great interest in 
preserving the early history of Miami coun- 
ty. He is a prominent speaker at pioneer 
meetings and bids fair to reach the age of 
one hundred 3'ears. He is well respected in 
his neighborhood and township, and on ac- 
count of his honest, upright life and his 
recollections of the early settlers of this 
county he is a welcome guest at all family 
reunions. 



WILSON ja:\ies peters. 

The history of an active and successful 
business man is always one of interest to 
the reader, young or old. It is often tlie 
record of a life of self-denial in the be- 
ginning and is ever the record of a life full 
of energy, pluck and industry. 

Wilson James Peters was born in Adams 
county, Pennsylvania, near Gettysburg, Au- 
gust 5, 1849, the son of George and Han- 
r.ah (Smith) Peters. George Peters was 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



823 



born ill Adams county, Pennsylvania, April 
1 8, 1827, and was the son of John and 
Susan (Group) Peters. The family were 
among the first settlers of Adams county, 
Pennsylvania, their forefathers coming to 
America from Germany. George Peters 
and wife had eight children, two sons and 
six daughters. He, with his faniil}', removed 
to Ohio in 1869 and settled in New Carlisle, 
Clark county, and there engaged in the nur- 
sery business until March, 1877, when he 
removed to Troy, Miami county, and exten- 
sively engaged in the nursery business in 
partnership with his son until his death, 
April 4, 1883. He was a good citizen, a de- 
voted Christian and a careful business man. 
W. J. Peters, the subject of this sketch, 
came to Troy in 1876, he and his father 
having purchased a farm near Troy in 1875. 
He entered into a partnership with his fa- 
ther under the firm name of George Peters 
& Son. At that time they had a farm of one 
hundred and twenty acres and cultivated the 
whole farm in nursery stock. The business 
prospered and was gradually extended until 
the death of his father in 1883, when the firm 
name was changed to George Peters & Com- 
pany, the "company" being the family of 
George Peters. The firm was continued un- 
der the management of W. J. Peters for eight 
years in pursuance of the recjuest made in the 
will of George Peters. The business increased 
in value and profit until the expiration of the 
eight years, when W. J. Peters and his 
brother, Norris Bernard Peters, purchased 
the business and the land, which had in- 
creased from one hundred and twenty acres 
to two hundred and fifty acres, all of which 
was devoted to the nursery business. The 
new firm continued business under the firm 
name of George Peters & Company, W. J. 
Peters owning two-thirds and Xorris B. one- 



third, the business management remaining 
under the control of W. J. Peters. During 
the term of George Peters & Company, eight 
years after the death of George Peters, the 
business more than doubled in capital and 
in land, and since the present partnership 
was formed, 1891, the business has more 
than doubled until now they have six hun- 
dred and fifty acres and are the largest nur- 
sery stock growers in Ohio. 

Besides the business of growing all kinds 
of nursery stock W. J. Peters is largely in- 
terested in the Troy Wagon Works Com- 
pany, of which he is the president. The 
Troy Wagon Works Company are perhaps 
the largest builders of road wagons in the 
state of Ohio. Mr. Peters is also a large 
stockholder and director in the Tr(iy Na- 
tional Bank ; also he and his brother are 
heavy stockholders in the electric light plant 
of Middletown, Ohio. 

W. J. Peters was married, December 25, 
1872, to Miss Jennie Foresman, of Yellow 
Springs, Ohio. They were blessed with 
two children: Irdine Kirk, born March 12, 
1874, a sweet little girl, who passed away 
at the age of four years, and Charles Nor- 
ris, who was born June 4, 1876, and was 
educated in the Troy schools. He was mar- 
ried to Miss Phenia Davis October 18, 1899, 
and is now living with his parents. W. J. 
Peters and his wife are devoted and active 
members of the Troy Methodist Episcopal 
church. He is a steward in the church and 
the chairman of the building committee, 
which is now engaged in erecting a large and 
handsome church in the city of Troy. From 
early manhood he has been connected with 
the Masonic order and has had conferred 
upon him all the degrees, including the thir- 
ty-second in the Cincinnati Consistory. 

From the above record it will be ob- 



824 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



served that Mr. Peters has been what the 
world calls a successful man. His education 
was only such as could be obtained at a 
country school in Adams county. Pennsyl- 
\'ania. His services were early needed as a 
hand in his father's nursery, and for many 
years he was engaged in manual labor, but 
as the business increased he developed those 
qualities that make an able and efficient man- 
ager. For eighteen years he has been the 
financial manager of the firm. He is now in 
the prime of life and has many years be- 
fore him of usefulness, but he is now finan- 
cially situated so that he feels that he can af- 
ford to let younger men do the drudgery 
of the office, but he will still remain the 
acti\e manager of the many interests con- 
nected with the firm. 

In politics he is an active, energetic Re- 
publican, and does his share of hard work 
for the sucess of the party, but he has been 
too busy to seek office. He is known as a 
public-spirited citizen, whose purse is ever 
open to advance the interests of his adopted 
city, of his church and for the needy, worthv 
poor. His domestic life is pleasant, his wife 
being one of those women whose whole life 
is devoted to her home, church and personal 
friends. 

His life is an evidence of what energy 
and untiring industry can accomplish, for 
he built a happy home, surrounded by many 
friends, and established a character as a use- 
ful man in his day and generation. 

E. s. w. 



WILLIAM S. HAYS. • 

William S. Hays was born in Lost Creek 
township, Miami county, Ohio, on the nth 
day of December, 1869. His parents. Dr. 
M. W. Hays and Sarah (Stafford) Hays, 



were married in this county February 14, 
1869, but his father. Dr. Hays, was a native 
of Brown county, Ohio, to which point his 
grandfather Hays emigrated at an early day 
from Virginia. Dr. Hays, after his mar- 
riage, remo\'ed from Lost Creek township 
to Troy, and in 1878 was elected mayor of 
Troy and in 1879 was elected a member 
of the legislature, where he served credit- 
ably. He was a gallant soldier in the Union 
army during the war of 1861-65. 

The mother of William S. Hays was the 
daughter of Joseph H. and Jane (Black) 
Stafford. His maternal grandmother was 
the daughter of Colonel Samuel Black, of 
Virginia, who was a captam in the Revolu- 
tionary war in the First Regiment of \^ir- 
ginia militia, and in the war of 181 2, in 
which he was promoted until he was the 
colonel of the First Regiment in General 
Tupper's brigade of Virginia militia. 

Our subject is proud of the soldiery rec- 
ord of his ancestors. W^ S. Hays was edu- 
cated in the Troy schools and also graduated 
at Boston in the Massachusetts School of 
Technology, in the department of civil en- 
gineering, in 1890. He was employed as an 
electrical engineer 1)v the Thomson-Hous- 
ton Electric Company, and the General Elec- 
tric Company, of Lynn, Massachusetts, until 
1896. He did work for these companies in 
forty of the states and several of the terri- 
tories of the republic, also worked for them 
in Canada, during which time he was em- 
ployed as assistant engineer under W. P. 
Gray, the chief engineer for the water plant 
of Austin. Texas, which cost one million, 
five hundred thousand dollars. He was em- 
ployed in this work for two years. In 1897 
he formed a partnership in Troy, Ohio, 
known as the Hays Construction Compau}-, 
and is now engaged in engineering work, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



825 



also in the design of electric lighting and 
railway systems, also bridge building and 
other architectural work. He is general 
manager for the company. 

Mr. Hays is an enthusiastic Mason, a 
Knight Templar and a thirty-second-degree 
Mason ; is an earnest, devoted Republican, 
because he loves the principles of that great 
party, but is not a politician, though a zeal- 
ous worker in the party. He has never mar- 
ried and has one sister living in Troy. Mr. 
Hays is a picture of good health and vig- 
orous manhood, and has before him the pros- 
pect of a long and useful life. 

E. s. \v. 



^\TLLIAM ELLEMAN. 

\Villiam Elleman, who is successfully en- 
gaged in agricultural pursuits in Concord 
township, was born in Union township, Mi- 
ami county, January 13, 1862. His father, 
David Elleman, was born on section 6, of 
the same township, in 1833, within three- 
quarters of a mile of the farm u])<in which 
he now makes his home. He was a son of 
Enos Elleman, who was born in Washington 
county, Tennessee, March 31, 1 802. On the 
9th of December, 1824, he married Mar- 
garet \\'ard. On the paternal side the fam- 
ily is of English, Welsh and German lineage. 

The ancestry can be traced back to Enos 
Elleman, who was a native of Wales and 
married Catherine Collins, who was of Ger- 
man lineage. Their son, John Elleman, was 
the great-grandfather of our subject and was 
born in Washington county, Tennessee, 
about 1766. He married Susanna Coppock, 
a daughter of John and Abigail (Skillern) 
Coppock, both of whom were of English 
descent. Their wedding was celebrated in 
South Carolina, and about 1805 they came 



to Ohio with their family, which included 
the following named : Enos, Susanna. Eliza- 
beth, Drusilla, Hannah, Tacy, Aaron, Will- 
iam and Norman. A settlement was made 
in Warren county and the following year 
the family came to Miami county. In 181 5, 
however, John Elleman, the great-grandfa- 
ther of our subject, removed to Wayne, 
Darke comity_, Ohio, where his death oc- 
curred April 16, 18 1 8, when he had attained 
the age of eighty-two years. His wife's peo- 
ple, the Coppocks, were originally from 
Pennsylvania, the founder of the family in 
America having been members of the Penn 
colony. 

At the time of his father's death Enos 
Elleman, the grandfather of our subject, 
v/as but sixteen years of age. He worked 
for some time upon the home farm in Darke 
county, Ohio, and thence came to Union 
township, Miami county, where he bound 
himself out to his brother-in-law, Isaiah 
Pemberton, for whom he worked for four 
years. In 1823 he returned to Darke county 
and purchased eighty acres of land in Wayne 
township, but disposed of that in 183 1 and 
again came to Union township, locating 
upon the farm where he died. He married 
Margaret Ward, as before stated. She was 
a daughter of David and Elizabeth (Taylor) 
Ward. Her father was born in New Jersey^ 
in 1785, and was a son of George and Mar- 
garet (SwacsacJ Ward, the former of Eng- 
lish lineage and the latter of German descent. 
George Ward was a member of Washing- 
ton's corps in the army of the Revolution, 
and was one of the daring and intrepid sol- 
diers, who, under Wayne, captured Stony 
Point. He served throughout the entire 
seven-years struggle and well deserves men- 
tion among the valiant heroes who secured 
independence to the nation. After his mar- 



826 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



riage to Margaret Swacsac he located on the 
frontier of Virginia. The Indians one day 
entered their cabin, knocked him senseless 
with a club, murdered his daughter and a 
Mr. Cananne, and carried the latter's wife 
into captivity, from which she cHd not es- 
cape for seven years. Mrs. Ward bravely 
made her escape with two children. Such 
were the trials and sufferings endured by the 
pioneer settlers of the time, and it was the 
courage and fortitude which they manifest- 
ed in making homes in new districts that has 
led to the present prosperity and advanced 
civilization of this day. David Ward, their 
son, married Elizabeth Taylor, a daughter 
of Henry Taylor, who was of English line- 
age, and they became the parents of Mar- 
garet Ward, who married Enos Elleman, the 
grandfather of our subject. She is still liv- 
ing, at the very adwinced age of ninety-two 
years, her mental faculties remaining unim- 
paired, so that it is a pleasure to converse 
with her, as she can relate many interesting 
incidents of pioneer life. David W. Elle- 
man has spent his entire life in Miami coun- 
ty. He was reared upon the home farm, 
and having arrived at years of maturity he 
wedded Esther Coate, a daughter of Elijah 
and Rebecca Coate, both of whom were na- 
tives of Miami county. The former was a 
minister of the Methodist church. His peo- 
ple came from South Carolina to this coun- 
ty in 1805. Mr. Elleman has always carried 
on agricultural pursuits and is now one of 
the extensive land owners of the community, 
having to-day a very valuable farm in Union 
township. As a citizen he is public-spirited 
and progressive, and has frequently been 
elected as township trustee. 

William Elleman, whose name introduces 
this review, pursued his education in the 
schools near his home, and when a voung 



man took up his abode on his grandfather's 
farm, which he bought in April, 1900. and 
managed that property for five years. In 
1894 he purchased forty acres of land in 
Concord township and now has a valual^le 
farm, his land being under a high state of 
culti\-ation, while the place is improved with 
excellent buildings, unsurpassed by any in 
the neighborhood. Fences and outbuildings 
are kept in good repair, and all the access- 
ories and conveniences of a model farm are 
here found, while the air of neatness and 
thrift which pervades the place indicates the 
enterprise and careful management of the 
owner. 

Mr. Elleman was united in marriage, 
January 25, 1885, to Mrs. Martha AI. Pear- 
son. Her parents, Joshua and Susanna E. 
(Kessler) Pearson, were married in 1858. 
Her mother was a daughter of Henry and 
Serena Kessler, the former born in Miami 
county in 181 1, the latter in Virginia, in 
181 5. John Kessler, the father of Henry 
Kessler, entered one thousand acres of land 
from the government in Miami count}', and 
here made his home until his death. He 
was extremely liberal and especially active in 
church work. Besides providing all of his 
children with good homes he ga\-e forty 
thousand dollars to the Methodist church in 
Troy, and fifteen thousand dollars to Dela- 
ware College. He was one of the first jus- 
tices of the peace of Union township, and 
was a progressive citizen, who withheld his 
support from no movement which he belived 
would prove a public benefit. He died 
in 1866, honored and reverenced by all 
who knew him. Joshua Pearson, the 
father of ^Irs. Elleman, was born No- 
vember 7, 1834, and was a son of Moses 
and Sarah Pearson. His father was born 
at Bush River, South Carolina, December 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



827 



27, 1798, and in 1823 was marrie.l, his wife 
having been born in Miami county, Sep- 
tember 5, 1805. In 1837 Moses Pearson 
was sent by the Friends as a missionary to 
the Indians in Missouri, and remained 
among the red people there for three years. 
He was accompanied by his wife and five 
children, of wdiom Joshua was the youngest. 
The others were : Maliala. now Mrs. Jay, 
was graduated in Antioch College with the 
degree of A. M. and afterward liecame the 
principal of Earlham College, of Richmond, 
Indiana ; Mrs. Anna Kelly and Abraham. 
Joshua Pearson was for one year a student 
in 01)erlin College. His brother, Abraham, 
was in the civil war and assisted in the cap- 
ture of ^Morgan. Locating in Washington 
county, Iowa, he afterward served as its rep- 
resentative to the state legislature. Mrs. 
Kelly and her husband now reside in Parke 
county, Indiana, and Mr. Kelly has been a 
member of the general assenilily of that state. 
A deceased brother, Nathan, was a brave 
soldier of the Forty-frmrth Ohio Infantry 
and was promoted to the rank of captain, 
but died of small-pox in the service. 

Mr. and Mrs. Elleman may certainly be 
proud of their ancestry, among whom are 
numbered such honorable families as the 
Pearsons, Ellemans, Kesslers, Coates. Cop- 
pocks and Wards — names well known to all 
who are familiar with the history of the com- 
munity. Mr. and Mrs. Elleman now have 
an interesting little daughter, Lenna Gay- 
nelle, born September 7, 1887, who is now in 
school. Mr. and Mrs. Elleman are widely 
and favorably known in this locality and en- 
joy the warm regard of all who know them. 
They are members of the Society of Friends, 
which has been the religious faith of the 
family through many generations. Mr. 
Elleman belongs to the order of Knights of 



Pythias and gives his political support to 
the Republican party. As a business man 
he is enterprising and progressive, as a citi- 
zen is loyal and true, and in all life's relations 
is honored and respected by those with \\-hom 
he has been associated. 



SAMUEL McCURDY. 

Samuel. McCurdy, who is accounted one 
of the practical and progressive farmers of 
Concord township, was born in Coleraine, 
county Londonderry, Ireland, and about 
1850, when eleven months old, was brought 
by his parents to America. He was the 
youngest child of Samuel and Eliz.a (Barr) 
McCurdy, the latter a daughter of Robert 
Barr. In the family were ten children, three 
of whom died in infancy, in Ireland, while 
four are still living, viz.: Eliza, deceased, 
who married William Fleming, of Monroe 
township, Aliami county, Isabella, deceased, 
who married John Sype, of Concord ; Robert, 
who resides in Concord township, and is the 
father of Edward Barr McCurdy; Margaret, 
who is the widow of John Minton, formerly 
of Concord township, but now a resident of 
Darke county, Ohio; Jane, who became the 
wife of R. M. Pearson, of Newton, Miami 
county; and Nancy, who is living on the old 
homestead in Concord township. All rec- 
ords of the family previous to its establish- 
ment in America were accidentally lost after 
the arrival to New York. Mrs. McCurdy 
entrusted her trunk, containing the family 
records and Bible, to an expressman and 
never saw the trunk or man again. 

The parents of our subject made a loca- 
tion at Allentown, Pennsylvania, and when 
their son, Samuel, was about seven years of 
age came to Ohio, taking up their abode 
near Troy, Concord township, about a mile 



828 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



north of the present home of our subject. 
In common with their Scotch-Irish ancestors, 
the characteristics of the members of tlie 
INlcCurdy family were industry, perseverance ! 
and honesty. These quahties enaljled them 
to prosper and year by year tlieir wealth was 
augmented and their many estimable char- 
acteristics won for them the high regard 
of all those with whom they came in contact, 
so that the McCurdy family became promi- 
nent in the community. In religious faith 
they were Presbyterians, and the father died 
at the advanced age of eighty-eight years, 
the mother when seventy-four years of age. 
Both lived to see their large family of chil- 
dren prosper in the new land of their adop- 
tion and take their places as active and use- 
ful members of society. 

Samuel McCurdy, whose name intro- 
duces this review, pursued his preliminary 
education in the district school of Concord 
township and afterward continued his 
studies through several terms at Troy. He 
also bore his part in the clearing and culti- 
vation of his father's farm, and, choosing 
for his life work the occupation for which 
he had been reared, he purchased forty acres 
of land, when a young man, and began farm- 
ing on his own account. As his financial 
resources increased he added to his property 
until he is to-day the owner of four hun- 
dred and thirty-six acres of rich prairie land, 
the greater part of which is under a high 
state of cultivation. The farm is improved 
with excellent buildings and all modern ac- 
cessories and conveniences. JMr. McCurdy 
being numbered among the enterprising and 
practical, as well- as prosperous, farmers of 
his portion of the county. 

In 1877 occurred his marriage to Miss 
Susan Corry, a daughter of Robert and Re- 
becca (Eaton) Corry, who came to Miami 



county at an early day from Pennsylvania. 
In their family were seven sons and four 
daughters : David, deceased ; George, a resi- 
dent of Newton township ; John, who re- 
sides in Concord township; Jennie Carroll; 
Eugene, Oregon; Mrs. John Coon, of New- 
ton township ; Mrs. Samuel ]\IcCurdy ; Mrs. 
R. J. McCurdy; Stephen, of Union, Ore- 
gon; William, who lives in Orange, New 
Jersey; and Robert and Joseph, who went 
west and notliing is known of them. Unto 
our subject and his wife have been born ten 
children, namely: Charles F., who died at 
the age of twenty-two years; Samuel H., of 
Concord township, who married Miss Sarah 
Stewart; Robert J. and Joseph H., enter- 
prising young farmers, who are assisting 
their father in the cultivation of the old 
homestead; and Mary E., Jennie R., Rosa 
B., Willie, Bessie and Walter, at home. 

Mr.'McCurdyis an active Democrat in his 
l)olitical affiliations, keeps well informed on 
the issues of the day, and for a number of 
years has been an active member of the coun- 
ty Democratic central committee. The 
cause of education finds in him a warm 
friend, and for a number of terms he has 
been a director of the public schools, doing 
all in his power to promote their welfare 
and work. Whatever tends to secure ad- 
vancement along social, material and intel- 
lectual lines receives his endorsement and he 
is accounted one of the \-alued representatives 
of the communitv. 



WILLIAM H. BIERWIRTH. 

William H. Bierwirth, deceased, was 
born in Germany, January 29, 1826, and 
when fourteen years of age entered upon his 
business career, so that whatever success he 
achieved in life was due to his own well-di- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



829 



rected efforts. He began work at the tailor's 
trade and followed that pursuit in the Fa- 
therland until 1850, when he came tij Amer- 
ica, making his way to Dayton, Ohio. There 
he worked at his trade for a year and on the 
expiration of that period came to Tippe- 
canoe City^, where he followed carpentering. 
He was also connected with a still-house and 
atterward became a partner in the Trupp- 
Weekly [Manufacturmg Company. He was 
thus identified with the interests of. the town 
until 1879, when he came to the farm upon 
which his widow now resides, purchasing 
eighty acres of land, which he 'placed under 
a high state of cultivation. The well-tilled 
fields yielded to him a golden tribute in re- 
turn fur the care and labor lie Ijestowed upon 
them. He was very successful, yet practical, 
in his methijds of farming, and his labors 
were attended with success. 

On the 5th of November, 1855, Mr. 
Bierwirth was united in marriage to Miss 
Johanna Barth, also a native of Germany, 
born in 1830. In 1850 she became a resi- 
dent of this countrv, locating in Buffalo. 
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bierwirth was born one 
cliild, Lewis, who is now deceased. 

During the civil war Mr. Bierwirth put 
aside all personal consideratiiins in order to 
respond to his country's call for troops and 
aided in the preservation of the Union. He 
enlisted as a private in Company D, Ninety- 
fourth Volunteer Infantr}', and the first bat- 
tle in which he participated was at Perry- 
ville. He was taken ill at that place and sent 
to the hospital in Columbus, where, on ac- 
count of disability, he was honorably dis- 
charged. Subsequently he became a mem- 
ber of the D. M. Rouzer Post, G. A. R., and 
was highly esteemed by his comrades of the 
"blue." He held membership in the German 
Lutheran church and died in that faith on 



the 14th of April, 1896. His life was an 
active and useful one, and he certainly had 
no cause to regret his determination to seek 
a home in the new world, for here he found 
many friends and also acquired a comfortable 
competence. His many excellencies of char- 
acter commended him to the respect and good 
will of those who knew him, and in his death 
the community lost a valued citizen. ?\lrs. 
Bierwirth still survives her husband and lives 
on the farm which he left her. She, too, 
is a member of the Lutheran church and is 
an estimable lady, having a large circle of 
warm friends in Monroe township and in 
Tippecanoe City. 



\\TLLL-\M H. LEAF. 

William H. Leaf was born in Cincinnati. 
Ohio, July 5, 1858, and in 1865, v/hen seven 
years of age, was brought to Trov by his 
parents, Aquilla and Sophia (Vance) Leaf. 
The father was born in Baltimore, Mary- 
land, in 1812, and enlisted in the Union 
army, but was taken from the field and de- 
tailed for service in the car-shops. His 
wife was a sister of Professor A. H. Vance, 
a teacher of music in the Troy public schools. 
Mr. Leaf, of this review, pursued his edu- 
cation in the schools of Troy and afterward 
learned the trade of marble-cutting, with 
Mr. Sparks. He has made this occupation 
his life work and is now foreman of the 
Briggs Marble Works of Troy. He is es- 
pecially skillful in his line of his chosen vo- 
cation and his superior workmanship and 
executive ability well qualify him for the im- 
portant office he now holds. 

In 1880 Mr. Leaf was united in marriage 
to Miss JMary Gorrell, a daughter of William 
and Luticia Gorrell, of Troy. They now 
have one daughter, Bessie, who is a student 



830 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



in the high school of Troy and who aids 
her mother in dispensing the generous hos- 
pitahty for whicli the Leaf home is noted. 
Mv. Leaf and his wife and daughter are 
members of the Presbyterian church and en- 
joy the warm regard of a large circle of 
friends in the C(immunity. He has taken 
an active interest in all the affairs pertaining 
to the welfare of the town, and since 1880 
has been a member of the fire department. 
For twelve years he has served as its secre- 
tary, was assistant chief for six years, and 
in September, 1899, ^^'^^ honored by an ap- 
pointment to the position of chief. He is de- 
serving of this mark of confidence, having 
by his well-directed efforts largely promoted 
the efficiency of the department. Socially 
he is an Odd Fellow, and politically, a Re- 
publican. As a result of his close applica- 
tion to business he has acquired a comfort- 
able competence and become the possessor of 
s. nice home in Troy, and is highly esteemed 
for his genial manner and reliable c|ualities 
which render him a valued citizen of the 
communitv. 



JOSEPH SMITH. 

Now a farmer and dairyman of Staunton 
township, Joseph Smith was born in Lost 
Creek township December 12, 1852. His 
father. Lewis Smith, was born in Lafayette. 
Indiana, and became the founder of the fam- 
ily in Miami county. He was a miller by 
trade, but after his removal to Ohio followed 
farming until after the inauguration of hos- 
tilities between the north and the south, 
•when he enlisted as a private in the Eighth 
Ohio Cavalry, serving for about three years. 
He was with Sheridan, participated in the 
Shenandoah valley campaign and was al- 



ways found at his post of duty, faithfully 
defending the old flag and the cause it rep- 
resented. On receiving an honorable dis- 
charge he returned to his home in Lost Creek 
township, where he lived until 1868, when 
he removed to southern Wisconsin, and in 
1 87 1 to Blair, Washington county. Nebras- 
ka, where he followed milling for many 
years. In Lost Creek township he had mar- 
ried Fanny Downey, and to them were born 
four children : Emma, the wife of David 
Knoop ; Warren, now deceased ; Joseph ; and 
Delia, the wife of John Dial. 

Mr. Smith, of this review, was born and 
reared on a farm in Lost Creek township, 
and when only twelve years of age started 
out in life for himself, working as a farm 
hand for his board and clothes. That was 
all the compensation he received for his serv- 
ices for three years, after which time he was 
paid a small salarj-. He worked as a farm 
hand until twenty years of age, when he be- 
gan clerking in a store in Charleston, West 
\'irginia. After two years he returned to 
Lost Creek township, where he was again 
a farmer for three years, and then, in Au- 
gust, 1894, purchased the farm upon which 
he now resides, becoming the owner of fifty 
acres of land on section 12. Staunton town- 
ship, situated on the Crbana pike, a mile 
and a half from Troy. Here he is engaged 
in agriculture and in the dairy business, rais- 
ing also small fruits for the city market. 
Extreme neatness characterizes the dairy; 
and its products, being of a high grade, find 
a ready sale on the market. The \-arious 
branches of his business are proving to him 
a profitable source of income, and he is now 
accounted one of the substantial as well as 
progressi\e farmers of his community. 

On the 14th of March. 1877. Mr. Smith 
was united in marriage to Miss Etta Null. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



831 



He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal 
church, a Repubhcan in pohtics, and is now 
efficiently serving as township treasurer. 



JOHN NICHOLSON. 

John Nicholson, a well-known farmer 
of Miami county, is of Scotch-Irish descent. 
The family was founded in America in co- 
lonial days, the paternal grandfather spend- 
ing his entire life in Virginia. Samuel 
Nicholson, the father of our subject, was 
born in Virginia in 1793, and during his 
boyhood went to Kentucky with his mother 
and stepfather, Mr. Owens. They located 
within twenty miles of Lexington and there 
Samuel Nicholson was reared on a 
farm. He became a volunteer soldier in the 
\var of 1 81 2, serving under Governor Shel- 
by, of Kentucky, and also under General 
Harrison, with whom he participated in the 
Ohio campaign, taking part in the battle of 
the Thames, where the famous Tecumseh 
was killed. Mr. Nicholson was a member 
of a cavalry troop of fifteen hundred. 
When the war was over he returned to Ken- 
tucky, but in 181 5 came to Piqua, Miami 
county, having been much pleased with the 
state as he viewed it during his military ex- 
perience. 

In 1820 he was married and located on a 
farm on Trotter's creek in Newberry town- 
ship, now owned by Dr. Goodknight. There 
he remained for two years, after which he 
entered the southeast quarter of section 32. 
It was a tract of wild land and the entire 
region round about was an unbroken forest, 
infested with wolves and other wild beasts. 
Lie made a clearing, built a cabin of hewed 
logs and over these placed weather-boarding. 
He also plastered his little house and con- 
structed the entire building without nails, 



save a few which were used in the door and 
which were made by Joseph De Freese. a 
blacksmith. Mr. Nicholson cleared seven 
acres in the first eleven years in which he 
lived upon that place and raised corn. He 
was a carpenter by trade and followed that 
pursuit to a considerable extent, thus largely 
augmenting his income. He also made sash 
and doors and constructed coffins for the 
poor, but took no pay for the latter. For 
one family he made seven coffins and re- 
ceived only twenty-three cents for the entire 
number. In 1820 he married Miss Frances 
Brandon, a daughter of Benjamin Brandon, 
who resided near Piqua and who was a 
soldier of the Revolutionary war. He joined 
the army of independence when very young 
and served under eight different captains. 
His last days were spent on his farm near 
Piqua, where he died in 1837. His wife, 
who bore the maiden name of Mary Knox, 
was born in North Carolina and was mar- 
ried there to Mr. Brandon, and they came to 
Ohio, in 1807, by wagon, locating a mile 
south of the present site of Sidney. Six 
years later they removed to a farm near 
Piqua, Mr. Brandon entering the land from 
the government and making it his home un- 
til his death, in 1837. His wife died at the 
home of her daughter, Mrs. Jane Adams, 
near Green\'ille, Ohio, in 1854, when about 
ninety years of age. Their children were 
Benjamin, who died in Iowa; Elizabeth, 
who became the wife of John McClary and 
died in Newberry township, in 1836; Jesse, 
who died in Brown county, Indiana; Gideon, 
who died upon the old homestead ; Mrs. 
Brandon; Jane, who became the wife of 
William Adams and died in California; 
Levi, who departed this life in Iowa; John, 
who passed away in childhood; and three 
others who died in infancy. 



832 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



In 1832 ]\Irs. Nicholson, the motlier of 
our suhject, died, leaving five small chil- 
dren to the care of her husband. He did not 
marry again, Init carefully reared his little 
ones and saw them comfortably situated in 
life. His remaining days he spent upon the 
old home farm and died in 1864. at the age 
of seventy-three years. In politics he was 
always a strong Democrat and served as 
tov>-nship trustee and in other township of- 
fices. In early life he became a member of 
the Christian church and his career was al- 
ways in harmony with his religious belief. 
Called to his final rest, his remains were in- 
terred in Union cemetery on Trotter's creek. 

John Nicholson, the subject of this re- 
view, was born on the old Samuel Trotter 
farm December 11. 1820. He attended the 
public schools when his father could spare 
him, but much of his youth was gi\-en to the 
work of field and meadow. His education 
was completed in the school which stood 
on the present site of the village of Polo. 
He was then twenty-one years of age. He 
had assisted in the arduous task of clearing 
wild land, transforming it into richly cul- 
tivated fields, and the first money he earned 
was as a farm hand. In 1851 he was mar- 
ried and then began farming on his own ac- 
count, cultivating a tract of rented land in 
Shelby county for a year. On the expiration 
of that period he remo\'ed to the Knox farm 
on Trotter's creek, where he remained for 
five years, after which he spent a year and a 
half on the home farm with his father. He 
then removed to the MclMaken farm in New- 
lierry tt)wnship, for nine years. In 1865 he 
came to his present home, here having sixty 
acres of land, constituting a comfortable 
homestead. His property he highly im- 
proved with substantial buildings and all 
modern accessories. His life has been a 



busy, useful and active one, and although 
he has now reached the age of four score 
years he gives his personal attention to the 
cultivation of the farm. 

In April. 1851. Mr. Nicholson was mar- 
ried, by the Rev. Allcox. to Miss Henrietta 
A. Buchanan, who was born December 12, 
1829, on the old Buchanan homestead in 
Newberry township. Her father, Harvey 
Buchanan, was born in Warren county, 
Ohio, in 1804, and during his early boy- 
liood accompanied his parents on their re- 
moval to West Milton, Miami county. He 
was a son of Colonel George Buchanan. The 
father of Mrs. Nicholson was reared to man- 
hood in West Milton, Miami county. He 
was a very precocious boy, of a studious na- 
ture, and when Sunday came he would take 
his books up to the garret and spend his time 
in study, while other boys were playing. 
He married Johanna Hall and in 1826 lo- 
cated in Newberry township on Trotter's 
creek, his home farm being now in the pos- 
session of John Branson. His wife died 
in 1879, after which he went to live with his 
daughter, Mrs. Nicholson, dying at their 
home September 27. 1891. He was a faith- 
ful member of the Church of Christ and 
served his township in many ofifices. dis- 
charging his duties most creditably. His 
children were \\'illiam Warren, a resident 
of Piqua. Ohio: George Preston, who died 
at Covington August 20, 1861 ; Mrs. Nichol- 
son : James Harvey, who died in 1849, at 
the age of sixteen years; Mary, wife of 
William De Voe, of Dallas, Texas ; and 
Nancy Jane, wife of A. J. King, who is jiving 
near Pic|ua. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Nicliol- 
son was blessed with two children. The 
daughter, Emma Isadore, was born July 21, 
1852. and is now the wife of William A. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



833 



11 art, by whom slie lias two children, — 
Clarence Eugene and Eva Florence. Will- 
iam Preston married Carrie M. Shipley and 
they have two daughters : Maud Blanch, 
who is now the wife of John Alguire, of 
Shelby county, and Glenna Marie, at home. 
In his political views Mr. Nicholson has 
always been a stanch Democrat, unswerving 
in his advocacy of the principles of the party ; 
in fact that political organization has never 
had a more faithful follower or one who 
believes more firmly in the Jeffersonian doc- 
trines. He has held several township of- 
fices, discharging his duties in a prompt and 
faithful manner. Mr. Nicholson has never 
let the petty trials of this world worry or 
annoy him, believing that the energies of 
liody and mind should be husbanded in order 
to meet the great events and not be dissi- 
pated on trifles. One can easily see that this 
policy is a wise one, for the condition of his 
health at the age of eighty years enables him 
to possess the ruddy glow of a man yet in 
the prime of life. His reputation for in- 
tegrity and honorable dealing is proverbial, 
and he has led a devoted Christian life as a 
member of the Disciple church, of which 
he was the treasurer for nine years. He is 
charitable and kindly in manner and at all 
times has commanded the respect of his fel- 
low men by his sterling worth. 



FREDERICK POOCK. 

Frederick Poock was for many years a 
resident of Miami county and was numbered 
among the citizens the fatherland has fur- 
nished to the Buckeye state. He was born 
in Hano\-er, Germany, on the nth of Octo- 
ber. 1833, his parents being Frederick and 
Frederica Poock, who had eight children, — 

six sons and two daughters. The father 
49 



died when his son was eight years of age 
and from that time he has made his own 
way in the world, depending entirely upon 
his own resources for his livelihood. He 
learned the miller's trade in a flouring mill 
and followed that pursuit until 1854, when 
he determined to seek a home in America, 
hoping thereby to benefit his financial con- 
dition, for he had heard that excellent op- 
portunities were furnished young men in 
this republic. 

Accordingly he took passage on a sail- 
ing vessel, which, after a six-weeks trip, 
anchored in the harbor of New York. Mak- 
ing his way to Dayton he began work in a 
brick yard, but after a short time secured 
employment with a cooper and was thus en- 
gaged for three years. On tlie expiration of 
that period he went to Ludlow Falls, where 
he worked at the carpenter's trade for a year 
and a half, after which he came to Tippe- 
canoe City and was employed in the still- 
house of George Smith for eleven years. 
Subsequently he spent three years as an em- 
ploye of Samuel Sullivan in a flouring mill, 
and then with the capital which he had ac- 
quired through his own well directed efforts, 
his industry and economy, he purchased a 
saw-mill near Frederick and for eight years 
engaged in its operation. He then remo\'ed 
the mill to Tippecanoe City, transforming 
it into a warehouse, and a year later he ex- 
changed that for the farm upon which he 
resided until his death. There was a little 
log cabin upon the lantl, but (Otherwise no 
improA-ements had been made, anil there- 
fore the substantial buildtngs which are seen 
to-day stand as monuments to his thrift and 
enterprise. He owned one hundred acres 
of rich and arable land, which he placed 
under a high state of cultivation, being en- 
gaged in general farming. In 1879 he 



834 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



erected a large barn, 64x40 feet, and had 
all other necessary buildings, which add to 
the value and attractive appearance of the 
farm. 

In 1858 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Poock to Miss Laura Engerman. They 
now have three children, — Frederica, Will- 
iam and Henry. In his political views Mr. 
Poock was a Democrat and he served as a 
school director. He belonged to the German 
l-utheran church and ga\'e his aid and co- 
operation to various interests calculated to 
promote advancement along material, in- 
tellectual and moral lines. He contracted an 
indelnedness of fifty-five dollars in order to 
secure his passage to America, and thus he be- 
gan life in the new world worse than empty- 
handed. That he was numbered among 
the substantial farmers of his community in- 
dicates that his life had been an active one, 
and that resolute purpose, capable manage- 
ment and industry had been salient features 
in his career. He died April i, 1900, after 
an illness of only ten days, leaving his fam- 
ily and a large circle of friends to mourn 
his loss. 



; LLOYD HARSHBARGER. 

Devoting his energies to agricultural 
pursuits in Union township, Lloyd Harsh- 
barger is accounted one of the representa- 
tive farmers of his community. He was 
born in Miami county, Ohio, April 11. 1848, 
and belongs to an old Virginia family. His 
grandfather, Henry Harshbarger, was a na- 
tive of Virginia and came to Ohio at an 
early day. Taking up his abode in Miami 
cf)unty he carried on farming in the midst 
of the forest and here lived to a ripe old 
age. He held membership in the Dunkard 
church. George Harshbarger, the father 



of our subject, was born in Montgomery 
county. Ohio, near Dayton, but was reared 
to manhood in Miami county, whither he 
came with his parents during his early boy- 
hood. He purchased, improved and after- 
ward sold many farms. He spent the 
greater part of his life in Miami county, 
where he died at the age of sixty-four years. 
In his business afifairs he was quite success- 
ful, accumulating a comfortable competence. 
In politics he was a stanch Republican, un- 
swerving in his allegiance to the principles 
of the party, yet he never sought office or 
desired it for himself. He united with the 
Dunkard church in early life and afterward 
became one of its active workers. He mar- 
ried Mary Penney, who was born in Ohio 
and died in Mercer county, this state, at the 
age of seventy years, having survived her 
husband about six years. She was a mem- 
ber of the Christian church. In the familv 
of this worthy couple were five children, 
one of whom died in early life. The others 
are Mary J., wife of Henry Fess, of Piqua; 
Samuel, a farmer of Newton township; 
Lloyd, of this review; and George, who is 
also living in Newton township. 

During his early life Mr. Harshbarger, 
whose name begins this sketch, was brought 
by his parents to the home farm where he 
was reared, early receiving that practical 
training which well fitted him for life's du- 
ties in later life. He remained at home un- 
til twenty years of age, after which he was 
employed as a farm hand for about a year. 
At the expiration of that time he was mar- 
ried, and he and his wife began their married 
life on a farm of twenty acres in Union 
township. They lived there for a short time 
and then removed to a larger farm near 
Laura. He continued to buy and sell and 
improve farms until about five years ago, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



835 



when he removed to the farm on which he is 
now living, and which contains fifty-nine 
acres which is cleared, developed and under 
a high state of cultivation, the richly im- 
proved fields bringing to him a golden trib- 
ute in return for the care and labor bestowed 
upon them. 

As a companion and helpmate on life's 
journey, Mr. Harshbarger chose Miss Electa 
Shearer, of this township, and they have 
eight children, one of whom died in early 
life. The others are: Charles, a resident 
farmer of Union township; Anna May, wife 
of Henry Sleppy, who taught in the public 
schools of the same township for seven years ; 
\\'illiam and Lorin, who carry on farm- 
ing in Union township; Howard, who 
is a teacher; and Roy and Russell, at home. 
The parents hold membership in the Friends' 
church, and are people of the highest re- 
spectability, enjoying the confidence and re- 
gard of all with whom they have associated. 
In his political affiliations Mr. Harshbarger 
is a Republican, keeps well informed on the 
issues of the day and is very loyal to his 
party, doing all in his power to secure its 
success. 



ELI PEARSON. 

A representative of one of the old pio- 
neer families of Miami county, Mr. Pear- 
son has resided upon the farm in Monroe 
township, which is still his home, since 1840 
— a period of sixty years. His birth oc- 
curred in this township, November 26, 1831, 
his parents being Hiram and Elizabeth 
(Jenkins) Pearson. The father was born 
at Bush Creek, South Carolina, in 1800, and 
was a son of Samuel and Mary (Coate) 
Pearson, also natives of the same locality. 
In their family were ten children, namely: 



Enoch, who died in Monroe township ; Ben- 
jamin, who also followed farming in the 
same township and is now deceased ; Henry, 
whose death occurred in Indiana ; Hiram, a 
resident farmer of Monroe township; John, 
who died in Indiana; Samuel Y., whose 
death occurred in Hendricks county, that 
state; Simpson, who spent his last days in 
Iowa ; David, who died on the old home 
farm; Eli, whose death occurred on the old 
homestead ; and Rachel, who became the wife 
of Isaac Pearson and has also passed away. 
All of the children reached mature years and 
were married. Enoch, Benjamin, Henry 
and Hiram were born in South Carolina, 
while the others were natives of Ohio. Sam- 
uel Pearson, the grandfather of our sub- 
ject, was a blacksmith by trade, and in 1799 
he built the wagon that carried the family to 
Ohio, about 1804. It was also used in 
transporting army supplies during the war 
of 1812, being driven by Benjamin Pear- 
son during the time of hostilities between 
America and England. 

Samuel Pearson, the grandfather, on 
coming to Ohio, located on a farm on sec- 
tion 20, Monroe township^ where Mrs. Eli 
Pearson, Sr., now resides. He there entered 
one hundred and sixty acres of land from 
the government and erected a small log 
cabin. The land was covered with a heavy 
growth of oak, hickory and maple trees. 

Hiram Pearson, the father of our sub- 
ject, spent his early youth in Miami county. 
When the family arrived in Ohio there was 
only a trading post at Cincinnati and the 
state was on the western frontier, its settle- 
ments being few and far between. The for- 
ests stood in their primeval strength, the 
rivers had to be forded and the work of 
progress and development seemed scarcely 
begun. Hiram Pearson was a member of 



836 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD: 



tlie Society of Friends. A very active 
worker iii church, he aided in Iniilding tlie 
old Concord meeting house. He was num- 
bered among the leading citizens of his town- 
ship, having aided in organizing schools, in 
laying out roads and promoting many of the 
substantial improvements of the community. 
He married Elizabeth Jenkins, who was born 
in 1799, a daughter of Jesse and Hannah 
(Russell) Jenkins. The certificate of mar- 
riage is now in possession of the subject of 
this review. The wedding ceremony oc- 
curred in the old Concord church and was 
one of the early marriages of the locality. 
In the year 1797 the fannly had come to 
Ohio from South Carolina, being among the 
pioneer settlers of Monroe township. Unto 
Mr. and iNIrs. Pearson were born seven chil- 
dren, namely : Mary, who was born Novem- 
ber 17, 1825, became the wife of L. F. Jester, 
and died in 1859; Jesse, born November 
7, 1827, died in January, 1895, in White 
county, Indiana ; Rosanna, born October 29, 
1829, became the wife of L. F. Coats, and 
died in 1893; Eli is the next of the family; 
Isaac, born October 30, 1833, died in in- 
fancy; Lidia, born February 17, 1836, died 
in early life; Elizabeth, Ixirn January 15, 
1839, became the wife of .\zariah Stewart, 
of Union township. 

After his marriage the father of this 
family took up his abode in Union town- 
ship^ where he resided for a few years, when 
he removed to the farm upon which the birth 
of Eli occurred. There he lived until the 
spring of 1840, when he came to the farm 
upon which Eli now resides. There he car- 
ried on agricultural pursuits until his death 
and in his business operations was very suc- 
cessful, his unflagging diligence and capable 
management bringing to him a creditable 
degree of prosperity. He was also a faith- 



ful member of the Society of Friends and 
very devoted to the church. He passed 
awav in August, i88s, and his wife died in 

1853- 

Eli Pearson, of this re\'iew, was a lad of 
nine summers when his father removed to 
the home farm in Monroe township. There he 
was reared to manhood, early becoming fa- 
miliar with the arduous task of developing 
new fields. He obtained his education in a 
log school house, which was situated in the 
midst of the woods and was furnished with 
slab benches, while the long board on each 
side of the school-rcjom served as a writing 
desk. He remained with his father uniil 
twenty-two years of age and then he took 
charge of the home farm, upon which he has 
resided since 1840. As a comjjanion and 
helpmate on life's journey he chose Miss 
Nancy Pearson, their wedding Ijeing cele- 
brated on the 8th of April, 1852. The lady 
is a daughter of Noah Pearson, who former- 
ly resided in Monroe township. Seven chil- 
dren have been born of their union : Mary 
E., born February 7, 1853, became the wife 
of James Counts, and died June 23, 1895; 
Alva Y., born April 16, 1857, died June 25, 
1882; George \V., born August 12, 1859, 
died in November, 1897; Luetta M., born 
July 2, 1865, died November 29, 1882; Jen- 
nie L., b(irn August 29, 1871, is the wife of 
Clyde Macy, and resides in Montgomery 
county, Ohio. Two of the children dieil in 
infancy. 

Mr. Pearson is now the owner of eighty- 
three acres of land on section 19, Monroe 
township, the place being pleasantl\- located 
on the Tippecanoe and Milton road, three 
and a half miles west of Tippecanoe City. He 
has made all of the improvements upon the 
place and is successfully carrying on gen- 
eral farming, in adilitinn to which he has 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



837 



worked at the caroenter's trade to a greater 
or less extent for twenty years. His life 
has indeed been a nseful one and has not 
been denied that prosperit}' which shonld 
ever attend honorable and consecntive effort. 
His fellow townsmen, recognizing his worth 
and ability, have frequently called him to 
public office. He served as township clerk 
from 1856 to 1861 and was trustee for three 
years in the '60s. He is now president of the 
school board of his towns'hip and the cause ot 
education finds in him a very faithful friend. 
In politics he is a stanch Repuljlican. He 
holds membership in the Christian church 
and is also a member of the Masonic lodge 
of West Milton, of which he was the first 
master. For a third of a century he has 
been connected with the fraternity, and his 
life has exemplified its beneficent teachings 
and its spirit of mutual helpfulness and 
sympathy. Both he and his wife enjoy the 
high regard of many friends and aj-e widely 
and favorably known in Miami countv. 



JOHN CORNWALL GEYER. 

One of the prominent young men of 
Piqua and Miami county was born in Piqua, 
June 12, i860, and is the son of Frederick 
and Martha (Manson) Geyer. His father 
was born in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 
1814, and his parents were Henry and Eliza- 
beth (Bonner) Geyer. They came to Ohio 
in 1824. Henry Geyer, grandfather of John 
C. Geyer, died in Germantown, Ohio. In 
1838 Frederick Geyer, the father of our sub- 
ject, came to Piqua, where he was engaged 
in the hardware business for many years, 
and married Miss Martha Manson. He died 
in 1875, '^'-'t his widow is still living. 

Judge Geyer's maternal great-grandfa- 
ther, David Manson. was a native of Belfast, 



Ireland, and a soldier of the American Revo- 
lution, having emigrated to America some 
time before the war for independence. He en- 
listed in the Continental army from the col- 
ony of Pennsylvania. John C. Geyer's ma- 
ternal great-grandmother was Jean (Johns- 
ton) Manson. She was a cousin of Colonel 
John Johnston, the noted Indian agent of 
Ohio. 

' In 1807 David Manson, the Revolution- 
ary soldier, emigrated to Brown township, 
Miami county, Ohio, and died there in 1836. 
His son, David Manson, Jr., was born in 
Pennsylvania, and was a soldier in the war 
of 1812. He was married to Sarah Corn- 
wall, of Virginia, and they lived and died in 
Miami coitnty. Their son. General Mahlon 
D. Manson, the uncle of our subject, re- 
moved to Indiana and enlisted in the Union 
army, and for gallant services as a soldier 
he was promoted to the rank of general. He 
was for several terms a memlier of congress 
from Indiana, and was also elected auditor 
and lieutenant governor of Indiana. In 
1893 he died in Crawfordsville, Indiana. 

John C. Geyer was partially educated in 
the Piqua schools and then entered the Ohio 
Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, 
from which he was graduated in 1882. He 
entered the Cincinnati Law School and \^■as 
there graduated in 1884. He went to Em- 
poria, Kansas, where he was employed on 
the Emporia Daily Republican for six 
months. In 1885 he returned to Piqua and 
engaged in the practice of law, with fair 
success for a young man. and in the mean- 
time, being an ardent, earnest Republican, 
he engaged in politics and was soon ])romi- 
nent in this county as a political worker. 
In 1889 he was elected mayor of Piqua, being 
the only Republican mayor of the city in 
twenty-two years. After serving for twenty 



838 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



months he resigned that position to serve 
as probate judge of Miami county, to which 
position he was elected by a handsome ma- 
jority in Xovember. 1890, and re-elected in 
1893, serving in that responsible position 
for six years, and by his careful, conserva- 
tive course he won the confidence of the 
people and filled the office with credit to him- 
self and to the satisfaction of the public. 
In 1896 he was a prominent candidate for 
congress, for which office he had many sup- 
porters, but in the convention of that year 
Hon. W'alter L. Weaver received the nom- 
ination. He resumed the practice of law and 
while he is still an earnest worker in the 
party, he has nOt been a candidate for any 
ofiice in the gift of the people. 

He is prominent in fraternal societies. 
He is a well-known Mason, and has attained 
the various degrees up to the thirty-second 
degree, at Cincinnati. He is* also a member 
of the Ohio Society of the Sons of the Amer- 
ican Revolution. In Ohio he is known as a 
prominent and influential member of the 
Knights of Pythias, and was grand chancel- 
lor of that order in Ohio for the year enn- 
ing in May, 1900. For seven years he has 
been a director of the Ohio Pythian Home 
at Springfield, and for four years was presi- 
dent of that board. 

In 1888 Mr. Gcver was unitetl in mar- 
riage with Miss Biiniie Page, of Cincinnati. 
She was born in Hamilton county, Ohio, 
and is a distant relative of Daniel Webster 
and Rev. Jonathan Edwards. She is also 
connected with the Fairbanks family, manu- 
facturers of the celebrated Fairbanks scales. 
Their marriage has been blessed with three 
children : Frederick. Martha and John Corn- 
wall. 

This is a brief sketch of a youn.g man 
noted in Miami county for hisgenial. pleasant 



manners and sterling Republican principles. 
He is respected for his efforts to fight for 
himself the battles of life, and not depend 
upon inherited wealth for a living and posi- 
tion. He is not physically strong an 1 ro- 
bust, but he has a determined will and un- 
tiring energy — such a man's history can not 
be written until old age or death has closed 
the chapter. So far Judge Geyer has accom- 
plished much under circumstances somewhat 
adverse, and yet he is just entering mature 
manhood, and there is much for a man of his 
energy and broad philanthropy yet to do. 

E. s. w. 



B. F. TIMMER. 

Mr. Timmer, the subject of this brief 
outline, is prominently identified with the 
industrial interests of Troy as the super- 
intendent of the Troy Bending Company, 
and his thorough understanding of the busi- 
ness makes him fully competent to discharge 
the arduous duties which devolve upon him. 
He is at once practical and progressive, and 
his e.xecuti\'e ability and keen foresight en- 
able him to capablv control the interests 
which are under his charge and which have 
led to the excellent success which attends the 
enterprise. 

Mr. Timmer was born in Tippecanoe 
City. iMiami county. December i, 1862, his 
parents being Gerhart and Wilhelmina 
(Kettlehake) Timmer. The father was 
born in Hanover, Germany, and the mother 
was a native of Hesse-Darmstadt. In early 
life they came to the United States and for 
many years the family have been residents 
and highly respected citizens of Tippecanoe, 
Ohio. B. F. Timmer was reared in Tippe- 
canoe City, obtaining his education in the 
public schools of that town. He pursued his 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



839 



studies until seventeen j'ears of age and 
then put aside his text books, after which 
he became his father's assistant, remaining 
witli Iiim for four years. On attaining his 
majority he went to Dayton, Ohio, and for 
six years was in the employ of S. N. Brown 
& Company, of that city, occupying the po- 
sition of superintendent of their pole and 
shaft department for four years. He then 
returned to Tippecanoe City, where he re- 
mained for a year, owning an interest in the 
works of C. Trupp & Company during that 
interval. In 1890 he came to Troy and has 
since been connected with the Troy Bending 
Company, occupying the position of super- 
intendent through the past eight years. 
Steadily pursuing his way undeterred by any 
obstacle or difficulty in his path, he has 
achieved creditable prosperity. Steady ap- 
plication, careful study of business methods 
and plans to be followed and close atten- 
tion to details, combined with an untiring 
energy, directed by a strong mind, — these 
are the traits of character which have 
brought to him success and made him one 
of the leading business men of Miami 
countv. 



AUGUST H. LARGER. 

August H. Larger, who is engaged in 
general farming and the raising of tobacco 
in Washington township, Miami county, 
was born on the old homestead farm, Feb- 
ruary 10, 1850. His father, Joseph Larger, 
was born in Lower Alsace, then a part of 
France, March 19. 1808. He attended 
school until fourteen years of age and later, 
in connection with his brother, engaged in 
the manufacture of cotton goods, Joseph at- 
tending to the delivery of the goods. He 
married Miss Catherine Hernold and, with 



their two children, sailed from Havre, 
France, in 1844, reaching New York after 
a voyage of sixty-four days. From the 
eastern metropolis they made their wav to 
Lancaster, Ohio, and shortly afterward lo- 
cated in Dayton, where at first he worked 
on the levee with horse and wagon. Later 
he engaged in blacksmithing and became the 
owner of a nice home in Dayton, which he 
subsequently traded for one hundred and 
seven acres of land on section thirty-five, 
Washington township, Miami county. In 
April, 1848, he took up his abode on the farm 
and for a time lived in the old log cabin 
which stood upon the place, but subsequently 
erected a comfortable red brick residence. 
He was a successful agriculturist and car- 
ried on his farm with marked industry and 
enterprise until his death, which occurred 
December 8, 1877. He and his wife were 
devout members of St. Boniface' Roman 
Catholic church, of Piqua. In politics he 
was a stalwart Democrat. His wife, who 
was born in 1816, died in Piqua, in May, 
1895. Their children are: Emma, now 
Mrs. Marcellus Brant, of Piqua; Juha. wife 
of Joseph Snyder, of Piqua: Mary, wife of 
Urban Snell, of Piqua: August Henrv, of 
this review: Elizabeth, wife of Conrad 
Butz: John R. ; Cornelius and Marie. 

The subject of this review spent his boy- 
hood days under the parental roof and du -ing 
the summer season aided in the labors of the 
farm, while in the winter he pursued his 
studies in the district school in the neighbor- 
hood until eighteen or nineteen vears of age. 
After the death of his father, he assumed the 
mana.gement of the home farm, and after his 
mother's death he purchased the interest of 
the other heirs. He has prospered in his 
business undertakings and his labors have 
been so discerningly directed along well de- 



840 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



fined lines tliat he lias met with creditable 
success. An intelligent understandin"' of 
farming methods is manifest in all that he 
does and therefore he has become one of the 
leading and representative agriculturists of 
the community. 

Mr. Larger was united in marriage May 
30, 1876. to Miss Sarah A. Hebb, who was 
born November 13, 1855. in Newberry town- 
ship, Miami county. Her father. George 
Hebb. was born April 21, 181 2. in Osterburg. 
Ba\'aria. Germany, and in 1846 sailed from 
Ha\re, France, for New York city. He 
was on the water for se\-enty-two long days, 
but at length reached the .American port in 
safety and located in Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
vania, where he was married, February 4, 
1850, the lady of his choice being Victoria 
Sirch. In the latter part of 1852 he came 
to Miami county, locating on a small tract 
of lanxl in Newberry township, where he 
died August 3. 1872. He and his family 
were members of St. Boniface Catholic 
church, of Piqua, and his political support 
was given to the Democracy. His wife, who 
was born in Furbrich, Bavaria, October 30, 
1819. died March 10, 1875. ]\Irs. Larger is 
their only child. By her marriage she has 
become the mother of three children: Clara, 
born April 15, 1877; George, born October 
23, 1879; and Lauretta, born August 26, 
1882. The parents and children are mem- 
bers of St. Boniface Catholic church, of 
Piqua, and are widely and favorably known 
in the community in which they reside. 



HENRY M. FORMAN, :\I. D. 

A successful medical practitioner of 
Bradford who has attained to an enviable 
position in the ranks of the profession is 
Henry M. Forman, who was born November 



12, 1854, in Newberry township. The fam- 
ily is of German lineage and was founded in 
America by the paternal grandparents of 
the Doctor. Daniel Forman, the grandfa- 
ther, was born in Heidelberg, Germany, and 
emigrated to the United States, accompanied 
by his wife and children. After a vovage of 
thirty-one days he landed in New York city 
and subsequently settled in Lancaster coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania, whence he came to Ohio, 
purchasing land in Newberry township, Mi- 
ami county. L^pon the farm which he there 
developed he made his honoe until his death, 
which occurred when he was eighty-four 
years of age. His wife bore the maiden name 
of Mary Ann Sherryville. and died on the 
old home farm in Miami county at the ad- 
Nanced age of ninety years. In the Father- 
land they were members of the Catholic 
church, but after coming to America they 
joined the German Baptist church. Their 
children were : Henry, who died in Ne- 
Ijraska; Peter, who went south and was 
ne\-er heard from afterward ; Daniel ; Susan, 
who became Mrs. .Manning, of Newberry 
township; Mrs. Mary Grubb, who died in 
Newberry township, in 1S94; and Catherine. 
Daniel Forman, the father of our sul)ject, 
was born in Lancaster county. Pennsyh'ania, 
and during his boyhood came with his par- 
ents to Miami county, where he learned the 
carpenter's trade, which he followed during 
tlie greater part of his life. Having a 
knowledge of the old style of burr milling, 
he followed that pursuit during the later 
years of his business career, but is now living 
retired in Adams township, Darke county, at 
the age of seventj^-three years. His wife 
died in 1866, at the age of thirty-three years, 
and afterward he married Elizabeth Warner, 
widow of Samuel Fetters. Mr. and Mrs. 
Forman's children were : Henry M. ; Eman- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



841 



uel. a resident of Fairbury, Jefferson county, 
Missouri ; John, of Springfield, Ohio ; Anna, 
wife of \\^ E. Wise, of Newlierry township, 
Miami county; Daniel F., of Silverton, Col- 
orado ; Franklin, who died at the age of four 
years : and Albert, who died in infancy. 

Dr. Forman, of this re\"ie\v, spent his boy- 
hood days on the home farm and assisted in 
the work of field and meadow through the 
summer season, while in the winter he at- 
tended the country schools until eleven years 
of age. He then became a student in Cov- 
ington, and was graduated in the high school 
at that place at the age of eighteen years. 
Determining to make the practice of medi- 
cine his life work, he began preparation for 
the profession in 1876, as a student in the 
office of Dr. Adam Weaver, of Covington, 
with whom he continued three years. He 
then entered the Miami oMedical College, of 
Cincinnati, and was graduated with the class 
of 1 88 1. He received some assitance from 
his father, but his college course was made 
possible mostly by his own labor, and the de- 
termination which enabled liim to pursue 
his studies in that manner has been one of the 
strong elements in his success in later life. 

After his graduation he opened an office 
in Bradford, and as a result of his ability, 
sound judgment and close attention to his 
professional duties he has been able to build 
up a large and lucrative practice. Fie is a 
member of the Ohio State Medical Society 
and keeps in constant touch with the progress 
that characterizes the profession. 

In 1 88 1 the Doctor was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Ella B. Shoe, of Newberry 
township, a daughter of Solomon and Bar- 
bara (Yetter) Shoe. They have a large cir- 
cle of friends and acquaintances in this com- 
munity and enjoy the hospitality of the best 
homes in Bradford. Dr. Forman is a mem- 



ber of the Christian church, and for some 
years gave his political support to the De- 
mocracy, but for the past seven years has 
been a Republican. He served on the school 
board, is deeply interested in higher educa- 
tion, and has been largely instrumental in 
raising the standard of the Bradford schools. 
Public spirited and progressive, he is at all 
times in favor of those measures and move- 
ments which are calculated to secure ad- 
vancement along intellectual and moral lines. 



PETER HOLFINGER. 

Peter Holfinger, a farmer of Washington 
township, has spent his entire life in Miami 
county, although he is of German lineage. 
His father, Bernard Holfinger, was born 
May 9, 1820, in Moessingen, Wurtemberg, 
and attended school there until fourteen 
years of age. He was married in his native 
land in 1842, and in 1853, with his wife and 
six children, came to the United States, land- 
ing in New York city. Immediately he 
made his way to Ohio and took up his abode 
upon a small tract of land in Washington 
township, Miami county. A painful acci- 
dent rendered him unfit for work and on this 
account could not pay for his land, which he 
forfeited, but being a man of untiring energy 
and resolute will he was soon able to pur- 
chase forty acres of land in Adams township, 
Darke county, where he carried on agricult- 
ural pursuits for a time. He then traded that 
tract for sixty acres in Washington town- 
ship, Miami county, to which he removed, 
cultivating his fields until his death. His 
first wife died March 28, 1884, and a year 
later he wedded Mrs. Louise Maier, nee 
Gebelie. He was a man of untiring industry 
and strict honesty and was a devoted hus- 
band and father. These qualities endeared 



842 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



him to his family and fellow citizens. An 
active and faithful member of St. John's 
Evangelical Lutheran church, of Coving- 
ton, he died in that faith, September 3, 1899, 
and his death was mourned by all who knew 
him. His children were as follows : Sebas- 
tian, who was born November 5, 1843, ^"^ 
is a farmer of Newberry township, married 
Malinda Patty, and after her death he mar- 
ried Mrs. Schultz, a widow : Lewis, born 
February 15, 1846, served as a private in 
the Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry and in the 
Eighth Ohio Cavalry, and died on the 27th 
of April, 1870; George, born March 7, 1848, 
wedded Miss Christina Flammer and resides 
in Miami county: Barbara, born on the i6th 
of September, 1849, died on the 23d of Oc- 
tober, of the same year ; Christina, born De- 
cember 2y, i8=;o, died April 10, 1855; Ag- 
nes, born September 15, 1852, died August 
19, 1855 ; John, born October 23, 1853, wed- 
ded Eliza Musselman and is a farmer of 
Newton township : Rosina. born March 8. 
1856, is the wife of Conrad Reichman, of 
Washington township; Peter is the subject 
of this review ; Mary Barbara, born July 16, 
1859, died in 1861 ; John Martin, born Sep- 
tember 29, i860, married Susannah Mohler 
and is a farmer of Washington township : 
Bernard C, born June 24, 1863, married 
Emma Mutchler and is a farmer of Wash- 
ington township; Samuel, born August 20, 
1865, married Minnie Trost and is living in 
Darke county ; and Hannah, born November 
28, 1867, married Charles Patty, of Wash- 
ington township, and died May 2, 1900. 

Peter Holfinger, whose name introduces 
this review, was born on what is now the 
Shefbaugh farm, in Newberry township, and 
was reared to manhood on the old homestead 
in Washington township. Almost as soon 
as he was old enough to reach the plow han- 



dles, he began work in the fields and actively 
assisted in the work of the farm until he at- 
tained his majority. His educational priv- 
ileges were very limited, although he was al- 
lowed to attend school for a short period 
each winter until he reached the age of thir- 
teen years. When he had attained man's 
estate he began work on his own account, 
being employed as a farm hand by his 
brother George, on the Patty farm, in New- 
ton township. The following year he 
worked for Samuel Reish, and was thus em- 
ployed until his marriage, after which le 
made his home for three years on the Rouser 
farm, in Newton township. Subsequently 
he operated the old homestead for twelve 
years, and in the spring of 1894 he purchased 
thirty acres of that tract from his father and 
has since added to it forty-two acres. The 
same year he erected thereon a very com- 
modious and tasteful residence, having now 
a comfortaljle home in the midst of higlily 
cultivated fields. 

Mr. Holfinger was luarried. October 7, 
1882, to Miss Mary, daughter of Charles and 
Sophia (Trost) Zimmerman, of Newton 
township. She died January 19, 1896, 
leaving three children : Charles Henry, born 
August 2, 1884; Minnie Sophia, born .Vpril 
26, 1887; and Lewis Z., born June 2"/, 1889. 

Mr. Holfinger was again married, No- 
vember 1 1, 1897, his second wife being Dora 
Esky, whose birth occurred September 17, 
i860, in Covington, Ohio. Her parents were 
Henry and Ursula (Neth) Esky. Her fa- 
ther, Henry Esky, was born July 31, 1831, 
in Mechlenburg, Germany, and in 1850 
landed in New York city. For a year there- 
after he worked as a fariu hand in Pnugh- 
keepsie, and then went to .Albany, New \'ork, 
where he engaged at the cooper's trade for 
a short time. He then removed to Piqua, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



843 



Ohio, where he followed coopering until lo- 
cating on a small tract of land in Newberry 
township, Miami county. Later he took up 
his abode at Covington and worked at his 
trade in Shelby county. He also spent four 
years on a farm there and afterward went to 
Gettysburg, Darke county, where he resides. 
His first wife died in 1867. Their children 
were : George and Mary, who died in in- 
fancy; Eva Rosina, now the wife of Law- 
rence Kerr, of Bellefontaine, Ohio ; Agnes, 
who died at the age of twenty years; Mrs. 
Holfinger ; John, who died at the age of four 
j'ears : Mary Catherine; Lewis, who died in 
infancy: and John Henry, who died in child- 
hood. Mr. Eskey's second wife bore the 
maiden name of Annie Margaret Beck, and 
by their marriage there are six children: 
John George, a freight conductor on the Pan- 
handle Railroad, at Indianapolis: Conrad, a 
freight conductor, of St. Louis, Missouri; 
Richard, of Gettysburg, Ohio ; Anna, who is 
living in Dayton : and Henry and Emma, 
living at home. 

In his political views Mr. Holfinger is 
a stanch Democrat, unswerving in his advo- 
cacy of the principles of the party. He is 
<'i member of the St. John's Evangelical 
Lutheran church, of Covington, and is a 
highly esteemed man of genial manner, 
jovial disposition and an intelligent and en- 
terprising farmer who enjoys a creditable 
reputation for his fair dealing. 



DAVID L. LEE. 

David L. Lee, one of the enterprising and 
prosperous business men of Troy, is num- 
bered among Miami county's native sons, 
his birth having here occurred on the 17th of 
December, 1843. His father, Abram J. 
Lee, was born in Virginia, in 1809, and at 



an early period in the development of Miami 
county came to Ohio with his father, Benja- 
min Lee, who was a first cousin of General 
Robert E. Lee, of Confederate fame. Our 
subject has the same refined and intellectual 
face, calm and dignified, yet with his pene- 
trating expression, as his illustrious cousin. 
Benjamin Lee located on a farm on Honey 
creek, and there reared his family. Aliram 
J. Lee was identified with the agricultural 
interests of this community in pioneer times, 
and after arriving at years of maturity he 
purchased a farm on the Dayton pike, near 
Troy, now known as the Enyeart fanu. He 
married Catherine Bowersock, a representa- 
tive of an old Pennsylvania family. The 
children of this marriage are: J. H.. who 
is now in the Klondike ; George, a hardware 
merchant of Piqua, Ohio; Howard, a re- 
tired farmer of Kansas; Mrs. G. L. Smith, 
who resided in St. Paris, but is now de- 
ceased ; and Davis L.. of this review. George 
and Howard were both loyal soldiers in the 
Union army during the civil war. 

The father of this family died when Da- 
vid L. Lee was only six years of age. The 
family afterward removed to Fletcher, where 
he attended school and also worked on the 
home farm. At the outbreak of the war of 
the rebellion, although only seventeen years 
of age, he was one of the first to respond to 
the call for troops, enlisting in the Seventy- 
first Ohio Infantry. After participating in 
the battle of Pittsburg Landing, he was en- 
gaged in garrison duty in Tennessee and 
in fighting guerrillas. In 1864 he re-enlisted 
and after joining General Sherman's army 
at Cumberland, he took part in the Atlanta 
campaign, and was present at the fall of At- 
lanta. His command was with General 
Thomas, of the Fourth Army Corps, at the 
battles of Pulaski, Columbia, Franklin and 



814 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Nashville. At the last named place Hood's 
army was annihilated and was thus pre- 
vented from making the contemplated raid 
into Ohio. On the 15th and i6th of De- 
cember, when General Thomas rode down 
the line. Mr. Lee states that every man felt 
that victory had crowned the Union arms. 
Nashville was the last battle in which Mr. 
Lee participated, for, by the last gun fired 
by the rebels, he had his left leg shattered 
and the member was afterward amputated. 
For two months he lay in the Xash\-ille hos- 
pital and then returned to his home. 

On again reaching the north ^Ir. Lee 
learned the silversmith's trade, at wdiich he 
worked for two years, when, on the 3rd of 
July, 1867, lie was appointed United States 
storekeeper at Hayner's distillery, in Troy. 
He held that position for six years, and in 
the fall of 1873 was elected sheriff of Miami 
county, and re-elected in 1875. acceptably 
serving in that capacity for four consecu- 
tive years. He handled three hundred and 
fifty prisoners, took fifty criminals to the 
penitentiary at Columbus and a number of 
offenders to the Lancaster Farm for Boys 
and to the Reformed Home for Girls. Two 
indictments were returned for murder in the 
first degree, but the convictions were in the 
second degree so that he narrowly escaped 
being compelled to hang the murderers. 
Only one person thus far has been hung in 
Miami county, and that was by the sheriff 
succeeding Mr. Lee. In 1878 our subject 
went to Kansas City, Missouri, but his busi- 
ness ventures there proved unprofitable, and 
in 1880 he returned to Troy. Not long af- 
terward he went to Arizona to visit a broth- 
er, and while in that territory acted as a 
clerk in the twelfth Arizona legislature for 
one term. On again coming to Troy he 
went into the grocery business, and, while 



so engaged, was once more a45pointed store- 
keeper and ganger by President Harrison 
for a term of four years. L'nder Cleveland 
he was superseded in the office, but was 
twice elected township clerk for terms of 
two years each, and during his incumbency 
in that position he was reappointed store- 
keeper and ganger at Hayner's distillery, in 
which position he is now serving. 

Mr. Lee was married in Troy, October 8, 
1868, to Miss Libby C. Clyde, a daughter 
of George C. Clyde, now deceased. Her fa- 
ther, a prominent and influential citizen of 
the community, served for two terms as 
treasurer of Miami county, as auditor for 
two terms and as a member of the state leg- 
islature. Mr. and I\Irs. Lee now liave two 
sons, Harry and Fred, the former an in- 
spector for the Central Union Telephone 
Company, of Troy, and the latter a clerk in 
Long & ]\IcKnight's store, in Troy. The 
family are members of the Presbyterian 
church, and Mr. Lee holds membership re- 
lations with the Knights of Pythias frater- 
nity. Coleman Post, G. A. R., and the Inde- 
pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He has 
filled various offices in those organizations, 
and at the present time is serving as treas- 
urer of the first two. He has a fine home 
on North Mulberry street, which he has 
gained by his own well directed efforts in 
business affairs. Many times called to pub- 
lic office, his career has ever been honorable 
and loyal, and no trust reposed in him has 
ever been betrayed. 



LEWIS W. DAMS. 

The neat and thrifty appearance of the 
Davis farm, in Newberry township, well in- 
dicates the careful supervision of the op- 
erator, who is numbered among Ohio's na- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



845 



tive sons, his birth having occurred in Un- 
ion township, CHnton county, on the 8th of 
December, 1847. He is a representative of 
one of the old famiHes of Pennsylvania. His 
grandparents were Joshua and Elizabeth 
(Rogers) Davis, both natives of Allegheny 
county. Pennsylvania. There the grand- 
mother spent her entire life, but the grandfa- 
ther removed to Belmont county. Ohio, 
Vvdiere his last days were passed. He was 
three times married. Hiram, the father of 
our subject, was born in Allegheny county. 
Pennsylvania, in 181 8. and when nineteen 
years of age. made the journey to Clinton 
county. Ohio, on horseback. He there mar- 
ried Mary Ann Shields, and began his do- 
mestic life on a farm of fifty acres, for which 
he traded a horse. Later he sold his farm 
and operatetl rented land and also engaged 
in working in the woods till he settled on one 
hundred acres of land owned by his son. 
John T. His death occurred on that farm in 
185J. His- wife, long surviving him, passed 
away in 1894, at the advanced age of eighty- 
three years. She was born in Clinton coun- 
ty, Ohio, and was the daughter of William 
and Hannah ( Frazier) Shields. At an early 
day her father reminxd from Tennessee to 
Ohio. He was a son of David Shields, who 
emigrated from Ireland to the new world, 
taking up his abode in Tennessee, whence he 
removed to Clinton county, this state. On 
the voyage to America he was accompanied 
by two brothers, one of whom settled in 
Clinton county. At the time when the col- 
onies attempted to throw off the yoke of 
British tyranny, David Shields joined the 
colonial army and served throughout the war. 
He participated in the battle of Yorktown, 
and when Washington was negotiating 
terms of surrender for Cornwallis, Mr. 
Shields was chosen to carry dispatches to 



the British leader. It was from this Revo- 
lutionary hero that Mary Shields, the mother 
of our subject, was descended. Unto Hiram 
and ^Nlary Davis were born ten children ; 
Elizabeth, who became the wife of John H. 
Shields and died in Clinton county, in 1861 ; 
Rebecca J., who became the wife of Thomas 
Garretson, of Clinton county; Ellis, of Dan- 
ville. Illinois, who married Maria Jane 
Shields, and afterward married Sarah Do- 
ran; John T.. who married Ann Thompson 
and is living on the home farm ; William, 
who married Bertha Painter and resides in 
Marion. Indiana; George B.. who married 
Alice Parrett and is living in Warren county. 
Ohio ; Joseph, deceased ; Silas, who married 
Ruth Thatcher and makes his home in Clin- 
ton county ; Lewis W. ; and Calvin, who mar- 
ried Hattie Doran and died in Wood coun- 
ty, Ohio. 

Lewis \\'alker Davis, whose name heads 
this review, spent his boyhood days on his 
father's farm and pursued his education in 
the public schools during the winter seasons. 
He remained with his widowed mother un- 
til after her marriage and aided her in the 
labor of the cultivation of the homestead. 
About 1882 lie removed to Grant county, 
Ohio, and purchased a seventy-acre farm, on 
which he resided for four years. He then 
sold that property and removed to \\'arren 
county, Ohio, where he also spent four years. 
On the expiration of that period, he located 
near West ^Milton, JMiami county, and in the 
spring of 1896 he removed to the Judge 
Freshour farm of one hundred and eighty 
acres, on which he has since resided. He 
does general farming and also makes a 
specialty of raising tobacco. 

On the 22d of October, 1874, Mr. Davis 
married Miss Rebecca Coate. who was born 
in Newton township. Miami county. Janu- 



840 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ary i6, 1846. Her father, Jonathan Coate, 
was born in Newton township and died there 
upon iiis farm. He married Miss Elizabeth 
Jay, a native of Miami county, and they be- 
came the parents of the following children : 
Mary, wife of Enoch Berry, of Newton 
township; John, who died at the age of two 
years; James, of Troy, who married Miss 
Pearson and after her death wedded Lydia 
Deeter; Lurana, wife of Henry Miles, of 
Newton township ; Mrs. Davis ; Sarah, who 
died at the age of fifteen; Elizabeth, wife 
of Charles Gilbert, of Denver, Colorado ; and 
Amanda, who died in infancy. 

After the death of his first wife, Jonathan 
Coate married Rachel Jenkins, who survived 
her marriage six months. Martha Compton 
afterward became his wife and their children 
were : Emma; Ellwood, who died in infancy; 
Winnie, who became the wife of Otto Sinks 
and died in Dayton, Ohio; and Alice, wife of 
A\'ebb Tucker, of Lima, Ohio. The grand- 
parents of Mrs. Davis were James and Lu- 
rana (Teague) Coate, tlie latter from South 
Carolina, and both died in Newton township. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Davis are 
as follows : Laura and Eva were twins, born 
in 1875, and the former became the wife of 
\\'illiam Compton and died February 18, 
1899; William and Elda were twins, and the 
former, a soldier in tlie Spanish-American 
war, is now following carpentering in Den- 
ver, Colorado, while the latter is the wife of 
Walter EUemen, of Newberry township, and 
has one child, Lewis H. ; Clifford, Lewis 
and Houston are now at home ; Mary E. and 
Bertie complete the family, but the latter 
died at the age of five years. The family 
is one of prominence in the community, its 
members ocupying creditable positions in so- 
cial circles. Mr. Davis is a highly esteemed 
and intelligent farmer who keeps well in- 



formed on the issues of the day, is a Repub- 
lican in his political views and a Quaker in 
religious faith. 



JOHN H. ROHRER. 

One of the extensive land-owners and 
enterprising farmers of Miami county is 
John H. Rohrer, who was born in the house 
which is now his home, his natal day being 
December 25, 1858. The public schools of 
Tippecanoe City afforded him his educa- 
tional privileges, and he was graduated with 
the class of 1879. He spent his boyhood 
days upon the home farm, but about 1881 
entered commercial life as an assistant book- 
keeper in the wheel works of Tippecanoe 
City, where he remained for a year. How- 
ever, on the expiration of that period he re- 
turned to the old homestead, where he has 
since remained. He now owns a hundred 
and ninety acres of the old farm on section 
22. Monroe township, together with one 
hundred acres on section 27, a thirty-acre 
tract on the same section, and fifteen acres 
on section 29. He has a well developed 
property, his home farm being improved 
with commodious and substantial buildings, 
which are surrounded by well tilled fields 
that indicate the care and supervision of 
the owner. With a thorough understanding 
of the rotation of crops and of the needs of 
the various cereals which he raises, he has 
applied a practical knowletlge to his work 
and has therefore obtained excellent results 
from his labors. 

On the 7th of April, 1886, Mr. Rohrer 
was united in marriage with Rosamond 
Benham, a native of West Charleston, 
Bethel township, and a daughter of Joseph 
Benham. Four children were born of their 
union, but Charles, who was born April 18, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



847 



1887, was drowned on the 29th of March, 
1890, in a pond near his home, when only 
three years of age. The others are : Harry, 
who was born September 12, 1890; Eliza- 
beth, born May 2/, 1892; and Robert, born 
November 16, 1895. In his political views 
Mr, Rohrer is a Republican, unswerving in 
the support of the principles of the party. 
He has served for two years on the board of 
agriculture, and was re-elected in 1897 for 
a second term of two years. A very promi- 
nent Mason, he holds membership in Tippe- 
canoe Lodge, No. 174, F. & A. M. ; Frank- 
lin Chapter, No. 114, R. A. M, ; Coleman 
Commandery, No. 17, K. T., of Troy; and 
on the 7th of December, 1898, he became a 
noble of Antioch Temple of the Mystic 
Shrine, at Dayton, Ohio. He has filled all 
the chairs of the blue lodge, and has served 
as captain-general, and is now generalis- 
simo of the Coleman Commandery. His 
entire life has been passed in Miami county, 
and within its borders he is both widely and 
favorably known. 



DEWITT C. BRANSON. 

Dewitt C. Branson is numbered among 
the pioneers as well as the native sons of 
Miami county, for his birth occurred on the 
old homestead farm in Lost Creek township. 
May I, 1828. The Branson family was 
founded in America by two brothers. One 
came to this country from England at an 
e^rly period in the history of America. 
They located near W'hitesville, Ocean coun- 
ty, New Jersey. Jonathan, one of the 
brothers, died a bachelor. Another brother, 
John, was the father of Samuel Branson, the 
grandfather of our subject. He resided in 
New Jersey, and had two brothers. Unto 
him and his wife, Charlotte, were born 



seven children, namely : Ann, who was 
born in 1799, came to Ohio and married 
Nathaniel Gaskell ; her death occurred in 
Miami county; Moses N., the second of the 
family, who was the father of our subject; 
William W., born June 5, 1803, who died 
at the age of fifteen years ; Hannah, born 
February 17, 1805, who married Pierson 
Ticen, and died in Indiana about 1870; Abi- 
gail, born October 19, 1806, who died in 
New Jersey in 1828; Charlotte, born in 
1808, who became the wife of Nehemiah 
Gaskell, and died in Montgomery county, 
Ohio; Emma, born in 18 10, who became the 
wife of Sterling Gaskell and died in Shelby- 
county, Ohio, in 1870. 

Moses N, Branson, the father of our 
subject, was born in New Jersey, in 1801, 
and was left an orphan when fifteen years 
of age. Determined to seek a home in the 
west, he started for Ohio, and for some 
years was a resident of Centerville, Mont- 
gomery county. Subsequently he came to 
Miami county and purchased eighty acres of 
land in Lost Creek township. A few years 
later he added another eighty-acre tract to 
his farm, and carried on agricultural pur- 
suits for a considerable period. He was a 
very intelligent and highlv respected man, 
who served as a township trustee and was 
frequently called upon to settle estates, owing 
to his well-known integrity. His political 
support was first given to the Democracy, 
but on the organization of the Republican 
party he joined its ranks. While in Mont- 
gomery county he wedded Harriet Nutt. 
who was born in 1807, a daughter of Levi 
and Sarah (Moon) Nutt, Her death oc- 
curred on the old homestead farm in 1841, 
and later the father was again married, his 
second union being with Mrs. Phoebe Man- 
sen, a widow. 



848 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Mr. Branson, of this review, spent- the 
days of liis boyhood and youth upon his fa- 
ther's farm, and there remained until twenty- 
two years of age, assisting in the work of 
de\'eloping and cultivating the fields. He 
attended the old-time subscription schools 
and also the public schools afte." their estab- 
lishment, and, being of a studious nature. 
he gave mure attention to his Ijooks and read 
continually outside the school room, so tliat 
he became a well informed man. In 1849 
he began teaching, which profession he suc- 
cessfullv carried on for several successive 
terms. He then devoted his energies to 
farm work for about six years, when he 
again taught school for one term. Education- 
al work was not conducted in the manner of 
the present day, and at one time he was 
obliged to teach in nine different arithmetics 
and as man\' grammars, for there was no 
uniformity of text-books used liy his pu- 
pils. However, he had the ability to im- 
part clearly and readily to others the knowl- 
edge he had acquired, and was therefore a 
successful educator. In 1850 he began the 
cultivation of his present farm. Here he 
owned une hundred acres of rich and arable 
land, the greater part of which is under a 
high state of cultivation and improved with 
all modern accessories. The old log cabin 
which was his first home has long since been 
replaced by a large and commodious dwell- 
ing. Other modern improvements have 
been added imtil the farm is one of the best 
in the neighborhood. His business career 
has been seldom interrupted, but during the 
civil war he put aside all jiersonal ciinsidera- 
tions and enlisted in May. 1864, i.. response 
to the call for one-hundred-day men. He 
was mustered in at Camp Dennison as ser- 
geant of Company F, One Hundred and 
Forty-se\'enth Ohio Infantry, and was mus- 



tered out at Washington, D. C, September 
2, 1864. 

On the 31st of December, 1849. ^^i'- 
Branson was united in marriage at Troy by 
Rev. Templeton, to Miss Charlotte Sulser, 
who was born near Upper Meckfield. Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, in 1827. When only 
five years old she was brought by her par- 
ents to Brown township, Miami county. 
She is a daughter of George and Elizabeth 
(Duerj Suber. Her father was born No- 
vember 12. 1799, in Bucks county, Penn- 
syhania, and was a son of John Peter Suber, 
who li\ed and died in that county. The pa- 
ternal grandmother bore the maiden name 
of Martha Harper, and by her marriage be- 
came the mother of seven children, namely : 
Mary, who became the wife of Josiah Duer 
and died in Shelby county, this state : 
George, the father of Mrs. Branson : .\nn, 
who died unmarried ; Sarah, who became the 
wife of John Haven and died in Bucks coun- 
ty, Pennsylvania ; Lydia Ann, who died in 
Fletcher, Ohio ; Joseph, who died in St. 
Louis. ]\Iissom"i ; and \\'illiam, whose death 
occurred in Pennsylvania. Of this family 
George Suber, the father of Mrs. Branson, 
was reared to manhood upon a farm, and 
on the 1 8th of October, 1800, he wedded 
Elizaljeth Duer, a daughter of William and 
Charlotte (Anderson) Duer. Her mother 
could, remember and would frequentl}- relate 
many interesting incidents concerning the 
Revolutionary war. In 1829 George Suber 
remox'ed with his family and a compan\' 
C('mi)osed of sexeral other families to Ohio. 
They made the journey in wagons and were 
six weeks upon the way. For two years 
Mr. Suber was a resident of W^arren count}-, 
after which he entered and located on land 
in Brown township, Miami county, there 
spending his remaining days, liis time and 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



849 



attention Ijeing devoted to the improvement 
of his farm. Pie died September 23, i860, 
and his wife was called to her final rest Au- 
gust 8, 1872. They were both members of 
the Presbyterian church, and he was a life- 
long Democrat in his political affiliations. 
In their family were nine children, as fol- 
lows : Harriet D., born December 27, 
1 82 1, became the wife of Cyrus Hand, after 
his death married Nehemia Wharton and 
died in Shelby county on the 25th of July, 
in 1886; Caroline Elizalieth, born September 
21, 1823, married David Duncan and died in 
Fletcher, Miami county, in 1848; William 
D., born May 31, 1825, married Mary Ann 
Cayen and died on his farm in Brown town- 
ship, February 5, 1889; Martha and Char- 
lotte were twins and the former died in in- 
fancy, while the latter is the wife of Mr. 
Branson; Martha Jane, born August 17, 
1830, became the wife of Benjamin McClary 
and died in Shelby county, Ohio, August 
25, 1899; John Cory, born July 9, 1832, 
married Sarah Earhart and died in Fletcher 
June 29, 1896; Maria G., born November 
30, 1824, is the wife of John Blackford, of 
St. Paris, Ohio; and James Watson Tullis, 
born October 7, 1841, wedded Elizabeth 
Verdeer, and is conducting a hotel in 
Fletcher. 

The children of Mr. and Mrs. Branson 
are Harriet, wife of F. W. Hildebrand, of 
Shelby county; Caroline, wife of James 
Johnson, of San Antonio, Texas; Willis; 
John; Frank; Sarah, wife of H. E. Hartzell, 
of Staunton township, Miami county; Lyd- 
ia ; and Angeline, wife of George W. Rout- 
son, of Staunton township. Mr. and Mrs 
Branson celebrated their golden wedding on 
the 1st of January, 1900. For fifty years 
they had traveled life's journey together, 
sharing together life's joys and sorrows, its 

50 



adversities and prosperity, and when the 
half-century was ended many of their rela- 
tives, friends and neighbors gathered to 
offer their congratulations and good wishes. 
This worthy couple are members of the Pres- 
byterian church at Houston, and Mr. Bran- 
son is a stanch Republican in politics. A 
successful farmer, he has been quick to no- 
tice and grasp opportunities, and by his en- 
ergy and determined purpose he has steadily 
worked his way upward to a position among 
the substantial citizens of the community. 
His life has at all times been so honorable 
that he commands the uniform respect and 
confidence of his fellow men. 



FREDERICK HUBER. 

Back to the land of the Alps does Mr. 
Huber trace his lineage, and that in his char- 
acter abide those sterling qualities which 
have ever marked the true type of the Swiss 
nation is manifest when we come to consider 
the more salient points in his life history, 
which has been one marked by persistent in- 
dustry, invincible spirit, sturdy loyalty and 
unwavering honor, all of which have resulted 
naturally in securing to him a position among 
the leading business men and respected citi- 
zens of his adopted country. 

Mr. Huber was born in Switzerland, No- 
vember 14, 1833, and resided in the city of 
Zurich. His parents were John and Annie 
Huber, and he was their only child. The fa- 
ther died when Frederick was only thirteen 
years of age, and when a youth of sixteen 
he began working at the butcher's trade, 
serving a three years' apprenticeship. His 
employer gave him his board and he paid one 
hundred dollars to learn the trade. In 1853 
he determined to try his fortune in America 
and crossed the Atlantic on a sailing vessel 



850 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



which, after a voyage of sixty-seven days, 
hmded at Quebec. He made his way to New 
Uremen, Ohio, where he followed his trade 
for a time and then went from that point to 
riqua. Later he went to Dayton, where he 
worked at his trade for two years, and on 
tlie expiration of that period he came to Tip- 
pecanoe City, where he secured employment 
in the butcher shop of Levi Clark. He re- 
mained with Mr. Clark two years and then 
purchased his employer's business, conduct- 
ing a meat market and buying and selling- 
cattle until 1864, when he made a business 
trip to Switzerland, leaving America in April 
and returning during the summer. In the 
meantime he had sent for his mother, wdio 
had ji lined him in his new home. On again 
reaching this country Air. Ruber took charge 
of a butchering business, which he conducted 
until the fall of 1899. In the meantime he 
engaged in the manufacture of malt, in com- 
])any with Messrs. Timmer & Hoffman, suc- 
cessfully conducting that enterprise for .'•.ev- 
eral years in connection with other business 
interests. He was also at one time a stock- 
holder in the Tippecanoe Paper Mill Com- 
])any, but is now retired from active business 
life. 

FelMuary 9, 1857, Mr. Huber was united 
in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Rupp, and to 
ihem were born two children: Annie, \vho 
died at the age of twenty-eight years; and 
Emily, w^ife of Albert Miller. Mrs. Huber 
died March 6, 1885. On the 29th of Janu- 
ary, iS8g, Mr. Huber again married, his sec- 
ond union being with Miss Emma Nietert. 
of Dayton, Ohio. In his political views our 
subject is a Democrat and served as a mem- 
ber of the city -council of Tippecanoe from 
1885 until 1889. He is also a conmnmicant 
of the Catholic church. For many years he 
was numbered among the prosperous and 



leading business men of Tippecanoe City, 
and certainly he has never had occasion to 
regret his determination to seek a home in 
the new world, for here he has met with pros- 
perity and has gained the regard of a very 
extensive circle of friends and acquaintances. 



J. CHARLES F. HILL. 

J. Charles F. Hill, one of the prominent 
and well-to-do farmers of \\'ashington town- 
ship, was born on Jonathan Drake's farm in 
this locality, February 14, 1857, and is a 
representative of one of the old families of 
Pennsylvania. His paternal grandparents 
were Isaac and Susan (Barton) Hill, \\\\o 
removed from the Keystone state to Xew 
Jersey, where they spent their remaining 
days. Stephen Hill, the father of our sub- 
ject, was born in Northampton county, Penn- 
sylvania, July 9, 1817, and during his early 
boA'hood accompanied his parents to New 
Jersey. He was onh' nine years of age when 
thrown upon his own resources, mving 
to the parents' death. He went to live 
in. a family by the name of Deusenl)erry, 
with whom he remained imtil eight- 
een years of age, when he began work 
as a farm hand, being employed in various 
places in the state. His time was thus largely 
passed until he was thirty years of age. In 
December, 1847, '^^ emigrated to Ohio, lo- 
cating in Warren county, about a mile from 
Lebanon. There he remained for two or 
three years, after which he removed to Cen- 
terville, Montgomery county, where he con- 
tinued to reside for about tw^o years. On 
leaving that place he came to Miami county, 
where he worked by the month for a time and 
then purchased a farm adjoining the one 
upon which his last days were spent. His 
first tract of land consisted of eighty-five 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



851 



acres, which was covered with a dense for- 
est, hut witli characteristic energy he be- 
gan its development and each year saw a 
hirger amount cleared. He built a barn and 
other necessary outbuildings and became 
comfortably situated in life. He certainly 
deserved great credit for what he accom- 
plished, for he started out for himself when 
a mere child, having no capital or school priv- 
ileges to aid him. Steadily he worked his 
way upward and as the result of his careful 
management and untiring industry he ac- 
quired a comfortable competence. He pos- 
sessed great physical strength and his ser- 
vices were greatly in demand at the old-time 
log rollings. He first worked at wood-chop- 
ping, which pursuit he followed for four 
years, his marked ability in that line enabling 
him to gain a very good living. He received 
thirty-se\-en and a half cents per cord, and on 
Monday would always cut enough wood to 
pay for his week's board. 

On the 31st of December, 1855, Mr. 
Hill was united in marriage to Miss Sarah 
J . Lukemeyer, a daughter of John and Alice 
( Barngrover) Lukemeyer, wdio were na- 
tives of southern Ohio. . Their daughter was 
born in Clermont county, Ohio, October 10, 
1837, and by her marriage she became the 
mother of four children: J. Charles F. ; 
I'Vank S., who was born November 22, 
1858; George M., born February 2, 1861; 
and Alice A., born February 8, 1867. The 
father of this family died in June, 1898, and 
in his death the community lost one of the 
valued pioneer settlers. In. politics he was a 
stanch Republican, and in religious belief 
Avas connected with the German Baptist 
church. 

J. Charles F. Hill, whose name begins 
this record, has spent his entire life in Miami 
county, and upon the old homestead farm 



was reared to manhood. His own limited 
educational pri\'ileges made the father desire 
that his children should receive good oppor- 
tunities in that direction and therefore he put 
forth every effort to enable him to attend 
school and thus prepare for life's practical 
and responsible duties. Our subject attend- 
ed the country schools until sixteen years of 
age, when he entered the Covington high 
school, where he was graduated in the spring 
of 1878, taking the honors of the class. Sub- 
sequently he served a five-years apprentice- 
ship at the carpenter's trade under the direc- 
tion of J. A. Buchanan, of Newberry town- 
ship, but did not follow the pursuit stead- 
ily. He was married, May 30, 1886, to 
Miss Sarah Angeline Cassel and resided 
upon the home farm for a year. He then 
purchased a residence in Bloomer, Miami 
county, to which he removed in 1890, there 
following his trade until November, 1898, 
when he returned to the homestead farm, 
v,diich he has since operated, in connection 
with his two brothers. 

Mrs. Hill was born in Newberry town- 
ship, Miami county, December 11, 1864, and 
was a daughter of Jacob and Hester (Moist) 
Cassel. Her father, Jacob Cassel, was born 
near Greenville, Ohio, Novemlier 19, 1840, 
and was a son of John Cassel, who died in 
Illinois. His widow afterward i-eturned to 
Ohio, spending her last days near Arcanum. 
In their family were six children, namely: 
Henry, who died in Graham county, Kan- 
sas; William, who is living near Muncie, In- 
diana; Simon, of Darke county; Jacob, fa- 
ther of Mrs. Hill: Conrad, who is also liv- 
ing in Darke county; and Joseph, a resident 
of Newberry township. During his child- 
hood Jacob Cassel accompanied his parents 
on their removal to Illinois, where the fa- 
ther's death soon after occurred. When he 



852 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



was seven years of age his mother returned 
to Ohio with her family, and he was bound 
out to his half brother, David, until he had 
attained his majority. In 1861 he married 
Miss Hester Moist, who was born in Alont- 
gomery county, Ohio, November 2, 1841, 
a daughter of Abraham and Rachel ( Frone- 
fteldj jNbiist, who died in Newton township, 
Miami county. Their children were : Eliza- 
beth, wife of George Shellerbarger, of New- 
ton township; Mary, wife of Henry Fink, of 
Bradford; Hester, of this review; Rachel; 
and John, who is living in Arcanum, Ohio. 
For a time after his marriage Jacob Cassel 
made his home on various farms until he was 
enabled to purchase land of his own. He 
bought and located upon a thirty-acre tract, 
north of Clayton, and subsequently removed 
to his farm of eighty acres, north of Bloom- 
er. There he resided until February, 1899, 
when he put aside business cares and has 
since lived retired in the village of Bloomer. 
He has but two children, Mrs. Hill and 
Charles, who married Miss Martha Hyle, by 
whom he has a daughter, Mabel. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Hill have been born 
two children, Orpha Edith and Sylvia Flor- 
ence, who are in school. Mr. and Mrs. Hill 
are well known in this localitv and enjo}- the 
warm regard of a large circle of friends. 
Industry has been one of his chief character- 
istics and at the same time he is a genial, 
kindly gentleman, honest in all business 
affairs and honorable in all life's relations. 



DANIEL H. LENTZ. 

Daniel H. Lentz was born in Perry county, 
Ohio, at Somerset, November 27, 1836, and 
is a son of Frederick and Hannah (Hen- 
dricks) Lentz, who had a familj'^ of seven 
children, six sons and one daughter. Of 



this number four of the sons served in the 
civil war as loyal defenders of the Union, 
and the youngest laid down his life on the 
altar of his country. 

Daniel H. Lentz was reared on a farm 
in the county of his nativity and remained at 
home until eighteen years of age, when he 
went to IMissouri and Iowa, where he was 
engaged in photographic work. In 1857, with 
three companions, he secured an outfit at Si. 
Joseph, ^Missouri, and started for Pike's 
Peak, attracted liy the discovery of gold at 
that place. They had a three-horse team 
and with this they made their way along the 
Platte river to Fort Kearney. At that place 
they abandoned their intention of proceed- 
ing to Colorado and traded their provisions 
t': Indians for buffalo robes, after which they 
returned to St. Joseph, and a few months 
later Mr. Lentz was again at home. He 
then engaged in the lumber business wbicli he 
folowed with fair success until 1861, when, 
on the loth of September, he responded to 
the call for volunteers, enlisting as a pri\'ate 
in Company D. Third Ohio Cavalry for 
three years. The first engagement in which he 
participated was at Nashville, and later he 
took part in the battles of Stone river and 
Corinth, and at the former he was wounded 
by a minie ball in the left leg, below the 
knee. After three days spent in the field 
liospital, he was sent to the hospital at Nash- 
ville and later to the hospital at Louisville. 
Subsequently he was at Covington, at Camp 
Dennison and in the hospital at Cleveland, 
being there for eleven months, owing to 
the fact that he suffered from gangrene after 
being wounded. When he had recovered 
his strength he re-enlisted in the same com- 
pany and regiment and participated in the 
battles of Kene.saw Mountain, .\tlanta, 
Selma. Alabama, Montgomery and Colum- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



858 



bia. Ill 1862 he had served as recruiting of- 
ficer for two months, was afterwards quar- 
termaster-sergeant for three months and was 
tlien promoted to the rank of commissary 
sergeant. He also served for one month as 
orderly sergeant, and at the close uf the war 
he returned to Columbus, where he was mus- 
tered out. He made for himself a very 
honorable military record, for he was always 
found at his post, faithfully discharging 
everv duty and task assigned to him. 

When hostilities had ceased and the su- 
premacy of the starry flag was acknowledged 
throughout the nation, Mr. Lentz turned his 
attention to the lumber business and was very 
successful, building up an extensive enter- 
prise. He established twelve different steam 
saw-mills and was actively engaged in the 
operation of one of these until January, igon, 
when his son took his business. His enter- 
prise, close application and keen discrimina- 
tion hatl enabled him to build up an extensive 
lumber trade and he derived therefrom an 
excellent income. In 1879 he removed to 
Covingtiin, and a year later purchased the 
farm n])ou which he now resides. It contains 
eight and one-half acres and is planted most- 
Iv ti) small fruits. 

In 1869 Air. Lentz was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Harriet M. Stewart, and 
to them have been born seven children, of 
whom six are living, namely: Charley C, 
Ulysses S. ; Efiie ; Elta ; Walter J. and Law- 
rence R. Mabel died in early childhood. 
The family is one of prominence in the com- 
munity and has made many warm friends 
in Miami county, while the hospitality of 
the best homes is extended to them. For two 
years Mr. Lentz has served as trustee of 
Spring Creek township. In politics he is a 
Republican, and his religious faith is in ac- 
cord with the belief of the Christian church, 



of which he is a member. In all life's rela- 
tions he has commanded the respect and es- 
teem of his fellowmen, and as a citizen is as 
true, today, to the duties which devolve 
upon him as when, with the Union army, he 
participated in the conflicts on southern bat- 
tlefields. 



SIMMEON E. HARRIS. 

Occupying the position of chief engineer 
of the Pi(|ua Rolling Mills, Simmeon E. 
Harris is regarded as one of the most trust- 
worthy and reliable employes in that insti- 
tution. He was born in Washington town- 
ship, two miles south of Piqua, on the 27th 
of December, 1861, a son of Charles and 
Harriet (Hunt) Harris, the former a na- 
tive of Wilmington, Clinton county, Ohio, 
the latter of Shelby county, this state. The 
father spent hs boyhood days in the place of 
his nativity, and when a young man took 
up his abode in Troy, Ohio, where he was 
married. He was a blacksmith by trade, 
and later in life was employed as a station- 
ary engineer in the still house in Miami 
ccunty. His last position was that of en- 
gineer in the oil mill in Piqua. When 
about forty-two years of age he was struck 
by lightning, and died fourteen years later, 
at the age of fifty-six years. During the 
ci\-il war he was most anxious to join the 
army, but owing to an accident which had 
injured his leg he was not accepted. In 
his political views he was independent, vot- 
ing for the man rather than for party. He 
held membership in Grace Methodist Episco- 
pal church, and was an earnest Christian 
man. His widow is still Iving in Piqua, at 
the age of fifty years. Like her husband, 
she is a member of the Grace Methodist 
Episcopal church and has ever taken a deep 



854 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



interest in its work. In tlieir family were 
two children : Simeon and Rachel Eliza- 
beth, wife of Frank ^IcMacken, of Piqua. 

Mr. Harris, of this review, spent the days 
of his yonth at the family home, two miles 
south of Piqua, and attended the district 
schools. When ahout twenty years of age 
he went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 
where he secured employment in the Orr, 
Leonard & Daniels Linseed Oil Mills, re- 
maining- there for two years and ten months. 
On the e.xjiiration of that period he returned 
to Piqua and worked in the Bent Wood 
Works, haxdng charge of the night crew in 
the bending- department. His ne.xt service 
was in the linseed nil mill, of Piqua, 
which was owned by Leonard & Daniels, 
having charge of their cooperage shop. Li 
fact, he has performed almost every 
kind of work in the oil mill. He be- 
gan engineering there, having learned that 
work under his father. He left the oil mill 
in order to assist in setting up the 11-iachinery 
iri the rolling mills, and was cmplo3'-ed as 
second engineer there for a time. Subse- 
quently he was liead engineer in the corru- 
gating works, and later was engineer at the 
street car barns for six months. When that 
period had elapsed he went tn Carthage, In- 
diana, where he was employed as chief en- 
gineer in a paper box board factory for about 
three years, when he i-eturncd to I'iqua and 
accepted the position of second engineer in 
the rolling mills. A year and a half ago 
he was promoted to chief engineer, and has 
since held that ])ositiiin, which is one of great 
importance in the extensive estal)lishment 
with which he is now connected. 

I\Ir. Harris was united in marriage to 
Miss Carrie Hobbs. of Cincinnati. Ohio. 
They hold membership in the Presbyterian 
church, and in this- community enjoy the 



warm regard of a large circle of ac(|uaint- 
ances. Mr. Harris is a liberal Democrat in 
his ])oiitical views. .He belongs to Inxinci- 
ble Lodge, Xo. 176, K. P., of Picpia, has 
filled all of its offices and is also a member of 
the Uniform Rank. He is viceqiresident 
and \vas one of the organizers of the Knights 
of Pythias band, and belongs to several other 
t'raternal societies, including the Maccabees, 
the Improved Order of Red 'Mtn and the 
.Ancient Essenic Order. He is a man of 
fine personal appearance, genial in manner, 
courteous and kindly, and has many friends 
in Piqua, where he has spent the greater ])art 
of his life. 



:\IOSES KIXSELLA. 

Closes Kinsclla. a farmer an<l tobacco 
grower of Xewberrx- township, was born in 
the town of Wexford, Ireland, in .Vugust. 
1852. His grandfather, Moses Kinsella, 
Sr., was also a native of county Wexford, 
and was married in that land to Catherine 
Butler. He spent his entire life in the place 
of his nativity, dying about iSjr, his wife 
sr.rvi\-ing him for a few years. He was an 
active partici])ant in the rebellion of 179S, 
as was Janies l'"urlong, the niaternal grand- 
father of our subject. John Kinsella. the 
father, was horn in county \\'exford. in. 
1820, and during his residence in the old 
cotmtry he was a longshoreman, and worked 
in a still house. .After coming to the 
Cnited States he de\oted liis energies fo 
farming and for a time rented property, but 
as the result of his energv and economv lie 
acquired a little capital with which he i)ur- 
chased fifteen acres of land in Washington 
township, ^liami county, east of Covington. 
In 1872 he sold that property and purchased 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



855 



a homestead farm of forty acres east of Polo. 
There he died June 17, 1897. He was mar- 
ried in his native county to Margaret Fur- 
long, a daughter of James and Mary (Red- 
mond) Furlong. The\' became the parents 
of eleven children. The subject of this re- 
view is now the only surviving representative 
of the family. The parents were both mem- 
bers of St. Mary's Catholic church in Polo. 

Moses Kinsella, the subject of this re- 
view, obtained his education both in the 
schools of Ireland and America. He stud- 
ied in his native land between the ages of 
three and se\'en years, and at a later date 
accompanied his parents upon their emigra- 
tion to the new world, the family sailing 
from Liverpool to New York in 1859. upon 
the vessel West Point. After a voyage of 
twent3^-one days a landing was effected at 
Castle Garden, New York, and the father 
brought his family immediately to Ohio, 
spending a short time in Tippecanoe City, 
Miami county. 

]\Ir. Kinsella, of this review, attended the 
schools of that county, aciiuiring a liberal 
education. He was an apt pupil, learning 
readily, and is now a well informed man. He 
was reared to work upon the farm, taking his 
place in the fields during the spring planting 
and during the harvesting season. He has 
always carried on agricultural pursuits, and 
after his marriage he rented a farm in Miami 
county, on which he lived for a year. He 
then purchased a small tract of land in 
Cynthianna township, Shelby county, but a 
j^ear later sold the property, fcr in that time 
his wife had died. He was married, in 
Sejitember, 1879. to Miss Mary McCarthy, 
and on the 2nd of March, 1881, was called 
upon to mourn her loss. He has one child, 
a daughter, Mary. 

Soon after selling his farm Mr. Kinsella 



took up his abode with his parents, who had 
purchased a homestead in Newberrv town- 
ship, east of Polo. He is a consistent mem- 
ber of St. Mary's Roman Catholic cliurch, of 
Piqua, and in his political views is a Demo- 
crat, stanch and true. He keeps well in- 
formed on the issues 1 if the day, and has al- 
ways been a closely interested student of his- 
t<.ry, which he quotes extensively and accu- 
rately. In his farming operations he has 
met with success, raising tobacco and those 
cereals best adapted to this climate. Enter- 
prise and industry are numbered among his 
characteristics, and that he is regarded as one 
of the substantial farmers of the commu- 
nitv is due to his carefullv directed labnrs. 



\villia:\i w. mefks. 

A native of ]\Iiami county. William W. 
Sleeks was born in Lost Creek township, on 
the 1 6th of October, 1841, and is a son of 
Jesse and Sarah (Dye) Meeks, the fnrmer 
born in Franklin count}-, Pennsylvania, on 
the 1 8th of November, 1800, while the latter 
was l)orn December 16. 1806. At the age 
of three years Jesse ]\Ieeks was lirought to 
Ohio liy his parents, Basil and Diana INIeeks. 
The grandfather was in \-ery limited circum- 
stances, ha\'ing chopped wood ant! aided in 
clearing farms until he had acquired enough 
capital to enable him to enter land. He se- 
cured a tract near Babtown, where he reared 
his family, making his home there for many 
years. His death occurred in 1859, when he 
was about eighty years of age, and his wife 
passed away a few years pre\-ious. Their 
children were; Jesse: David, who reared a 
family in Elizabeth tinvnship: Eli, who re- 
moved to Indiana; Stephen, who left Miami 



856 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



county ill early life; and Isaac, who is now 
living in Troy at a very advanced age. Basil 
had given his three sons, Jesse. David and 
Eli. a section of land in Lost Creek town- 
ship, and there each reared families. David 
had two sons. Corbly and Riley, the former 
now residing in Lost Creek township, and 
had a daughter, Emma Evans. 

Jesse Meeks, the father of our subject, 
was reared amid the wild scenes of frontier 
life, and experienced all the hardships and 
trials which fall to the lot of the pioneer. 
On tile 23d of October, 1823. he was united 
in marriage to Miss Sarah Dye, a daughter 
of Benjamin Dye, one of the pioneers of 
Elizabeth township. Thev spent their entire 
life upon the farm in Lost Creek township, 
which was given to ^Ir. Meeks by his fa- 
ther. It comprises two hundred and thir- 
teen acres of rich land, and he transformed 
it inti> one of the best farming properties in 
that section of the county, making his home 
there until his death, which occurred in June. 
1881. in hs eighty-first year. His wife sur- 
vived him about six years, and passed away 
at the same age. They had a family of six 
sons and two daughters, of whom one son 
died in childhood and a daughter at the age 
of fifteen years. Those who reached 3'ears 
of maturity were : Diana, wife of Ira L. 
Morris, a resident of Troy, Ohio; Basil, who 
died in his twenty-ninth year; Benjamin D.. 
w ho left Miami county when a young man. 
and now li\'es in Pulaski county, Lidiana, 
where his father had given him land : Sylves- 
ter, who was owner of a part of the old 
homesteatl in Lost Creek township, where he 
died when about forty-seven years of age : 
William \\'.. and John L.. who died on the 
old homestead when aliout forty-three years 
of age. 

William W. Meeks has spent his entire 



life in Miami county. He remained under 
the parental roof until twenty-four years of 
age. and was early trained to habits of in- 
dustry and economy, whch have proved im- 
portant factors in his success. As soon as 
old enough to handle the plow he began 
work in the "fields, and in the budding spring 
time turned many a furrow preparatory to 
the plantng of the crops, and the district 
schools of the neighborhood afforded him 
Ills educational privileges, his studies being 
pursued through the winter months. On 
the 2_'d of June. 1865, he was united in mar- 
riage with Miss Jane Neal, and soon after- 
ward located on his present farm, which is 
one of the oldest in the county, having been 
settled by J. Xeal, Airs. ]\Ieek's grandfather. 
His son, James Xeal, resided in Pike town- 
ship, Clark county. He married Melvina 
Hehey. and their daughter. Jane, was born 
in Clark county. February 8, 1847. After 
the death of the father the mother came to 
Alianii city, where she died when more than 
eighty years of age. Mr. and Mrs. Meeks 
took up their abode on their present farm 
in 1868, and have continuously resided here 
since that time, covering a period of almost a 
third of a century. In ctinnectioii with gen- 
eral farming, he has operated a wagon and 
carriage repair shop, and has enjoyed a good 
trade. His fields are well tilled, and yield 
to him a golden tribute in return for the care 
and labor he bestows upon them. Substan- 
tial improvements indicate his supervision, 
and he is accounted one of the leading agri- 
culturists of the community. 

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Meeks lia\e been 
born the following children ; Eftie Octavia. 
who has been a student in the Ada Normal 
school, is now successfully teaching in 
Miami county; Alice Ida is the wife of Fred 
Ely. and has two children, Donna and Carl; 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



857 



Delia Melinda, who was educated in the Val- 
paraiso normal school, is also a teacher of 
Miami county ; and Horace is a student in 
the Addison high school. They also have 
an adopted son, George, who came to them 
from the Montgomery County Home when 
eight \'ears of age, and received the same 
advantages as their own children. He is 
now twent3--seven years of age, but still as- 
sists his foster father in the operation of the 
old homestead. 

In his political affiliatmns Mr. ]\Ieeks is 
a Democrat, but has never sought or desired 
political preferment, his attention being 
given almost exclusively to his farming in- 
terests, in which he has met with creditable 
success. He and his family are members of 
the Christian church, and in its work he 
takes an active interest. His life has ever 
been honorable, manifestmg those sterling 
cjualities of character which at all times com- 
mand respect. 



HOWARD SCUDDER. 

The building interests of Piqua would 
be incomplete without mention of !Mr. Scud- 
der, who has been a yevy active factor in the 
material improvement of the city, and is rec- 
ognized as one of the leading contractors and 
builders of Miami county. He was born 
here in 1840, and many who know him are 
familiar with his life record, covering a pe- 
riod of Mxty years. Throughout the greater 
part of the time he has been an active factor 
in their industrial life of Piqua, and today 
he stands among those to whose efforts the 
city largely owes its advancement and pros- 
perity. His father. Cummings Scudder, 
was also a contractor and builder, and was 
located in Piqua between the years 1825 and 



1830. He was born in Rahway, New Jer- 
sey, and was there married about 1824 to 
Sarah Winans, a daughter of Stephen Wi- 
nans, of that city, and a cousin of Frances 
Winans Statler, wife of Christopher Statler, 
one of Piqua's pioneer settlers, whose son, 
D. C. Statler. is now a well-known resident 
of Miami county. Locating in Piqua, Cum- 
mings Scudder at once entered upon his 
business career as a builder, and erected 
many of the leading structures at an early 
day. He purchased four lots on North 
Wayne street, extendine to Downing street, 
and on the former he erected the home now 
occupied by Matt Jones. It was in that 
house that our subject was born. In the 
family were nine children, but only three 
are now living : Stephen, a resident of 
Piqua; Mrs. Harriet Stilwell, of Iowa; and 
Howard. One brother, Dorsey, was killed 
in battle in the civil war, and another broth- 
er, Ephraim, also loyally' served his country 
in the war of the Rebellion. The father died 
in Piqua, in li^yy. at the age of seventy-eight 
years. He was never ill throughout his en- 
tire life until his last sickness. He was at 
one time a member of the city council of 
Piqua, and was a nian of the highest respect- 
ability. 

Howard Scudder pursued his education 
in the public schools of Piqua, and when 
only about twehe years of age began to as- 
sist his father, under whose direction he 
learned the carpenter's trade, becoming fa- 
miliar with the work both in principle and 
detail. At the age of eighteen he began con- 
tracting and Ijuilding on his own account, 
and has since been engaged in business, 
meeting with creditable success in his un- 
dertakines. For a quarter of a century he 
has been in partnership with G. S. Hunt, 
and the well-known firm of Scudder & Hunt 



858 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



has executed tlie largest contracts in the 
city, inchiding tlie erection of the stove 
works, tlie high school and six ward school. 
They also erected the Conover Opera House, 
have three times erected the Orr Ore Mills, 
and thev ha\-e also taken contracts to erect 
manv of the fine residences and husiness 
blocks of the city. On all sides may be 
seen evidences of their handiwork, which 
stand as monuments to their splendid abil- 
ity. Their fidelity to the terms of a con- 
tract has secured to tiiem a very enviable 
reputation, and the firm of Scudder & Hunt 
takes leadership in their line in Piqua. 

Mr. Scudder was united in marriage to 
Miss Malinda Mahafifey, a daughter of 
Isaiah Mahafifey, of Pennsylvania, and they 
now lun-e two children : Edward C, who is 
an employe of .\rmour & Company, of Chi- 
cago; and Louisa B.. at home. Both are 
graduates of the Piqua high school. Mr. 
Scudder was reared in the faith of the Meth- 
odist church, of which his parents were 
members, and has always attended its ser- 
vices and contributed liberally to its support 
and upbuilding. In politics he is a Repub- 
lican, doing all in his power to promote the 
growth and insure the success of his party. 
Sociallv he is an Odd Fellow, and has filled 
all of the offices in the order. For si.x years 
he served as a member of the city council, 
and for one year was superintendent of the 
water works. He has given liberally of 
both time and money toward advancing the 
prosperity of the city of his nativity. Every 
enterprise calculated U< benefit Piqua has 
found in him a hearty svmpathizer and a 
generous contributur. He is a very busy 
man, yet he is e\er ready to ])ause in the 
midst of his business duties to distribute aid 
to those in need. He is wholly worthy of 
the respect wliich is everywhere accorded 



him, for his name is synonymous witli hon- 
orable dealing and with all that is elexating 
and beneficial to the city and to the indi- 
vidual. 



CONRAD G. SAXZENBACHER. 

As his name indicates, Conrad (iotlieb 
Sanzenbacher is of German birth, and in his 
life he manifests many of the characteristics 
of the Teutonic race. He is now an old and 
highly esteemed farmer of Newberry town- 
ship, and was l)orn in Brackenheim. W'ur- 
temlierg, Germany, January 26, 1834. His 
grandfather, John Sanzenbacher, was a 
farmer of Wurtemberg, and died in that 
country, in 1846. His children were : Jnhn 
George, who came to the United States and 
finally settled in IMahoning county. Ohio ; 
Johanis; .\dam, who served in the German 
army and died in the fatherland ; and Chris- 
topher, who was also a member of the army 
and died in Germany. Those children were 
Ijv the grandfather's first marriage, ami by 
the second marriage he had three children: 
Matthias, who served his country as a sol- 
dier and died in Germany: Gotlieb, who also 
engaged in military service in accordance 
with the laws of his country : and one whose 
name is not remembered. 

Johanis Sanzenbacher, the father nf nur 
subject, was born in \\'urteml)erg, in 1797, 
and married Ann Mary Kramer, whu was 
born in the same place, in 1792. Her first 
husband was Johanis Haas. The father of 
our subject was a farmer, and owned a small 
tract of land which he operated until his 
death, in February, 1853. In the spring of 
1854 his widow, with our subject and his 
sister, her only children, took passage from 
Havre, France, on the saihng vessel Bava- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



soO 



ria, which, twenty-six days later, dropped 
anchor in the harbor of New York. They 
arrived in Piqua, in !\Iarch, 1854, and tlie 
niotlier purchased one hundred and twenty- 
five acres of land in Washington township, 
making her home upon that farm until her 
death in 1870. Her daughter, Christiann. 
married John Schmidlapp and is now the 
widow of Joshua Russell. Her home is in 
Washington township. 

Mr. Sanzenbacher, of this review, at- 
tended the schools of Germany between the 
ages of five and fourteen years, and then lie 
gan working on his mother's farm. He 
also learned the weaver's trade. In 1854 
he accompanied his mother to the United 
States, sailing from Havre on the twentieth 
anniversary of his birth. He worked for 
his mother in Miami county for three years, 
and then went to Dayton, where he was em- 
ployed in a brewery for five years. Subse- 
quently he sijent two years in the Pi(|ua 
brewery, and then, with the capital he had 
acquired, purchased a tract of land near 
Covington. Later he sold that property and 
boug-ht twent_\'-fi\-e acres in Spring Creek 
township, operating- the farm for two years. 
On the expiration of that period he sold it, 
howex'er, and alter renting land for a year, 
he purchased eightv acres of his present 
farm, to which he lias since added a tract 
of eight_\-seven acres. He is an enterpris- 
ing agriculturist, practical and progressive, 
and his well-directed efforts have lirought 
to him a comfortable competence, classify- 
ing him among the substantial citizens of his 
community. 

On the 3rd of March, 1862, Mr. Sanzen- 
bacher was married, in Piqua, to Miss Mar}- 
Ann Kopf, who was born in Sultz, Wur- 
temberg, Germany, July 13, 1843. Then 
in her sixteenth ^'ear. she came alone to 



America and joined her sister in Piqua. Pier 
fatlier was a farmer in the old country. The 
children born to Mr. and Mrs. Sanzenbacher 
are: Ann Mary, at home; Caroline Chris- 
tina, wife of Frank Nettleship, of Newberry 
township; William Lincoln, wdio married 
Jane Nettleship, and is living in \\''ashington 
township; Charles Henry and Edward Ja- 
cob, at home; Matilda, wife of William 
Saxaher, of Piqua ; John, who died in June, 
1899, at the age of twenty-iix years: Emma, 
wife of Charles Ankerman, of Spring Creek 
township; Albert Conrad, Louisa Rachel, 
\\'alter and Elizabeth, all at home. The 
parents hold membership in the St. Paul's 
German Lutheran church of Piqua, and Mr. 
Sanzenbacher gi\'es his political support to 
Democracy. He and his wife are now 
widely known in the community in which 
they reside and enjoy the confidence and 
good will of many friends. 



J. H. MARLIN. 

J. H. Marlin, an attorney-at-hn\", has 
been a practitinner in Cnvington, Ohio, the 
place of his birth, for about fifteen years. 
His father possessed an excellent legal edu- 
cation and was for twenty-one years a mag- 
istrate of the town, .so the subject of this 
sketch was by nature and early opportunities 
well fitted for his chosen profession. 

At the conclusion of his literary training- 
he began the study of the law and was in 
due time admitted to the bar. He possesses 
an exceedingly fine library of law books with 
the contents of which he is well acquainted. 
For nine years Mr. Marlin was a member 
of the Ohio National Guard, and during 



860 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



much of tliat time he served as drum major 
of the Third Regiment band. 

At various times he has served his towns- 
men in the different offices of magistrate, 
mavor and village solicitor, being at pres- 
ent investe<l with the latter office. In addi- 
tion to attending to the needs of his large 
clientage he also finds time to oversee the in- 
terests of a newspaper, The Weekly Tribune, 
Mliich he established January i, 1898, and 
which has. through the assistance of his 
brother, A. L. Marlin, as local editor, 
grown to l)e the most influential newspaper 
in the Stillwater vallev. 



E. W. LAPE. 



Mr. Lape was born in Cincinnati, March 
15, 1848, and is a son of Wiliam H. Lape, 
also a native of that city. The grandfather, 
Jacob Lape, was also a native of Pennsylva- 
nia, and removed to Cincinnati, Ohio, where 
he died of cholera in 1832. ^^■illiam H. Lape 
was there reared and educated, and after 
attaining his majority, he wedded Martha 
Ann Taylor, of that city, daughter of John 
and Sarah (Hook) Taylor, who removed 
from \'irginia to Bracken county, Kentucky, 
and suliscfjuently came to the Buckeye state. 
Mv. Lape, whose name introduces this re- 
view, pursued his education in the schools 
of Newport, Kentucky, in Chickering's Acad- 
emy and in Dr. Hand's Mercantile School, 
of Cincinnati. In 1866, at the age of seven- 
teen years, he began his business career in 
the employ of Nicholas Patterson & Com- 
pany, manufacturers of stoves, hollowware, 
japan, tin and stamped ware. He began 
in the humble capacity of errand boy, but 
his faithfulness and adaptability soon won 



In'm promotion and gradually he was ad- 
vanced to the position of salesman. Later 
lie was given charge of the shipping depart- 
ment. In 1869 he entered the office of W. C. 
Davis & Company, as shipping clerk and was 
advanced step by step, continuing with the 
house through its various vicissitudes and its 
changes of ownership and reorganization. 
In 1889 he came to Picjua, the plant being re- 
moved to this city, and in 1895 he was cho- 
sen to the responsible position as secretary 
and treasurer of the Favorite Stove & Range 
Company, one of the most extensive in Amer- 
ica. This mammoth concern employs more 
than four hundred men in its shops and is 
represented on the road b}' a number of trav- 
eling salesmen. Each department is under 
the care of competent superintendents. There 
are molding, pattern-making, casting, core, 
nickel-plating and japanning departments, 
and each is equipped with the best machinery 
calculated to carry on the business. The out- 
put of the plant is very extensive. So rapidly 
has the business grown that in order to fa- 
cilitate shipments and establish closer con- 
tracts with patrons branch houses were locat- 
ed in New York city, Buffalo, Chicago, St. 
Paul, Omaha, Kansas City,Ottumwa(Iowa), 
La Crosse and Menomonee (Wisconsin), 
Ogden and Salt Lake (Utah), and Baltimore 
(Maryland). The concern is written of at 
large in connection with the sketch of Will- 
iam K. Boal, president of the company, on 
another page of this work 

On ]May 30, 1876, at Newport. Ken- 
tucky, Mr. Lape was united in marriage to 
Mary Machir Simmons, and to them was 
born a daughter, Bessie Louise. His wife 
died February 15, 1879. On October 29, 
1 89 1, at Piqua, Ohio, he married Jeannette 
F. Smith, and to them was born Edward 
Walter and Martha Tavlor. In his social re- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



80 1 



lations Mr. Lape is a Mason, a past master 
and past high priest. He is also past emi- 
nent commander of Newport Commandery, 
No. 13, K. T., of Newport, Kentncky. He 
is an active and inflnential meml^er of the 
Disciple church in Piqua; he is a member of 
the local board of health and at all times is 
actively and deeply interested in everything 
pertaining to the welfare, progress and ma- 
terial and moral advancement of his adopted 
city. As a business man he commands uni- 
versal respect. The business policy which 
he has always followed has been most com- 
mendable. He is methodical, careful and 
thorough, reciuiring that the strictest hon- 
esty must prevail in the establishment, which 
course has won the respect of his associates 
and all with whom he has had dealings. He 
inspires personal friendships of great 
strength and no man is held in higher re- 
gard in Piqua than Mr. Lape. 



LLEWELLYN AP THOMAS. 

As his name indicates, INIr. Thomas is 
of Welsh descent and is a worthy represent- 
ative of that race whose courage, intellec- 
tual strength and reliability in business have 
awakened admiration throughout the world, 
He is small and slight, is energetic and active 
in all his movements and is decided in word, 
look and action. He was born in the city 
of Troy, March 2, 1842, and now, at the age 
of fifty years, gives constant care and atten- 
tion to his extensive floral business. His 
father, William I. Thomas, was born in 
Philadelphia, July 4, 1796, and in 1808 ac- 
companied his parents on their removal to 
Lancaster county, Ohio. He was graduated 
in the Ohio University at Athens, in 181 7, 
and read law with the Hon. Thomas Ewing, 
becoming a practitioner at the bar of Troy 



in 1819. Li 1822 he was appointed post- 
master of this city, and in 1825 was elected 
justice of the peace. He served for six years 
as a prosecuting attorney, and was colonel 
of one of the militia regiments of Ohio. 
For four consecutive years he represented his 
district in the state senate, taking his seat 
as a member of the upper house in 1836. 
On that occasion he spoke for sixteen hours 
against time, until the citizens arrived 
at the capital in such numl)ers that 
the legislators dared not pass an op- 
posing measure which was peculiarly 
obnoxious to the masses. He left the im- 
press of his indi\-iduality upon the legislation 
of the state in the first half of the nineteenth 
century, and was widely recognized as a 
leader of pulilic thought and opinion. On the 
1 2th of September, 1846, he was instru- 
mental in organizing the Miami Agricul- 
tural Society, and was elected its first pres- 
ident, being again chosen to that position in 
1847. His political support was given the 
old-line Whig party until its dissolution, 
when he became a Democrat and canvassed 
the state for Buchanan in 1856. He was a 
man of marked ability in many lines. As a 
friend he was true and tried; as an enemy 
aggressive and brave; as an organizer, 
learned and trustworthy; as an advocate 
powerful and convincing; and as a platform 
orator possessed logic and elocution. He 
was at home among theologians in their deep- 
est discussions, and his opinions, which were 
the result of mature and careful deliberation, 
he was always able to support with forceful 
argument. In social circles he was equally 
at ease, and his power of conversation ren- 
dered him entertaining in the highest degree. 
As a citizen he was high-minded and honora- 
ble, and as a servant of the people he was ex- 
tremely trustworthy and faithful. He 



802 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



\\uiil(l (letend a positinn wliich lie 1)elieved to 
be right Id the \ery last and in the face of 
personal danger, if such was necessary. 

On the 29th of September, 1828, Hon. 
\\'. J. Thomas was united in marriage to 
Lucinda ]\1. Xeal, a native of N'irginia, now 
^^'est \'irginia, where through many genera- 
- )i. the Xeals have been leading and influ- 
ential citizens, statesmen and soldiers.. Mrs. 
Thomas belonged to the same family as Hon. 
Thomas Ewing and Colonel George Clen- 
denun, commandant of the Ohio frontier and 
founder of Charleston, West Virginia, and 
whose daughter married Return Jonathan 
Meigs, governor of Ohio in 18 10, and post- 
master general of the United States in 181 3. 
Through tlie Neals Mr. Thomas, of this re- 
\-iew, is also related to Stonewell Jackson. 
Unto Mr. and Mrs. William Thomas were 
born ele\-en children : Stanley O., an attorney 
at law, was a rebel (jfiicer on the stati' of 
General Kirby Smith, and is now living in 
New Orleans. Walter, who is editor of the 
Miami Union and a lawyer at the bar of 
Trtjy. has been prosecuting attorney of the 
county. He served as a lieutenant in a vol- 
unteer infantry during flie civil war. Gilmer 
T., a legal practitioner of Tro}-, has served as 
mayor of the city. William I., who was 
also a lawyer, served in the Union army dur- 
ing the civil war, and died in early manhood. 
Eugene, who was ajijiointed to Annapolis 
and served in the navy, winning the rank of 
lieutenant commander, and died in 1898, at 
the age of fifty years. Llewellyn Ap is the 
next younger. Three brothers and a sister 
died in childhood before our subject's birth, 
and another brother died subsequently, at the 
age of fourteen years, while a student at 
Marietta College. He was a very briglit 
youth and gave promise of a successful 
future. 



Llewellyn A. Thomas, whose name intro- 
duces this record, attended the first free 
school of Troy. His tastes did not follow 
the family professional bent and led him into 
the ranks of floriculture. His father owned 
what is now known as the Stilwell farm, 
a tract of three hundred and five acres, ad- 
joining Troy, and as his taste led him to 
take up the work of garden and field he 
laboreil upon the farm. With the old-world 
pride of family, the father endowed one son 
with all his land and effects, but he did not 
retain possession of it and the property 
passed into the hands of others. When the 
first tap of war sounded Air. Thomas of 
this re\'iew, prompted by a spirit of patriot- 
ism and \vith an impulsive and brave na- 
ture, responded to the call for troops. He 
enlisted for three months in the Eleventh 
Ohio Lifantry, and on the expiration of that 
Ijeriod joined the army for three years.' He- 
serxed in West \'irginia under General J. 
O. Co.x, participated in the battle of South 
Mountain, the second battle of Bull Run 
and the engagements of Antictam, Mis- 
sicjuary Ridge and Chattanooga, together 
with others of lesser importance. Tiiough 
on many a battle-field where the rebel lead 
fell thick and fast, he escai)ed without in- 
jury, and with an honorable military rec- 
ord he returned to his home, one of the 
brave defenders who preserveil the Union 
when the hand of rebellion would have 
oN'erthrow'u it. 

Returning to Troy, Mr. Thomas en- 
gaged in farming for three years, and in 
1867 he emliarked in business as a florist. 
He had two colts but had no cai)ital. yet 
was strong in his resolute purpose and in- 
domitable industry. These qualities stood 
liim in good stead, and to-day he is one of 
the most extensive and successful florists in 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



803 



this section of the state. He gives con- 
sistent and careful attention to his business 
and lias nine large greenhouses, covering an 
area of an acre and a half, and stocked 
with e\ery variety of plants and flowers. 
He not only understands the practical work, 
but also the scientific, and his thoruugh un- 
derstanding of the business has made him 
familiar with the needs of the various plants 
which he cultivates. Some of his produc- 
tions have been a marvel to florists, and 
have certainly awakened the admiration of 
all lovers of the beautiful. He was born 
with a true artistic instinct and willi a pas- 
sion for flowers which he indulged in early 
days by cultivating blossoming plants upon 
his father's farm. His flower beds often 
at that day contained not only every poinilar 
variety but many rare kinds. In flower dec- 
orations and designs his innate capacity and 
artistic sense find their best expression. 
The products of his greenhouse are in de- 
mand in ail the cities of Ohio and' through- 
out a portion of Indiana. In completing 
and enlarging his establishment he dis- 
played not only wonderful skill as a florist 
but also great mechanical ability, which by 
many is supposed to be wanting in those 
who are particularly fond of the lieautiful. 
He is his own carpenter, glazier, mason, 
plumber and gas and steam fitter, and his 
work is done so perfectly that the temper- 
ature in the green houses is always at the 
proper point, whether the thermometer out- 
side stands at one hundred degrees in the 
shade or at thirty-two below zero, as it was 
in the winter of 1898-9. 

In 1864 Mr. Thomas was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Kate Lee, of Troy, and to 
them have been born five sons : William 
Walter, a successful nurseryman of Davis- 
ville, California; Guy L., who was a cap- 



tain in the Troy militia company that en- 
listed for service in the Cuban war and died 
in 1898, at the age of twenty-eight years; 
Louis Llewellyn, who is his father's able 
assistant in business in Troy; AUyn, who is 
attending the Troy schools; and Leo, who 
is also in school. The youngest son is mak- 
ing i-apid progress in his studies, and is a 
bright and promising lad who is ambitious 
to follow in the footsteps of his uncle Eu- 
gene and become an officer in the navy. 
He knows every detail of the naval actions 
in the Spanish-American war and never tires 
of hearing stories concerning the civil and 
other wars in our country. 

Mr. Thomas is a Presbyterian in relig- 
ious faith and a Republican in his political 
views, as have been all of the other mem- 
bers of the family with the exception of his 
father and elder brother. He is now sur- 
rounded with an interesting family whose 
needs he is not only able to supply but can 
also provide them with many of the com- 
forts of life, as the result of his well-con- 
ducted business affairs. He now enjoys a 
very large and lucrative patronage, his busi- 
ness extending over a wide radius. His 
success is well merited, for it results from 
enterprising effort and honorable dealing. 
His social qualities and the salient features 
of his character commend him to the public 
confidence and regard, and he is recognized 
as a worthy representative of a family that 
has long been prominently connected with 
the history of this community. 



HENRY FOUTS. 

Henry Fonts, who follows farming in 
Union township, was born in the neighbor- 
hood which is still his home, March 12, 
1856, his parents being Aaron and Rachel 



884 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



(Martin) Fonts. His grandfather, Henry 
Fonts, was a native of Soutli Carolina, and 
at an early period in the de\'elopment of the 
Buckeye state took up his abode in Miami 
county. Aaron Fonts was born on the farm 
where the birth of our su1)ject occurred 
and there spent his entire life, de\x)ting his 
energies to agricultural pursuits. He was a 
self-made man financially, and met with a 
fair degree of success in his undertakings. 
His political supjiurt was gi\'en the Ivepnb- 
lican party, l)ut he was never an aspirant 
for office. He died at the age of fifty- 
eight years. His wife, whu was a nati\ e 
of Aliami county, is still living in Troy. 

Henr}^ Fonts passed his boyhood da)-3 
on the home farm, assisting in its cultivation 
and <le\'el()pment' until he was twenty-four 
)'ears of age, wdien he was married and 
purchased the farm which he now owns. 
He wedded Miss Amanda Grise. of Darke 
county, and their union is blessed with twn 
children, — Harrison and Lizzie. Mr. Fonts 
is an enterprising and progressive agricult- 
urist who is systematic, methodical and pro- 
gressive in the prosecution of his labors. 
For eight years he was engaged in the grain 
business in Kessler, where he built an ele- 
vator and carried on operations for almost 
a decade, when he sold out. He built an 
elevator and electric light plant at Antwerp, 
Ohio, which he conducted about eighteen 
months and then sold it. The electric plant 
was tlie first in Paulding county, Ohio. 
He also owns an elevator at Batson, Pauld- 
ing county, but rents that property. He 
built and conducted an elevator at Ludlow 
Falls, l)nt afterward engaging in the grain 
trade there for several years sold that prop- 
erty. He now owns a farm of one hiuidred 
and sixty acres, which he rents, the place 
j'ielding to him a good income. He is a 



wide-awake business man, enterprising, cap- 
able and reliable, and in the conduct ()f his 
business has accumulated a handsome com- 
petence. In his pohtical views he was a 
Republican until 1894, since which time he 
has been connected with the Union Reform 
party. 



\\'ILLL\M F. ROBBINS. 

Actively connected with many leading- 
interests and enter])rises of Piqna, William 
F. Rol)bins through his well directed efforts 
has won a place among the substantial citi- 
zens of the community and has largely pro- 
moted the business activity from which re- 
sults the general prosperity and progress of 
town, county or state. He was born on a 
farm in Brown township, Miami county, 
Ohio, March 25, 1854, being the son of Al- 
vernas and Sarah Ellen (Gearhart) Rob- 
bins. .\l\ernas Rolibins was born in Lost 
Creek township, Miami county, Ohio, De- 
cember 14, 1832. He was the son of Ben- 
jamin and Pamilla (Covault) Robbins. Ben- 
jamin's ancestors were from New Jersey and 
his wife's from Virginia. 

Our subject's great-grandfather. Richard 
Robliins, came to Miami county from Cen- 
terville. Montgomery county, at a very early 
age and entered a piece of land in Staunton 
township, wliereon he remained until the 
time of liis death. In those days the war 
whoop of the savage was a familiar sound 
and the settlers were constantly in danger 
of being massacred. Richard was of Welsh 
stock, which blood was of great advantage 
to him in his pioneer trials. Benjamin was 
the father of eleven children, five of \vhom 
are still living: Sarah, Alvernas, Madison, 
Erastus and Benjamin M. Sarah Ellen 
Gearhart, mother of William F., is the 



■•\ 




fK. 









) 



\ 



-^ 





^ 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



867 



daughter of Daniel and Mary (Beaty) 
Gearhart. She was born in Elizabeth town- 
ship September 12. 1829. Daniel Gearhart 
was but six years old when he came from 
Virginia to Ohio with his father, John 
Gearhart, who was born in Germany. Mary 
Beaty, wife of Daniel Gearhart, was of Irish 
descent, hence it will be seen our subject, 
William F. Robbins, is a combination of the 
best blood in the world, Irish, German and 
Welsh. After their marriage, May 12, 1853, 
Alvernas Robbins worked for some time for 
others, but by dint of industry and rigid 
economy. — looking out for the proverbial 
"rainy day," — in the course of time he man- 
aged to purchase a farm of his own. When 
he thought he was bettering himself he 
would sell and purchase again. Thus he fol- 
lowed the avocation of a farmer until about 
twelve years ago, when he retired and moved 
to Piqua, where he now lives. He is the fa- 
ther of seven children : William F., Mary, 
Lena, Erastus, Bert. James and Charley. 

William F. Robbins, whose name begins 
this record, remained upon the old home- 
steatl until twenty-six years of age. Like 
a dutiful son he assisted his father in the la- 
bors of the fields until he attained his ma- 
jority, when he rented the home farm and 
devoted his energies to the cultivation of 
the soil until 1880, when he came to Piqua. 
For two years he was connected with the 
Straw Board Company and since that time 
has been engaged in the livery business. 
The present firm of Robbins & Moore has 
had a continuous existence of ten years and 
is regarded as one of the leading firms of 
western Ohio. For eighteen years his 
stables have been furnished with the best 
horses and finest vehicles that money could 
buy. He receives from the public a liberal 
patronage by reason of his straightforward 

51 



business methods and his earnest desire to 
please. His efforts, however, have not been 
confined to one line alone, as his wise coun- 
sel and executive ability have successfully 
promoted other business concerns and pub- 
lic interests. 

At the April election of 1890 he was 
elected a member of the council of the city of 
Piqua from the second ward by a majority 
of thirty-seven, being the first Republican 
ever elected to that office in the ward, which 
has a nominal Democratic majority' of about 
three hundred. In 1894 he was elected a 
member of the board of water works trus- 
tees, and immediately following his taking 
the oath of office he was elected president 
of the water works, his time expiring in 
1897. He was again elected to the posi- 
tion and again promptly installed as presi- 
dent of the board and superintendent of the 
water works, and so well and faithfully did 
he discharge the duties of the office that in 
the spring of 1900 he was again elected a 
member of the board for the third time. He 
has made a fight for pure water and the stand 
he has taken on this question has won to 
his support the best citizens of the city. Un- 
der his management the old system, which 
was very defective and has been in the past 
a constant source of expense, has become 
self-sustaining. His recent election was due 
to the stand he took on the necessity of a 
new plant for the city. He is now using 
his best efforts to carry out the will of the 
people as expressed at the polls, in procuring 
a new plant for them with better facilities. 
Mr. Robbins is also president of the county 
board of agriculture, and is active in the 
management of the county affairs, which 
he, together with a most efficient secretary, 
W. I. Tenny, and a capable board, has made 
quite successful, they having held their fifty- 



808 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



third amuial fair. For some years Mr. 
Robbins has taken quite an active interest 
in the exhibitions which have n(_)t only 
formed a source of amusement to the county, 
Init liave done much to stimulate advance- 
ment in agriculture, stock-raising, horti- 
culture and other industries. The associa- 
tion annually pays about six thousand dol- 
lars in premiums, and has good grounds, 
about sixty acres in excellent condition and 
well suited for the purposes intended. 

On the 1 6th of February. 1875. Mr. 
Robbins was united in marriage with ^liss 
Mary H. Riddle, daughter of Planning Rid- 
dle, son of Jacob Riddle, who with his son 
Planning moved from Hamilton county, 
Ohio, where they were born, to ^liami coun- 
ty in 1836. and settled in Staunton township. 
Manning's wife was Miss Lydia Ann Still- 
well, daughter of Joseph Stilhvell, whose an- 
cestors came from New Jersey. The Rid- 
dles are of Irish and Welsh descent. 'Slan- 
ning Riddle served with distinction in the 
ci\il war. His wife being dead, he now 
makes his home among his children. The 
family of Mr. and Mrs. Robbins consists of 
two sons, Lee Carlton and Earl Clvde. 
Their home is a model one. Lee has some 
taste in the line of music, is married to ]\Iiss 
Bertha Singles and resides near his father. 
Clyde, like his brother, has musical talent 
and is an artist of considerable ability. Mr. 
Robbins is a member of the Knights of 
Fythias, believes in the fraternal teachings of 
the order and tries to exemplify them in 
his daily life. He is anything but an idle 
man, his time and attention being fully oc- 
cupied with his private business interests 
and with those of public concern which he 
believes will prove of public benefit. He is 
truly a public-spirited and progressive man, 
withholding his support from no measure 



which he believes will prove of public good, 
and his worth as a man and citizen is widely 
known and acknowledged. 



FORD & COMPAXV. 

The caption of this article is tlie name of 
one of the leading business concerns of 
Miami county, under which title a number of 
enterprising men are e.xtensively engaged in 
the manufacture of vehicle wheels. The 
business was established in 1869, by J. \\'. 
Ford and James Hamlet, both practical me- 
hanics. Prior to that time Mr. Fortl had con- 
ducted a lumber and planing-mill which he 
transformed into a plant for bending wood. 
In 1872 the firm began the manufacture 
of wheels and now the output consists of the 
compressed band wheels, the Sarvan wheels 
and hub wheels. The business was incorpo- 
rated in 1872, and Mr. Ford remained as a 
stockholder and manager until 1875, ^vhen he 
went to Missouri. Dr. E. L. Crane was first 
vice-president and continued in that oftice 
until his death, but Mr. Hamlet retired 
from that enterprise some years before. 
Mr. I'ord was succeeded in the management 
by T. J. Sheets, who filled the position for 
four years, when T. C. Leonard became 
the incmnbent. The outjjut of the works 
was twenty-five sets of wheels per day during 
the first year, since which time the business 
has steadily grown until one hundred sets 
are now manufactured daily, .\bout ten 
thousand dollars were expended in fitting up 
the plant with new and modern machinery. 
\\'hen the factory was erected it stood out- 
side the city limits with few houses near it, 
l)ut the entire section round about is now 
well improved and many residences have 
been erectetl in the vicinity. The present 
officers are Jacob Rohrer, president; \\'. W. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



869 



Crar.e. vice-president ; and Thomas C. Leon- 
ar 1, secretary, treasurer and chief manager. 
The business is capitahzed for fifty-two 
thousand doHars. The plant consists of three 
two-story buildings which are forty by 
sixty feet, fifty by one hundred and sixty 
feet, and fifty by one hundred feet, respect- 
i\el}'. There are also two stock sheds each 
fift}- Ijy one hundred and fifty feet. The en- 
tire area covered is thus sixt}' thousand, 
eight hundred square feet or about four and 
a halt acres. Employment is furnished to 
from sixty to seventy-five men and the pay 
roll amounts to twenty-five thousand dol- 
lars annually. Their lumber is cut direct 
from the trees, which are shipped to the fac- 
tory from Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, the 
best quality of first and second hickory and 
second grade elm being used. The best ma- 
chinery is found in the plant and the market 
for the output extends over many states of 
the Union. The company is not in the trust 
and has none of the overbearing practices 
of the larger corporations. While capable 
ser\ice is demanded on the part of the em- 
ployes, the officers are quick to recognize the 
faithfulness of the workmen and to promote 
them as opportunity offers. For more than 
a quarter of a century some of the employes 
have been connected with the house, a fact 
which indicates the pleasant relations which 
haxe ever existed between the firm and their 
employes. 



HORACE E. WHITLOCK. 

Since 1891 Mr. Whitlock has occupied 
the position of city civil engineer, and his 
long connection with the office is an indica- 
. tion of his marked ability, and the fidelity 
with which he discharges his duties. He 
was born in Piqua, in 1865, and is a son of 



Isaac Johnson \Vhitlock, whose birth oc- 
curred in Butler county, Ohio, in 1828. The 
latter spent his youth in the county of his 
nativity, upon a farm belonging to his father, 
Elias Whitlock. Elias Whitlock wedded 
Mary Johnson. He was a local Methodist 
minister and throughout an honorable and 
upright life exercised a potent influence for 
good in the community in which he made his 
home. He passed away in Piqua in January, 
1880, at the ripe old age of eighty-two years, 
respected by all who knew him. In his fam- 
ily were three Methodist ministers and all 
three have been delegates to the last three 
general conferences of the Methodist church 
in the United States. They are Professor 
\\'. F. Whitlock, D. D., of Delaware Uni- 
versity, Ohio; Rev. E. D. Whitlock, D. D., 
who is pastor of a church in Lima, Ohio; 
and Rev. Stephen Whitlock, D. D., of 
Quincy, Illinois. The other sons of the 
family are John and Arthur Whitlock, both 
of Danville, Illinois. 

Isaac Whitlock, the father of our subject, 
spent the first eighteen years of his life 
upon his father's farm, after which he left 
home and learned the carpenter's trade, 
coming to Piqua in 1851. In i860 he pur- 
chased of Willis Buckles a sash, door and 
blind factory at the corner of Broadway 
and Boone streets. He rebuilt and en- 
larged the factory in 1869 and conducted an 
extensive and profitable business. He was 
an architect and draftsman as well as a prac- 
tical mechanic, and was particularly well pre- 
pared for the business which he made his 
life work. He became a leading contractor 
and builder of Piqua and erected many of 
the finest structures in the city. For one 
term he ser\-ed as a member of the city coun- 
cil and at all times took a deep and com- 
mendable interest in everything pertaining 



870 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



to the welfare of the community. In 1853 
he wedded Miss Alar}- AIcGuyre, of Hamil- 
ton county, who died in 1854, and in 1856 
he married Miss Margaret, daugliter of 
Zachariah Flemerfelt, of Shelby county, 
Ohio, formerly of W'ashington township, 
Miami county. It was there that Airs. 
W'hitlock was born. Mr. Whitlock died Oc- 
tober 20, ,1892. This worthy couple were 
the parents of four children, namely : Wilbur 
F., a builder of Piqua; Mary E., John E., 
who is secretary and treasurer of the L. C. & 
W. L. Cron Company, of Piqua; and Horace 
Eugene, of this review. 

The last named pursued his education in 
the public schools of Piqua and at an early 
day entered his father's employ, working in 
the planing-'mill and also at the carpenter's 
trade. In order to fit himself more fully 
for the practical duties of business life, he 
entered the State University at Columbus, 
Ohio, in 1888, and took a special course in 
civil engineering. He returned in order to 
assist his father in the construction of the 
Plaza block, and in 1891, when there was a 
vacancy in the office of the city engineer, he 
became a candidate and was elected to that 
office, to which he has been re-elected each 
succeeding two years since that time. During 
the period of his incumbency he has dis- 
charged his duties in a most acceptable man- 
ner, successfully carrying on the work of 
providing sewerage system and pavements. 
No higher testimonial could be given than 
the fact of his long continuance in office. 
He is ever conscientious in the discharge of 
his duties and his work has at all times given 
satisfaction. 

Mr. Whitlock was tmited in marriage to 
Miss Norah M. Gilbert, a daughter of Levi 
S. Gilbert, of Gettysburg, Darke county, 
Ohio. Her father was a son of Levi and 



Alaria Gilbert, and was born in Lancaster 
county. Pennsylvania. September 13, 1835, 
coming thence to Darke county with his par- 
ents in 1842. He has here been a successful 
and highly respected citizen. His wife bore 
the maiden name of Rosahna Arn and in 
earl}- life resided in Montgomery county, 
Ohio. Airs. W'hitlock completed her edu- 
cation in the State Normal School and for 
se\eral years successfully engaged in teach- 
ing. She is a lady of culture and refine- 
ment, occupying an enviable position in the 
best social circles of Piqua. Air. and Airs. 
Whitlock have two children, Lester John- 
son and Helen Alay. He is a valued repre- 
sentative of the Odd Fellows society, and 
both he and his wife are consistent and 
faithful members of the Green street Aleth- 
odist church. . A man of unswerving integ- 
rity and honor and one who has a perfect ap- 
preciation of the higher ethics of life. Air. 
Whitlock has gained and retained the confi- 
dence of his fellow men and is distinctively 
one of the leading citizens of Piqua, with 
whose interests he has alwavs been identified. 



PETER F. EAGLE. AI. D. 

Peter F. Eagle, a native of the adjoining 
county of Alontgomery, was born near the 
city of Dayton, Alay 2, 1850. His father, 
David Eagle, was for many years an enter- 
prising farmer of Alontgomery county, 
where his death occurred in 1894. His wife 
bore the maiden name of Eliza (Reedy) 
Eagle, and died in Alontgomery county in 
1895. The Doctor was reared on the home- 
stead farm in the county of his nativity and 
pursued his preliminary education in the dis- 
trict schools. In 1873 he entered Wash- 
ington Lniversity at St. Louis, Alissouri, 
w here he pursued his studies for a year, when 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



871 



having- determined to mal<e the practice of 
medicine his hfe work, he matriculated in the 
St. Louis Medical College, on the first of 
January, 1874. Closely applying himself to 
his books he completed the prescribed 
course in that institution and was graduated 
in March. 1878. On the 3d of June of the 
same year he opened an office for the prac- 
tice of his profession in Troy, and since that 
time has lieen a memlier of the medical fra- 
ternity of this city. 

On the 22d of January, 1879, Doctor 
Eagle was united in marriage to Miss Mary 
Kline, of Troy. Ohio. Unto them have 
been born two children, Mayme and Harry. 
In politics the Doctor is a Democrat, 
stanchly advocating the principles of the 
party. Socially he is connected with the 
Independent Order of Foresters and the 
Ancient Essenic Order. For more than 
twentv years he has resided in Troy, and 
although interested in events of public im- 
portance he gives the greater part of his time 
and attention to his professional duties and 
has won a leading place among the represen- 
tatives of the medical fraternity in Miami 
countv. 



JOTHAM S. ESTEY. 

The origin of the Estey family is lost 
in the remote region of antiquity, but tradi- 
tion says that Francisco Estey was born in 
Italy about the year 1434 and went from 
that country to England. Jeffrey Estey. 
the first of the family in America, was born 
in England, in 1590. and settled at Salem, 
Massachusetts, in 1636. becoming a land 
owner of that locality. Isaac, the next in 
the line of direct descent, was probably born 
in England and was a resident of Massa- 
chusetts. His son Isaac was of the third 



generation, and to the same family belonged 
Mary Estey. who was burned as a witch in 
Salem, in 1692, at the time of the peculiar 
delusion which swept over that section of 
the country, causing many of the best peo- 
ple to be put to death. Richard was the 
representative of the family in the fourth 
generation in the line of descent to our sub- 
ject. His son, Richard, removed to New 
Brunswick, in 1764. He was the father of 
Amos Estey, who was born in 1759 and 
married his cousin, Mary Estey. Their 
son David became the father of our sul)ject, 
and was born in New Brunswick, where he 
was reared. Having arrived at years of 
maturity, he married Ann Knoop, also of 
New Brunswick, and a representative of the 
Knoop family which has so many members 
in Miami county. David and Ann Estey 
came to this county about 1820, locating on 
the farm where their son Jotham was born, 
October 5. 1833. There the parents spent 
their remaining days. The father, who was 
bom July 31, 1792, passed away in 1874, 
and his wife, who was born March 19. 1792, 
died in August, 1873, after a happy mar- 
ried life of sixty years, their wedding hav- 
ing been celebrated September 30. 18 13. 
Both were members of the Lost Creek Bap- 
tist church, and Mr. Estey aided in building 
the house of worship there. He was a very 
close student of the Bible, and was always 
ready to uphold his faith by argument. In 
politics he was a stanch Whig in early life, 
and on the organization of the Republican 
party became one of its stalwart supporters. 
After many years' connection with the Bap- 
tist church his wife became a memlier of 
the ]\Iethodist church and died in that faith. 
At one time Mr. Estey was the owner of a 
large tract of land, but to his children he 
gave considerable land from time to time in 



872 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



order that tliey might lia\e tlie benefit of it 
witliout struggling along for Years in order 
to gain a start in Hfe. In this way he re- 
duced his landed possessions until at the time 
of his death he had but eighty-seven acres. 

In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Estey 
were eleven children, three of whom were 
living in 1900: Michael A., a resident of 
Jasper. Missouri ; Jotham S. ; and Maria, 
wife of James Dixon, of Delta, Iowa. 
Those who have departed this life are: 
James, who resided near Greenville, Darke 
county, Ohio, ami died at the age of eighty- 
four years; William, of Shelby county, who 
died at the age of si.xty-five years ; George, 
who died in Kansas at the age of seventv; 
Charles, who in 185 J went ti.i California. 
where he engaged in ranching and mining 
until his death, at the age of seventy-two 
years: Eunice, deceased wife of Abram Dif- 
fenliaugh, of Delphos, Ohio ; Marv, who be- 
came the wife of John U. Eyer, and died at 
Dayton, Ohio, at the age of seventy years; 
Simnn, who died in Stauntnn township at 
the age of sixty-eight ; and Lucy, who be- 
came the wife of Henry Deweese, has since 
passed away, dying in April, igoo. 

Jntliam Estey is the onh- meml)er of the 
family still living in Miami county, and he 
and Michael are the only sons who survive. 
His boyhood days were spent nn the home 
farm until eighteen years of age. and in 
1852 he went overland to California. He 
and his brother Michael spent the summer 
ir. crossing the plains. dri\ing ox-teams from 
Kanesville, Iowa. They luade their wav 
over the Missouri river on the jtli of May, 
and there joined a large wagon train of 
seventeen wagons and se\enty-three men. 
On the 1 6th of September they arrived at 
Canesville, California, forty miles from Sac- 
ramento, and there Mr. Estey at once be- 



gan mining. l)ut after a iew months secured 
a situation in the pine regions, cutting out 
shingles and boards. During his three 
years' residence on the Pacific coast Mr. Es- 
tey was very successful in his work. He 
and his brother lived together, keeping liach- 
elors' hall, their table sui)plies consisting 
mostly of beans, codfish and corn dodgers. 
During this time Mr. Estey succeeded in 
saving over three thousand tlollars, finding 
that this business was much more profitable 
than mining. He returned by the way of the 
Isthmus route in 1857, and was the jiroud 
possessor of an excellent capital for a young 
man of twenty-two years. He immediately 
invested in the land which is now his home, 
obtaining a ]).'u-tially cleared tract of eighty 
acres, for which be paid thirty-seven hun- 
dred dollars. The substantial buildings 
up<in the [jlace stand as monuments to his 
thrift and enter])rise. the barns having been 
erected in 1858, the home in 1868. He 
now owns four tracts of land, amounting in 
all to tv>() hundred and forty-three acres, 
and three of these are su])plied with excel- 
lent impnnements. He makes a specialty 
of the raising of corn and small grains, and 
feeds such stock as are needed in carrying 
on the farm work. 

Immediately after his return Mr. Estey 
was married, on the 28th of February, 1857, 
to Miss Mary Jane Hosier, a daughter of 
Isaac and Elizabeth ( Frest ) Hosier, of 
Staunton township, in which locality Mrs. 
Estey was born May 6. 1841. She was n(jt 
yet sixteen years of age at the time of her 
marriage. Her father was a native of 
Montgomery county, Ohio, and was of 
Welsh lineage. Her mother belonged to 
the Frest family of Spring Creek township, 
but came to Ohio from South Carolina. The 
union of Mr. and Mrs. Estev has been 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



878 



blessed with five children : Clara, who died 
at the age of twenty-six years, was the wife 
of Sylvester Robbins, of Staunton town- 
ship; Orin, a farmer of Staunton township, 
wedded Martha Small and has two children, 
Mary and Jimmie: Lizzie is the wife of 
Lovell Williams, of Lost Creek township, 
and has two children, Clara and Ray ; Grant, 
a farmer and stock-raiser of Reno county, 
Kansas, was married in that state to Sadie 
Duncan, and has four children, Ralph, 
Clara, Leo and Russell ; Bert remains at 
home, and operates the old farm in connec- 
tion with his brother Orin. There is also 
a niece. Miss Lillie Wells, who is now a 
member of the famih'. 

Mr. and Mrs. Estey are members of the 
Union Baptist church, in which he has 
served as deacon for several years. In poli- 
tics he is a Republican, antl keeps well in- 
formed on the issues of the day. He has 
frequently served as a delegate to the public 
conventions, but has never sought office. 
For several terms he has been a member of 
the school board of his locality. Resolute 
purpose has enabled him to carefully and 
systematicallv prosecute his business affairs, 
and in return for his untiring industry he 
has secured a comfortable competence which 
numbers him among the substantial citizens 
of the neighborhood. 



DAVID MIXXICH. 

David Minnicli, now deceased, was an 
esteemed citizen of Aliami count}-, who for 
many years was actively connected with busi- 
ness interests and public affairs which con- 
tributed to the substantial development and 
progress of the community. He was Iiorn 
in Franklin county, Pennsybania, in 1829, 
a son of George Minnicli. who was also a 



native of the Keysone state, whence he eiui- 
grated westward to Montgomery county, 
Ohio, in 1833. A few years later he re- 
mo\-ed to Miami county. His -wife bore the 
maiden name of N'ancy Shoemaker, and she, 
too, was a native of Pennsylvania. 

The subject of this review accompanied 
his parents to Ohio, and was reared upon 
the home farm until eighteen years of age, 
when he came to Pleasant Hill and entered 
the service of A. W'hitmer, to learn l)lack- 
smithing'. He ser\ed an apprenticeship of 
three years, and during the first two years 
recei\-ed forty dollars and board in ci^mpen- 
sation for his services. On the comiiletion 
of his term of apprenticeship he emliarked 
in business on his own account, establish- 
ing a blacksmith shop and also engaging 
in the manufacture of carriages and wagons. 
He followed that pursuit for a quarter of a 
century, after which he gave his attention 
to the supervision of his fine farm. His 
marked industry and enterprise were 
crowned with a high degree of success, and 
he made judicious investment of his capital, 
becoming the' owner of a valuable tract of 
land of one hundred and twenty-six acres. 
This he placed under a high state of culti- 
vation, the well-tilled fields bringing tn him 
a golden tribute in return for the care and 
labor he bestows upon them. 

On the 24th of Septemlier, 1850, ]\Ir. 
Minnich was united in marriage to Miss 
Malinda Deeter, and they became the par- 
ents of the following children : \'i(.)na, 
Fanny and Martha, all of whom are de- 
ceased : Christiana, wife of Perry Jay : and 
William, at hoiue. His fellow citizens, rec- 
ognizing his worth and ability, frequently 
called Mr. Minnich to positions of public 
trust, and for thirty consecutive years he 
served as trustee of Newton township. He 



874 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIQGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



was also a member cif the scIkkjI board and 
of tlie council for a long period, and in these 
Aarious offices he discharged his duties with 
marked promptness and fidelity, winning the 
confidence and trust of all concerned. His 
political support was given the Republican 
party and he kept well informed on the is- 
sues of the day. He held membership in 
the Dunkard church, to which his wife also 
belongs, and was a man of strong purpose, 
sterling worth and high nuiral character. 
At all times and under all circumstances he 
commanded the respect and confidence of his 
fellow men, and when he was called to his 
final rest, on the 20th of Decemlier, 1898, 
the entire conmumity mourned his loss. His 
\\idow still survives him, and is an esteemed 
resident of Pleasant Hill, where she has 
man\' warm friends. 



CHARLES THACKARA. 

Xo man in Lost Creek townshi]), Miami 
county, has gained a higher degree of suc- 
cess than Charles Thackara, and his life dem- 
onstrates the i)ossiliilities that lie before those 
who are not afraid to wdrk in this great re- 
public where effort and talent are not ham- 
pered by caste or class and one may steadily 
adxance on the road to prosperity if he has 
but the resolution to overcome olistacles and 
difficulties and the determination to persist 
in a given purpose. It is such ((ualities that 
have gained Mr. Thackara his present high 
financial standing, and now in his old age he 
is enabled to enjo}' many of the comforts 
and lu.xuries of life. . 

His ancestral histor}- can be trace^l back 
to John and Christian (Joses) Palmer, wiio 
came from ^'orkshire, England, to America 
in 1083. locating in Lower Makefield town- 
ship, r.ucks ciiunt}-. Penns_\-l\ani;i. They had 



a family of fourteen children, the tenth be- 
ing Rachel Palmer, who was married, in 
1724, to James Thackara, who came from 
Durham, England, in 1719, and was the first 
of the name to locate in ,\merica. Their 
son, JamesThackara, married Esther Brown, 
and among- their children was Amos Thack- 
ara, who married Sarah Johnson. Their 
son, Amos Thackara, Jr., liecame the father 
of our subject. He was wedded, in 1809, 
to Ann Carson, and unto them were born 
the following children : Sarah, wIkj became 
the wife of Isaiah Stockton and removed 
to Bucks county, Pennsylvania ; James, \\ho 
v,as twice married and had three daughters, 
two of whom are yet living, and a son who 
died, leaving one child, Ed Thackara, of 
Addison, Ohio ; Charles, whose name intro- 
duces this review ; John, who for many 
years has been a farmer of Lost Creek town- 
ship and is now living in Casstown, Ohio, 
at the age of seventy-three years ; Rachel 
Martin and Susan Booz, deceased ; Anna 
Maria, wife of Jonathan \\'arner, deceased; 
Ann Eliza, wife of Joseph Fish, deceased; 
Ruth, who became the wife of Daniel Hvde, 
and for a time was a resident of Lost Creek 
township, but is now living in Columbiana 
county, Ohio; George, a farmer li\-ing in 
California; and Amanda M., wife of Sam- 
uel Warner, of Clark cinmty. deceased. 

Charles Thackara. whose name intro- 
duces this review, was born September 2, 
1813, in Bucks county, Pennsyhania, and 
was there reared to manhood. The first 
money which he secured was obtained by 
selling a horse. He became the possessor of 
an old blind horse which he cared for for six 
months and then disposed of it. thus gaining 
the nucleus of his present handsome fortune. 
His life has been one of untiring industry. 
When he attained his majorit}' he began 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



875 



Avorking for a man in whose emplny he re- 
mained six years, receiving one hun(h"ed and 
forty dollars per year. At the end of each 
year he took a note for the amount and, 
in order to meet his necessary expenses, he 
hauled goods to the Philadelphia market. 
At the end of six years he had his wages 
intact, having saved altogether nine hundred 
dollars. 

On the i/th of March, 1841. in Bucks 
Cdunt}-, Pennsyh'ania, 'Slv. Thackara married 
Catherine Searls, a daughter of Joseph and 
Ahigail (Walton) Searls, who died in Cath- 
erine's infancy. Mrs. Thackara was long a 
faithful companion and helpmeet to her hus- 
band, they having traveled life's journey 
together for more than half a century. Her 
death occurred March 26, 1893, at the age of 
seventy-eight years. Immediately after their 
marriage they came to Ohio, making the 
journe\' in an old style, covered wagon from 
their home in Bucks county, to Pittsburg, 
from wliich place they came down the Ohio 
river. ^Ir. Thackara's brother, James, had 
already established a home in Aliami county, 
and Charles Thackara took, up his abode in 
Lost Creek townsliip, three miles northeast 
of Casstown. His wife had been a resident 
of Philadelphia and it was a great change for 
lier to leave the comforts and luxuries of life 
there and endure the privations of a pioneer 
farm in Ohio. In 1850 they removed to the 
farm now occupied by their son, Alonzc). 
The place comprises about one hundred and 
thirty-one acres, for which he paid twenty- 
seven hundred dollars and about half of the 
land had been cleared. In order to place tlie 
fields in a good condition for cultivation, Mr. 
Thackara planted a clover crop and spent all 
of one winter in threshing it, tramping out 
the seed with horses. He hauled it to Day- 
ton in order to make the last payment upon 



liis farm. (Jn one occasion he gave three 
acres of a wheat crop for the first teapot 
which his wife owned. They experienced 
many trials and difficulties and practiced the 
closest economy in order to gain a start, but 
as the years advanced and his financial re- 
sources increased, they were enabled to add 
many comforts to their home. Mr. Thackara 
was an untiring worker and his labors 
brought to him gcind financial returns. He 
engaged both in grain and stock farming and 
now both branches of his business are profit- 
able source of income. He would purchase 
young stock which he fed and fattened until 
it was grown, when he disposed of it at good 
prices. About i860 he began adding to his 
real estate and kept increasing it from time 
to time until he was the owner of ten farms, 
comprising nearly twelve hundred acres. 
Nearly all of these farms were improved with 
good buildings and all were rented with the 
exception of the homestead. He also loaned 
money in Miami and adjoining counties, ob- 
taining good security for the same. In 1900 
he still owns three of the farms, but the re- 
mainder have been given to his children, thus 
enabling them to get a good start in life. 

In 1893, after the death of his wife, Mr. 
Thackara decided to assist each of his chil- 
dren. At their marriage he had given to 
each of his daughters three hundred dollars, 
and in the year menti(.)ned he gave to each of 
his sons and daughters a farm, making their 
shares equal. Through a long period of un- 
tiring industry' and close economy and as the 
result of judicious investments, he had ac- 
quired about one hundred thousand dollars. 
He worked hard until he was more than fifty 
years of age, since which time he has given 
careful attention to the management of his 
property and capital, so placing the latter that 
it has brought him good returns. He is very 



876 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



liberal in luans, but belie\-es in collecting each 
cent due him and is just as careful and exact 
in making every payment. F(ir the past three 
years Mr. Thackara has been almost blind 
owing to cataracts. In 1891 he met with an 
accident, his Iniggy being struck l)y a car in 
Urbana. and since that time his health has 
been more or less affected. In politics he has 
alwas voted with the Repulilican party but 
has never sought office. A man of domestic 
tastes, he has seldom been found away from 
home at night and for thirty years after his 
arrival in the county he was never away 
from it. 

Unto Mr. and Airs. Thackara have been 
born nine children, including three pairs of 
twins. William H.. who died at the age of 
forty-four ^-ears. was one of twins, the other 
having died in infancy: Albert B. is now a 
worthy resident of Lost Creek township; 
Martha A. is the wife of Samuel W. Helvie, 
cf New Carlisle, Ohio; Mary D., twin sister 
of Martha, is the wife of William Green, Jr., 
of Lost Creek township ; James died in in- 
fancy ; Alonzo J. is a prominent farmer of 
Lost Creek township; Rosalin. his twin sis- 
ter, died in infancy; and Abigail .\. wedded 
Galiriel Pence and after his death became the 
wife of Joseph Knight, of Casstown. 

Alonzo J. Thackara, now one of the lead- 
ing and influential agriculturists of Lost 
Creek township, was Ijorn on the 3rd of Feb- 
rary, 1850, in the townshii) where he yet re- 
sides and when four weeks old was brought 
to his present home. He was early trained 
to habits of industry and economv upon the 
h;ome farm, and on attaining his majority 
lit began operating the farm on shares. He 
was married, September 16, 1874, to Eliza 
Green, and the same day his brother Albert 
married Irene Rogers. Together they made 
a trip to the east, visiting the old Thackara 



home in Bucks county, Pennsyhania, and 
spending a month in Trenton, Philadelphia 
and other places. .\lonzo's father erected a 
home for him and the parents remained with 
the son until the mother's death. Three 
weeks later the old home burned and the fa- 
ther nearly lost his life in the fire. He after- 
ward li\ed with his daughter, Mrs. Pence, 
until her husband's death, and since that time 
he has lived with his daughter, Mrs. (jreen. 
In 1897 Alonzo erected his present residence 
at a cost of three thousand dollars. It is iine 
of the most beautiful country-seats in the 
r.eighborhood, built in modern style of archi- 
tecture and tastefully furnished. He has 
added one hundreil and twenty-five acres to 
the old home place and is sticcessfully en- 
gaged in general farming and feeding stock. 
He ships his own stock, and his creditable 
business methods enable him to gain success 
in his undertakings. The hi^me of ]\lr. and 
Mrs. Thackara is blessed with a daughter, 
Fairy (i., a culfured young lady who was 
educated in Shepardson College, in Granville, 
Ohio. Mr. Thackara, his wife and daughter 
are members of the Casstown Baptist church, 
and he belongs to .\ddison Lodge, I. O. O. 
V. The famil\- is one of prominence in the 
community, having been identified with the 
agricultural interests of Miami countv lor al- 
most si.xt}' years, and no history of the com- 
numity would I)e complete without mention 
of those whose life records form the subject 
matter of tin's article. 



WTLI.IAM JOHN DOSS. 

An enterprising farmer living in Xew- 
berry township, William John Doss has for 
a number of years been identified with ag- 
ricultural ])ursuits in this locality. He was 

born in Mechlenburg. Prussia, on the 7th 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



877 



of October, 1829. His father, Henry Doss, 
worked as a farm hand in Mechlenburg', 

wliicli was also the place of his nati^■ity. He 
married Jilary Foss and in 1853, with his 
wife and three children, he emigrated to the 
United States, taking passage at Hamhnrg 
on a sailing vessel, which reached Onehec 
after a x-oyage of ten weeks and three days. 
The \oyage was attended with considerable 
danger, for in lieavy fogs they drifted from 
their course and almost struck upon ice- 
bergs.- On reaching Ohio they made their 
way to the home of their son William, who 
x\as then lixing in Pomeroy county, and the 
three sons of the family learned the carpen- 
ter's trade and afterward went to the state 
of Iowa, where, in connection with their fa- 
ther, they entered land from the government, 
including the ])resent site of Sicux City. 
There were only a few log cabins there when 
the town was laid out and the-\- ilix'ided their 
land into town lots and sold them at an ex- 
cellent profit. Mr. Doss and his wife both 
died in Sic^nx City. Iowa, alxnit 1870. Their 
children were: John, wlio is now li\-ing in 
Sioux City; William J., of this review; 
Frederick. (}f Sioux City; and Christian, or 
Christopher, who is conducting an extensix'e 
hotel in Sioux Cit}'. William J. Doss jxir- 
sued his etlucation in the public schools of 
his natix'e land until fourteen years of age. 
He then wont to wiirk on a farm, and at the 
age of twenty-three he had saved money 
enough to pay his passage to the United 
States. He l)elie\-ed that he would benefit 
his financial condition by emigrating to the 
United States, and accordingly, in May, 
185.2, he sailed from Hamburg, reaching 
Quebec, Canada, after a voyage of seven 
weeks. He did ncjt locate in the Dominion. 
howe\er, but made bis way to Cleveland, 
Ohit), where he worked on the railroad for 



a time. He was afterward employed on 
boats on the Ohio river, but he had natural 
ability for carpentering and followed that 
pursuit for some time. His life was one 
of marked industry and the success that he 
has achie\ed has been the natural result of 
his well-directed labors. 

Mr. Doss was married in Waterloo, 
Ohio, in 1853, to Miss Sophia Collmorgan, 
who came to the United States with her 
husband's parents in 1853. She was liorn 
May 15, 1832, in Mecklenburg, I''russia, 
and, ere Mr. Doss sailed for the new world, 
their troth was plighted. She accordingly 
came with his parents to the United States 
and the marriage was celebrated soon after 
their arrixal. Her father was Henrv Coll- 
morgan, a farmer, who died in Mecklenburg, 
Germany, in 1838. Her mother bore the 
maiden name of Hanna Peterson, and died 
alxjut 1863. Their children were: Fred, 
who came to the United States in 1852, and 
is now living in St. Louis, Missouri ; Mrs. 
Doss; Charles, who came to the United 
States in 1855, served in the civil war and 
is now engaged in farming near Pi(|ua; 
John, who came to this countrv in 1859, 
and at St. Louis enlisted in the Unitm armv 
and was killed in battle; and Christ, who is 
still living in Mechlenburg, Germany. In 
1863 they took up their abode ui>on a farm 
in Xewberrv township, Miami count\-, where 
our subject secured sixty acres of land, to 
which he added a tract of ten acres. l-"or 
some years they resided in a log cabin which 
stood on the place, but they now have a C( mi- 
fortable frame residence which stands in the 
midst of a well-developed farm, the highly 
culti\'ated fields yielding a golden tribute in 
return for the care and lalior bestowed upon 
them by the owner. 

The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Doss has 



878 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



been blessed with eleven children, namely : 
Mary, who was born November 29, 1855, 
died May 10. 1870; Charles, born March 
19. 1857, resides at Conover. Ohio, and mar- 
ried .Mice Ward, by whom he has two chil- 
dren — Ernest L. and Bessie: Annie, who 
was born January 13, 1859, became the wife 
of John Cookson and died in \\'orthington. 



Indiana, December 28, 1898, leaxing four 
children — Bertha E., John, George and Ben- 
jamin F. : \\'illiam, born Alarch 2T). 1861, 
resides in Picjua ; Louisa, born February 28, 
1863. married Charles Morrow and resides 
in Spring Creek township, Miami county; 
Rosa, born October 16, 1864, died January 
30, 1866: George, born March 2^. 1867, 
married Janet Dinsmore and resides in Piq- 
ua; Sarah, born October 13, 1868, the wife 
of Henry Yenney, of Piqua, by her mar- 
riage becoming the mother of two children 
—Walter E, and Albert LeRoy : Ella, born 
October 6, 1870, died March 24, 1885: 
Frank, born July 26, 1872, married Bessie 
Gunnette, and resides in Atlanta, Illinois; 
and Harry, born April 8, 1877, married Rose 
Sell and resides in Piqua. The parents of 
these children are members of the Lutheran 
church, and are people of sterling worth, 
who exemplify their Christian belief in their 
daily lix'es. Politically he is a Democrat, 
imswer\ing m iiis advocacy of the princi- 
ples of the party. A self-made man, he has 
worked his way steadily upward. When 
he located on his farm he had a capital of 
only fi\e hundred dollars with which to make 
payment, and thus incurred an indebted- 
ness of twenty-seven hundred dollars. The 
land was swampy and covered with stumps, 
but the latter he cleared away, and then tiling 
the land, placed it under cultivation. He 
has made many substantial improvements 
on his farm which is now a monument to his 



thrift and industry. He left his little Ger- 
man home across the sea to seek his fortune 
in the new world, and has never had occa- 
sion to regrret the step then taken, for op- 
portunities lie before every man of energy 
and enterprise, and by resolute will guided 
by sound judgment all may achieve suc- 
cess. Air. Doss has not only gained a com- 
fortable property, but has won many warm 
friends in his adopted state. 



DAVID MANSON. 

David Alanson has reached the seventy- 
seventh milestone on life's journey, and has 
always been a resident of Miami county. 
He has. therefore, witnessed much of its 
growth and de\-elopment, and has taken a 
just pride in its upbuilding and progress. 
The farm now owned by David Manning, 
and situated two and a half miles from 
Fletcher, was his birthplace, his natal day 
being June 11, 1823. His ancestry can be 
traced back to the Emerald Isle. His grand- 
father, David Manson, was born in Ireland, 
and in colonial days crossed the Atlantic to 
the new world, allying his interests with 
those of the colonists. The yoke of IJritish 
oppression rested heavily, and when an at- 
tempt was made to secure liberty he joined 
the army and lnyally participated in the Rev- 
olutionary war. After its close he took up 
his abode in Pennsylvania, and was there 
married. Subsequently he removed with 
his family from the Keystone state to Ohio, 
making the journey by team, and cluring 
the pioneer epoch in the history of Miami 
county he settled in what is now Brown 
township. There he purchased eighty acres 
of land and erected a log cabin, which was 
used as a fort in an early day for protection 
against the Indians. When the country 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



87& 



became involved in war with England he 
once more joined the army, participating in 
its campaigns in the northwest. He lived 
to be an old man, and died in the faith of 
the Presbyterian church, of which he had 
long lieen a member. 

Morton Manson, the father of our sub- 
ject, was born January 5. 1796. in Pennsyl- 
\'ania, and accompanied his parents on tlreir 
emigration to this state. He married Cath- 
erine Smith, whose birth occurred June 25, 
1796, their wedding being celebrated De- 
cember 31, 1818. The following children 
were Inirn unto them: Josiah S., who was 
liiirn June 19, 1821, and died in 1880; Mary, 
who was born April 25, 1825, and is the wife 
of Henry Arnhart ; Jane, who married John 
White ; William, a physician of Kansas ; 
Melissa; John; Eliza, widow of Lewis Co- 
vault, of Kansas : James, who is living in the 
Sunflower state: and Alahlon, who is also a 
resident of Kansas. Upon the farm where 
the grandfather located Morton Manson 
made his home until 1855, and throughout 
almost the entire century representatives of 
the family have been actively identified with 
agricultural interests in this county. 

Mr. Manson, of this review, was born 
and reared on the old family homestead, 
where he remained until 1846, when he went 
to Fletcher, and in addition to the operation 
of his farm he there conducted a grocery 
store for five years. On the expiration of 
that period he removed to Spring Creek 
township, where he rented land for six years 
and then returned to the old homestead and 
took charge of the property. In March. 
1858, he removed to the farm where he now 
lives, and for more than forty years it has 
been his home. He here owns eighty acres 
on section 12, Spring Creek township, and 
in addition to general farming he has en- 



gaged in the purchase and sale of cattle for 
a quarter of a century. All of the improve- 
ments upon his place stand as monuments 
to his thrift and enterprise, and his farm is 
now one of the best developed in the locality. 
On the 3rd of September, 1848, Mr. 
Manson was united in marriage to Miss 
Elizabeth Covault, who was reared in Mont- 
gomery county. They now have nine chil- 
dren : Catherine A., wife of Fred Cleland ; 
Clarissa B., now deceased; Isadora, wife of 
Frank ^^'ebster ; James L. ; John : Har\-ey 
>\'. : Memory M. R. ; May, wife of Delos 
Miles; and Theodore P., who died in in- 
fancy. Mr. Manson gives his political sup- 
port to the Democracy, and for thirteen 
years has served as trustee of Spring Creek 
township, discharging his duties with 
marked fidelity and ability. He obtained 
his education in a log building where school 
was conducted on the subscription plan, so 
that his privileges in that direction, as along 
other lines, was very limited. The enter- 
prise and determination which have char- 
acterized his business career have been im- 
portant elements in his success, and stand 
in exemplification of the fact that opportu- 
nity lies before all who are energetic, ambi- 
tious and resolute. 



BENJAMIN S. BASHOR. 

Among the farmers who have left the 
plow to live retired is Benjamin Bashor, of 
Covington, whose rest is well earned, for 
through many years his life was one of 
marked industry and toil, whereby he ac- 
quired a handsome competence. He has 
manifested in his life the sterling character- 
istics of his Teutonic ancestors. His great- 
grandfather came to America from Germany 
at an early day in the history of this coun-. 



880 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



try and settled in Berks county, Pennsyl\a- 
nia: He was a farmer by occupation, and 
•was a member of tbe Lutlieran church. His 
son. Michael Bashor, grandfather of our 
sul)ject. was born and died in Berks county, 
Pennsylvania, his attention being devoted to 
the work of the farm. His children were : 
Michael, who became owner of the old home- 
stead, which was his place of residence until 
his death: Benjamin, and Catherine, who 
became Mrs. Myers. 

Benjamin Bashor. the father of our sub- 
ject. li\ed upon the old homestead in Berks 
county through the days of his childhood 
and youth, being reared in the usual man- 
ner of farmer lads. He was married in 
that locality to Susan Searer, also a native 
of that CDunty and a daughter of John 
Searer. After his marriage he removed to 
Juniata county, Pennsyh'ania. and purchased 
a farm near McAllistersville. In 1840 he 
left the Keystone state, and with his wife 
and children came to Ohio, making the jour- 
ney in a wagon drawn by four horses. 
They were upon the road for about three 
weeks. From that fall until the following 
spring they lived four miles from Fairfield, 
Greene county, and in the latter date came to 
I\Iiami county, the father purchasing two 
farms in Xewton township, near Pleasant 
Hill. He located on the one now owned 
by his daughter, Mrs. Polly Keister, and 
■when well advanced in years he and his wife 
made their home with their sons, Michael 
and Benjamin, and when the latter went on 
a visit to Pennsylvania, the father went to 
live \\itli his daughter. Mrs. Keister. While 
there he was taken ill and died, in 1875, ^t 
the age of eighty-three years. The mother 
passed away in 1871. at the age of 
eighty-four years. In their family 
v.ere eight children: Michael, who mar- 



ried Henrietta Senseman and died at Pleas- 
ant Hill, at the age of eighty-three years, 
having survived his wife about three years ; 
Katy, who is the widow of Jacob Sighman, 
and is living in Brandt, Miami county, at 
the age of eighty-eight years; Elizabeth, 
who is the widow of John Sighman. of New- 
ton township, and is now sixty-six years of 
age; Polly, who is the widow of Peter Keis- 
ter and lives in Newton township, at the age 
of eighty- four; Susan, who is the widow of 
Daniel Landis, and is living in Dayton, at 
the age of eighty; Benjamin S., of this re- 
view; George, who is living in Washington, 
at the age of seventy-four years, but lost 
liis wife, who bore the maiden name of Tina 
Deeter, and died in Washington ; and Dan- 
iel, who married Maria Keester, and is liv- 
ing in Dayton, aged seventy-two years. 

Benjamin S. Bashor was born on the 
24th of October, 1824, near McAllistersville, 
Juniata county, Pennsylvania, on a farm 
there owned by his father. He began his 
education in the schools of his native town, 
where his instruction was in the Dutch 
tongue. He was sixteen years of age when 
he accompanied his father to Miami county. 
and here he attended English schools. He 
aided his father in the work of developing 
and improving a new farm, and in his early 
life greatly enjoyed hunting, the forests with 
their wild game furnishing him ample op- 
portunity to indulge in this sport. He was 
reared to manhood on the old homestead in 
Newton township, and on attaining his ma- 
jority he was married. He then located on 
a farm of eighty acres in Newton township. 
His father and father-in-law together made 
a payment of nine hundred dollars on the 
place, and Mr. Bashor paid the lialance. He 
engaged in farming from 1847 ""t^i' 1888, 
when he removed to Covington, where he 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



881 



has since lived a retired life. He was a 
very successful agriculturist, and his efforts, 
prosecuted along the liries of practical labor, 
brought to him-a good financial return. He 
placed his land under a high state of culti- 
vation, erected a fine brick residence, good 
barns and other outbuildings, and in course 
of time had one of the most valuable and 
desirable properties in his section of the 
county. As his financial resources increased 
he made judicious investments of his capi- 
tal by adding to his landed interests, and in 
addition to the home farm became the 
owner of a tract of one hundred and twentv 
acres, two tracts of eighty acres and another 
farm of seventy acres. To his son John 
he gave the farm of one hundred and twenty 
acres, to his son Levi an eightv-acre farm, 
to his daughter, Mrs. Sarah Dorman, an 
eighty-acre tract, and to his son Simon the 
old home property. In 1847 Mr. Bashor 
was united in marriage to Miss Tina Deeter, 
n daughter of Abraham Deeter, of Newton 
township. She died in 1849, ^"d Mr. Ba- 
shor was again married, his second union 
being with Susan Martin, of Darke county, 
a daughter of Jacob Martin. She died in 
Covington, Ohio, and for his third wife Mr. 
Bashor chose Mary Miller, of Muncie, In- 
diana. His children were all born of the 
second marriage, namely : John, a farmer 
of Newton township, who married Jane 
Moist ; Mary Ann, who became the wife of 
Levi Landis and died in Newberry town- 
ship; Susan, who died at the age of nine- 
teen years; Sarah, who became the wife of 
William Dorman and died in Newton town- 
ship; Levi, of Newton township, who mar- 
ried Miss Myers; and Daniel, of Dayton, 
Ohio, who married Maria Keister; and Si- 
mon, who married Carra Hartel. 

Mr. Bashor has traveled extensively, vis- 



iting twenty-five different states of the 
Union, and lias gained that knowledge and 
culture which only travel can bring. In 
1896 he spent three months in California, 
Texas and the southern states. He also 
visited the city of Washington, and prior 
to that time visited his old home in Juniata 
county, Pennsylvania. He also traveled in 
Michigan the same year, and in the spring of 
1899 he made an extended visit in Virginia. 
In October following he went to Texas, re- 
turning in the spring of 1900. He has vis- 
ited many points of interest in various sec- 
tions of the country, and his mind is stored 
with interesting reminiscences of his trav- 
els. In early life he became a member of 
the Dunkard church, but in 1898 he joined 
the Christian church. In politics he is a 
stanch Re]5ublican, but has never sought or 
desired office, preferring that his attention 
should be given to his business aft'airs, in 
which he has met with signal success. 



SAMUEL \\1XAXS. 

Samuel Winans was born near Eliza- 
beth, New Jersey. November 21, 1805, his 
parents being John and Mary Winans. They 
had but two children. John C. and Samuel. 
The mother, accompanied liy her two chil- 
dren, came to Ohio with her parents, the 
journey being made by team. They located 
in Staunton township, Miami county, upon 
a tract of government land which her fa- 
ther entered. Our subject was at that time 
only two years of age, and therefore almost 
his entire life has been passed in Miami 
county. He was reared to manhood while 
it was a frontier settlement, and experienced 
all of the hardships and trials of pioneer life. 
One who \isits this beautiful and fertile sec- 
tion of the state with its finely developed 



882 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



farms can scarcely realize the chan<(es which 
have heen wroug-ht in the past half century. 
The forests stood in their primeval strength, 
but trees fell before the sturdy strokes of 
the woodman's ax, and then the track of 
the plow was seen across the fields, giving 
indication (jf coming harvests. Mr. Winans 
was among those who took an active part 
in reclaiming this land for purposes of civili- 
zation. In 1827 he made the journey on 
foot to Cincinnati, and there entered eighty 
acres, thus becoming owner of a tract on 
section 11. S])ring Creek township. The 
deed to the place was signed by John Quincy 
Adams. In 183 1 he entered an adjoining 
eighty-acre tract, and upon his first purchase 
of government land he erected a log cabin. 
He also built a saw-mill in the early '30s, 
and operated it for many years, manufac- 
turing much of the lumber that was used 
by the early settlers in this section of the 
county. He also carried on farming, and 
from the time of his marriage until his death 
he lived ujion the farm which is now the 
home of his daughter, Mrs. Drusilla Gear- 
hart. 

On the 26th of September, 1833, Mr. 
Winans was joined in wedlock to Miss 
Phoebe Ayers, whose birth occurred in Ham- 
ilton county, Ohio, in 1813, and who came 
to Miami county with her father, Benjamin 
H. Ayers, who located in Spring Creek 
township in 1831, taking up his abode on 
the farm now owned by Mrs. John Speel- 
man. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Winans were 
born the following children : John C, who 
died October 4, 1859, at the age of twenty- 
three years; Darius, who died in childhood; 
James, who also died in early life; Drusilla; 
Mary C, who died at the age of seven years; 
and Jasen, who died November 4, 1879. The 
father of this family was called to his final 



rest February 29, 1872. He was a Repub- 
lican in his political views, and was a suc- 
cessful farmer who left a valuable property 
of one hundred and forty acres. His re- 
mains were interred in the old Winans ceme- 
tery, now the Raper cemeterj', in Staunton 
townshi]), and in his death the community 
lost one of its most valued and highly re- 
spected citizens. His wife, surviving him 
for many }-ears, passed away March 24, 
1899, at the age of eighty-six, her death re- 
sulting from a paralytic stroke. Their onl}' 
li\ing chikl is Drusilla, who was born in 
Spring Creek township, April 8, 1843, and 
is the wife of \Villiam R. Gearhart. They 
had two children: Lenora, now the wife 
of Edmond Cox, of Piqua, by whom she 
has (me daughter, Ethel; and Nettie, wife of 
Charles Deweese. by whom she has two 
sons, Wilbur G. and Frederick. During the 
civil war Mr. Gearhart enlisted as a private 
of Company K, One Hundred and Forty- 
seventh Ohio Infantry, on the 30th of Ma}^ 
1864, and died at Fort Ethan Allen, at 
Washington, on the iith of July of the 
same year, his death resulting from typhoid 
fever. His widow is now the owner of one 
hundred acres of land which was entered by 
her father from the government. She is a 
worthy representative of one of the old pio- 
neer families, and is a lady of sterling worth 
whose many excellent qualities have gained 
her a large circle of friends in the com- 
munity. 



JOSEPH F. GEIGER. 

One of the most prominent contractors 
of Miami county is Joseph F. Geiger, of 
Piqua, whose extensive business affairs are 
an indication of his skill and ability in the 
line of his chosen calling. Two qualities 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



883 



are absolutely essential to success in such a 
work, and these are a thorough understand- 
ing of the business in all of its departments 
and the utmost reliability in all transactions. 
Ir both of these essentials Mr. Geiger is well 
qualified, and his business has now assumed 
extensive proportions. He is a son of 
Frank Xavier Geiger, a contractor in brick 
and stone work. His father came to Amer- 
ica from Wurtemberg, Germany, in 1854. 
and followed the stonemason's trade, which 
ht had learned in the old world. Industry, 
economy and capable management have 
gained to him a comfortable competence. 
His life has been one of untiring effort and 
he is still living, a hale and hearty old gen- 
tleman. He yet occasionally assists his son 
in periods of rush of business, but he and 
his wife are practically living retired, en- 
joying many comforts as the result of faith- 
fulness in the years of former toil. From 
1854 until i8qo he was numbered among 
the leading contractors of Piqua, and many 
of the fine buildings of the city stand as 
monuments to his thrift, ability and enter- 
prise, including the Plaza Hotel, the Orr 
Statler block, the Malt House, tlie Cron 
Furniture Factory, the electric light plant, 
and many other important buildings, besides 
numerous private residences. In religious 
belief they are German Catholics. Mrs. 
Geiger was, in her maidenhood, Mary Sider, 
born in Auglaize county, Ohio, but was of 
German extraction, her parents having come 
from the fatherland. 

Joseph F. Geiger, whose name introduces 
this review, learned his trade with his fa- 
ther, with whom he remained until 1890, 
since which time he has engaged in contract- 
ing on his own account, taking contracts for 
executing brick and stone masonry work. 

He is now engaged in the erection of the 
52 



large power house for the Light & Power 
Company. He built a large part of the 
Favorite Stove Works, and stands in the 
front ranks of the leading contractors of 
Piqua. He married Miss Fisher, of Day- 
ton, Ohio, and they have four children : 
Clara, Augusta, Hildwig and August. In 
his political views Mr. Geiger is a Demo- 
crat, and religiously is a member of the St. 
Boniface Catholic church. He frequently 
has large forces of workmen under him, and 
personally directs their labors. He retains 
the respect and admiration of his employes, 
a fact that speaks volumes in his favor as a 
just and moderate employer. Steadily pur- 
suing his way, he has achieved creditable 
success. Careful study of the best business 
methods and plans to be followed, steady 
application and close attention to details, 
combined with untiring energy, directed by 
a sound mind, these are the traits of char- 
acter which have brought to him prosper- 
ity and made him a leading contractor of 
Piqua. 



E. B. RENCH. 

The well-improved farm upon which 
Mr. Rench resides, and of which he is the 
owner, is a very desirable property, for its 
fields are highly cultivated and good build- 
ings afford ample shelter to grain and stock. 
Throughout his business life he has-been in- 
terested in agricultural pursuits. He was 
born on a farm in Newton township on 
Christmas day, in 1852, one of nine chil- 
dren, six sons and three daughters, whose 
parents were Jacob and Sarah (Boggs) 
Rench. His childhood and youth were 
passed in the usual manner of farmer lads of 
that period. He gave his father the benefit 
of his services until he was twenty-one years 



884 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



of age. and then began farming on his own 
account by renting and operating the old 
homestead, and there lie remained until 
1883. when he removed to the farm upon 
which he now resides. Here he owns forty 
acres of land on section 15, Newton town- 
ship, and also has another farm of forty-six 
acres. His attention is devoted to the culti- 
vation of small fruits of all kinds, and for 
sixteen years he has also been engaged in 
the raising of tobacco, having eleven acres 
planted to Dutch tobacco in 1899. All of 
the improvements upon his farm have been 
placed there since he took possession of it 
and it is now a highly cultivated tract, its 
fields being clean and well kept, the build- 
ings and fences in good rejjair and every- 
thing neat and thrifty in appearance. 

Mr. Rench was born on an anniversary 
day and married on another, for on the 4th 
of July, 1876, he married Miss Clara Kinni- 
son. They now have eight children : Sa- 
die, Eva J., Edward M., Susan M., Fran- 
cis H., Ruth, Maude and Belle, but the last 
two are now deceased. Such in brief is the 
life history of one who is widely and favor- 
ably known in Newton township as a na- 
tive son of Miami county. 



CHARLES F. JOHNSON. 

Charles F. Johnson is a worthy repre- 
sentative. of the farming interests of Miami 
county, and is numbered among the valued 
citizens that Virginia has furnished to the 
Buckeye state. His birth occurred in Flu- 
vanna county, December 28, 1845, ^"'i ^s a 
son of Colonel Peter Ross Johnson, whose 
birth occurred in the Old Dominion, in iSoo. 
When the war of 181 2 was inaugurated he 
desired to enter the service as a substitute 
for his father, and was alwavs a loval and 



patriotic citizen. He died in his native 
state, in 1873, leaving a number of children 
to mourn his loss. He was twice married, 
his first union being with a Miss Wilson. 
After her death he wedded Miss Amy Ven- 
able. who was born in Fluvanna county, Vir- 
ginia, and was descended from one of three 
brothers who came to the United States 
from England. Her cousin, Captain Ven- 
I able, wrote the history of the United States 
! which was adopted as a text-book by the 
schools of Ohio. By his first marriage Col- 
onel Johnson became the father of five chil- 
dren : John, who died in Alabama: Jo- 
hanna, who became the wife of John Bain- 
bridge and died in Texas ; Mrs. Jennie Bain- 
bridge, of Texas; Nancy, who became the 
wife of Jessie Howard, and died in Virginia ; 
and Betty, wife of David Branham, of Albe- 
marle county. Virginia. By the second 
marriage there were five children : William 
R., of City Point, Virginia; Arabella, wife 
of L. B. Moon, of Fluvanna county, Vir- 
ginia; Mary Petrus. who became he wife of 
James Sutherland and died in Fluvanna 
county; and Abraham D., who died as a 
prisoner of war in Elmira, New York. He 
was a soldier in the Confederate army, and 
just prior to the surrender of Lee was cap- 
tured, being taken to a prison in the north, 
where he was confined until July, 1865. 

Charles F. Johnson, of this review, was 
reared on a plantation in his native state, 
and attended the subscription schools, but 
is largeh' self-educated. His mother died 
when he was only three years old, leaving 
him to the care of sisters until the age of 
sixteen, when he enlisted. After the war 
ended his slaves, his only property, were 
free. He was then taken into the home of 
Mr. and Mrs. William Haden. In her he 
found a mother, who looked after his wel- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



885 



fare, givingf him words of encouragement, 
for which she will always have a warm place 
in his heart. When hostilities broke out be- 
tween the north and south his father fur- 
nished a substitute, who jumped his bounty 
in three weeks. Mr. Johnson was then 
called upon to -furnish another substitute, 
and his son Charles manfully volunteered 
tn go. He joined Company F, of White's 
Thirty-fifth Battalion, Ross' Brigade and 
Stewart's Cavalry. Two of his brothers 
also went to the front at the commencement 
of the war, and both were in the first battle 
of Manassas. A. D. was captured in the 
seven days' fight around Richmond. Mr. 
Johnson, of this review, remained with the 
army until the close of the war, when he re- 
turned to his native county. All he pos- 
sessed in the world was his faithful old gray 
horse. Thomas Glen. This he gave to a 
Mr. Taylor in payment for six months' 
board, and during that period he attended 
school. On putting aside his text-books he 
had nothing except his clothing that he wore. 
He worked at any honorable employment 
that offered, and for a time was proprietor 
of a small store at Buffalo Gap, in Augusta 
county, Virginia. He was at that time pay- 
ing court to a daughter of a wealthy planter. 
Mr. Meyers, who greatly opposed his suit. 
When the opportunity came, however, the 
young couple quietly left for Washington 
city, and were there married in room 222, 
in the Willard Hotel, the ceremony being 
performed by Rev. Gregory, a Presbyterian 
minister, February 16, 1869. His wife 
bore the maiden name of Miss Mollie Jane 
Meyers, and to her husband she has indeed 
been a faithful companion and helpmate. 
They were almost entirely without funds, 
hut possessed a rich store of ambition and 
energy. They decided to try their fortune 



in Ohio, and accordingly made their way to 
Greenville, Darke county, w hence they after- 
ward removed to Pikesville, in the same 
county. There they rented one room in a 
log cabin and furnished their little home 
with furniture which Mr. Johnson made 
with an ax and auger. They borrowed bed 
clothing enough from neighbors to do them 
for a time, and then Mr. Johnson made ap- 
plication for work to Philip Hartzell, a well- 
to-do farmer of the neighborhood. He told 
Mr. Johnson he did not think he could do the 
work, but the latter pleaded for the chance 
and Mr. Hartzell supplied him with a maul 
and tw^o wedges and went with him to see 
him begin his task. Such work was entire- 
ly new to our subject, who felled a tree and 
then began to split it very awkwardly. Fi- 
nally he got his wedge fast in the tree and 
could proceed no further. All this time Mr. 
Hartzell sat on the fence laughing at him, 
but finally showed him how to do the work 
right. At night he went home to his cabin, 
his hands badly blistered. Showing them 
to his wife, he said : "Molly, what shall I 
do? I can't stand it in this country." 
"Charles," she answered, "we have got to 
succeed, ^^'e are without friends, and can't 
go back if we want to. Try it good and 
hard : I know you can." He followed her 
advice, and it proved the turning point in 
his career, for when people saw his resolute 
purpose and noted his ambitious spirit they 
were willing to help him. For a time he 
worked at any employment that would yield 
him an honest li\'ing, and in 1875 he rented 
the Rarick farm in Newberry township, 
Miami csunty, for a term of five years. On 
the expiration of that period he removed to 
his present farm, and after ten years pur- 
chased the tract for six thousand dollars. It 
comprises eighty-nine acres of rich and ara- 



886 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ble land, and nearly all the improvements 
upon it are as monuments to his thrift and 
enterprise. He has tiled the place, erected 
good huildings and transformed the tract 
into highly cultivated fields which yield to 
him a golden return for the care and lahor 
he 1>estows upon them. 

Mr. and Mrs. Johnson have made sev- 
eral visits to their old home in Virginia, but 
prefer their Ohio home, which has become 
endeared to them through the struggles of 
their earlier years, as well as the later and 
more prosperous epoch in their lives. They 
enjoy tlie warm regard of many friends, 
and their home is celebrated for the true 
spirit of southern hospitality. In politics 
]\Ir. Johnson is a Democrat, and has served 
as school director. He is a faithful mem- 
ber of the Methodist Episcopal church, and 
for twenty years has acted on its board of 
trustees. He is a man of distinguished ap- 
pearance, and is highly honored by all who 
know him. His record is indeed creditable. 
Many difificulties and obstacles were in his 
path, but by determined purpose and encour- 
aged by his wife he has pressed steadily for- 
ward toward the goal of success. Today he 
is numbered among the substantial citizens 
of his adopted county, and his record is in- 
deed worthy of emulation, for it is that of 
one who in all life's relations has been true 
to duty. 



JACOB F. DETRICK. 

Prominently identified with the business 
interests of Tippecanoe City, Mr. Detrick 
belongs to that class of representative Ameri- 
cans who promote the general welfare while 
advancing individual success. The spirit 
of self-help is the source of all genuine worth 
in an individual, and is the means of bring- 



ing to him prosperity when he has no ad- 
vantages of wealth or influence to aid him. 
It illustrates in no uncertain manner wliat it 
is possible to accomplish when perseverance 
and determination form the keynote of a 
man's life. Depending upon his own re- 
sources and looking for no outside aid or 
support, Mr. Detrick has risen to a place of 
prominence in the commercial world of 
Miami county. He was born near West 
Charleston, September 27, 1855, and is a 
son of Benjamin and Catherine (Forney) 
Detrick. His parents were born, reared and 
married in Pennsylvania, and in 1850 re- 
moved to Ohio, where the father developed 
and impro\'ed a farm, upon which Jacob F. 
was born. There his death occurred at the 
age of sixty-four years, his widow after- 
ward removing to Tippecanoe City. He 
had been very successful in his business pur- 
suits, and at his death left a handsome es- 
tate. In the family were eleven children, 
seven of whom are now living, five being 
residents of Miami county : William is a 
fruit grower of Phoneton, Ohio ; Belle E. is 
a resident of Tippecanoe City; Jacob F. is 
the third of the family ; David is a grain 
dealer of New Carlisle, Ohio; Samuel is a 
painter of Tippecanoe City; Benjamin E. is 
the next of the family; Harvey is now in 
the Klondike; and Sadie died in early 
womanhood. 

Jacob F. Detrick spent his boyhood days 
upon the home farm, pursuing his prelimi- 
nary education in the common schools and 
afterward completing his literary course in 
the high school at Tippecanoe City. He 
then spent five years in Jefiferson county, 
Missouri, where he was engaged in conduct- 
ing a cattle ranch. He carried on this busi- 
ness on borrowed capital. He had pur- 
chased two sections of land, and after devot- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



887 



ing two years to farmins: lie embarked in 
the cattle business, which he followed with 
A'ery satisfactory results, doubling his capi- 
tal in 1850. Returning to Ohio, he was 
married, in 1886, to Miss Ella Coates.'daugh- 
ter of Robert Coates, of Union City. In- 
diana. She was born and reared in Miami 
county, Ohio, and is a niece of John Kerr, 
of Tippecanoe City, in whose home she was 
reared. 

Mr. Detrick is now at the head of the 
Detrick Milling Company, which was estab- 
lished in 1884. The plant was erected at a 
cost of twenty thousand dollars, and in 1890 
it became the property of Jacob F. Detrick 
and his brother, Benjamin E. Detrick. As 
tb.eir trade increased they enlarged their fa- 
cilities until about forty thousand dollars 
were inxested in the business. They oper- 
ated an elevator at Grayson, Ohio, with a 
capacity of twenty-five thousand Ijarrels. 
Purchasing the interest of his brother our 
subject is now at the head of the Detrick 
Milling Company, and his success is largely 
due to his own efforts. He handles all kinds 
of grain, flour and seeds, and buys and ships 
from over one hundred points, over two 
thinisand carloads of the mill products being 
sent iiut annually, while his sales amount to 
a half million dollars. The company is 
doing a large trade as jobbers in the Wash- 
burn-Crosby flour, and also has exclusive 
control of the Edwards Brothers flour, of 
Troy, Ohio. In their own mill they blend 
winter and spring flou"" under the name of 
the Monarch. Fourteen men are employed 
in their establishment, the business is now 
extensive and is constantly growing owing 
to the capable management of Mr. Detrick, 
who thoroughly understands every depart- 
ment of the milling business, and is thus cap- 
able of controlling his extensive interests. 



He is a director and vice-president of the 
Tippecanoe Interurban Telephone Com- 
pany, and is connected with other corpora- 
tions of the county, including his relation 
with the Bell Company. The Milling Com- 
pany has erected a private telephone line to 
Troy, and has six 'phones, bringing it into 
close connection with the outside world. 
The products of the mill are sold directly 
to millers and dealers in interior points, and 
they have about three hundred and fifty cus- 
tomers, to whom they quote direct, these 
being located in Pennsylvania, New York 
and New England. Mr. Detrick is a very 
enterprising and successful business man, 
whose well-directed efforts have brought to 
him a handsome property. His keen sa- 
gacity enables him to prosecute his labors 
without mistakes, and his sound judgment 
insures to him a prosperous career. His 
record is honorable and creditable, and his 
business ability has been manifested in many 
ways. His prosperity is well-merited and 
has justly numbered him among the leading 
representatives of the industrial concerns of 
Tippecanoe City. 



DAVID C. STATLER. 

David C. Statler is the senior member of 
the firm of D. C. Statler & Company, pro- 
prietors of extensive stone quarries in Miami 
county, and dealers in coal and wood in 
Piqua. He is associated in his labors with his 
brother, George ^Valker Statler, and his son, 
Lowry Statler, and by popular consent is ac- 
corded a foremost place in the ranks of the 
prominent business men of his community. 
He possesses all the essential qualifications 
for a prosperous career, being energetic, reli- 
able, trustworthy and persevering. 

David Clarke Statler was born in 1824, 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



on the farm wliere lie imw lives, a tract of 
land of one hundred and sixty acres just 
south of Piqua. It was there his grandfather, 
Christopher Statler, located about 1801, 
making that his home until his deatli in 1824. 
He was a nati\-e of Switzerland, and in early 
life crossed the Atlantic to the new world, 
becoming a resident of Pennsylvania. Chris- 
topher Statler, Jr., the father of our subject, 
was born in the Keystone state, about 1787, 
and in 1801 came with his parents to Miami 
county, where, on the 27t]i of May, 1810, he 
was united in marriage to Miss Frances 
Winans. She was born in New Jersey, in 
1 79 1, a daughter of Richard W. and Sarah 
R. Winans, very highly respected citizens of 
Miami county. They were married June 4, 
1807. ]Mr. Winans was born January 3, 
I78r, and his wife on the 20th of May, 1788. 
PI is parents were Samuel and Hannah 
(Woodruff) Winans, both of whom were 
nati\-es of New Jersey, the former born 
March 20. 1746, the latter June 3, 1749. His 
death occurred May 6, 1830, and his wife 
died on the 29th of October, of the same year. 
Their son, Richard Winans, the maternal 
grandfather of our subject, was called to his 
final rest January 10, 1863. 

Christopher and Frances (Winans) Stat- 
ler, the parents of our subject, began their 
domestic life on the old family homestead, 
south of Piqua. He died October 5. 1840, but 
Mrs. Statler survived him until 1886, pass- 
ing away at the advanced age of ninety-four. 
Her mental faculties remained unimpaired to 
the last and she could remember \i\'idlv all 
the important events of her life from her 
early girlhood in New Jersey, when that part 
of the country was just emerging fmrn the 
losses and hardshi]>s of the Revolution and 
its people were turning their eyes to the 
golden west, then bounded bv Ohio; she 



could well remember the jnurney westward 
with ox teams to Wheeling. West Virginia, 
thence by flatboat to Cincinnati and thence 
again by team to Piqua ; she saw her father 
and others push into the primeval forest and 
brave the dangers of Indian warfare and ]V\o- 
neer life in order to establish a home in the 
v.ilderness; and she witnessed the wonderful 
changes made in the Aliami valle}- until it 
became the abode of thousands of prosperous 
farmers and the location of hundreds of 
thriving towns and cities with all the inven- 
tions and improvements known ti) modern 
times. Like the other members of the fam- 
ily, Mrs. Statler was an earnest Christian 
woman. She united with the Methodist 
Episcopal church in New Jersey, in i8o8, and 
remained a faithful member until her death 
in 1886, covering a period of seventy-eight 
years. Such a life cannot fail to exert a wide 
influence for good. 

Mr. Statler, whose name introduces this 
record, spent his Iiovhood days upon the old 
home farm, ])ursuing his studies in the pub- 
lic schools of the neighborhood, and in 1848 
he was united in marriage to Miss Jerusha 
Holland Smith, who was born in 1827, a 
daughter of 01i\-er and Ruth Ann (Hulse) 
Smith, natives of New York. Her. father 
was engaged in the commission business, 
and also conducted a general store. He 
made his way westward from Boston to Cin- 
cinnati, and thence to Dayton, where he died 
in 1842. His family originated in Ver- 
niont. Levi Smith, the father of Mrs. Stat- 
ler, joined the American armv during the 
war uf the Rex'olution, when only fourteen 
years of age. He served as a drummer 
boy until after the independence of the na- 
tion was won. Amos Smith, ex-mayor and 
ex-collector of customs of Cincinnati, is a 
cousin of Mrs. Statler and others of the 



I 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



889 



family have been prominent in pnblic af- 
fairs. 

After Iiis marriage Mr. Statler took his 
bride to the old home. His father had en- 
tered one hundred and sixty acres of land 
where he now resides, and had erected there- 
on a square brick house. Many additions 
have since been made to this until it is now 
a spacious and comfortable mansion, noted 
for its hospitality and supplied with all the 
comforts that go to make life worth living. 
In the rear are extensive Ixirns and out- 
buildings and all modern conveniences and 
improvements. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Statler 
have been born the following children : 
Marcus Holland, who died at the age of 
forty years, mourned by all who knew him, 
for his life was ever upright and honorable ; 
Fannie E. ; Ruth, wife of James H. Con- 
nelly, of Piqua; Mary, wife of John Way- 
mire, formerly of Dayton but now of Piqua; 
and Lowrv Williamson, who is the only liv- 
ing son. He is now engaged in business 
with his father, and has the active manage- 
ment of the enterprise. He is very popular 
in both business and social circles, and is a 
very enterprising and progressive man. He 
married Miss Jessie De Camp, of Cincin- 
nati, and they now have two children, Clarke 
and De Camp. 

Mr. Statler has been very prominent in 
business affairs, and his fellow townsmen, 
recognizing his worth and ability, have fre- 
quently called him to public office. He was 
for seven years, fi-om 1889 until 1896, one 
of the commissioners of Miami county, and 
prior to that time served for fourteen years 
as trustee of W'ashington township. So- 
cially he is connected with the Odd Fellows 
society, and has filled all of its chairs. His 
political support is given the Republican 
party, and he is an active member of the 



Grace Methodist Episcopal church, in which 
he has served for forty years as trustee, dur- 
ing which time he has labored effectively and 
earnestly for the promotion of the cause 
which it represents. The present house of 
worship was built largely through his in- 
strumentality. In his business affairs he 
has ever sustained an unassailable reputa- 
tion. For thirty-two years he engaged in 
taking contracts for stone and masonry work 
and bridge building, his patronage extend- 
ing throughout Ohio. He did a great deal 
of bridge work on canals in the state and 
his contracts were manv and extensive, 
thereby bringing to him a gratifying finan- 
cial reward. The stone quarries on his 
lands have been operated since 1855, and 
are seemingly inexhaustible. A specimen 
of the stone prepared for the Centennial Ex- 
position in Philadelphia, in 1876, secured a 
diploma and medal which are highly prized. 
This specimen Mr. Statler permitted to be 
placed in the Smithsonian Institute at Wash- 
ington, having received a special request for 
it. The stone is obtained near the surface, 
is \ery hard, taking a fine polish, and is used 
by architects all over the country for win- 
dow-sills, cornice and other such work. 

Air. Statler is a generous-hearted man 
of courteous manner, unflinching principle 
and unquestioned integrity, yet withal of 
that practical common sense which never 
runs to extremes, and it is no wonder that 
wherever he goes he has many friends. His 
life has been well spent and his honorable 
and useful career is wi^rthy of emulation. 



ASA K. BACON. 

Practical industry wisely and vigorously 
applied never fail of success ; it carries a 
man onward and upward, brings out the in- 



890 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



di\i(liial character, and acts as a powerful 
stimulus to the efforts of others. The great- 
est results in life are usually attained hy 
simple means and the exercise of the ordi- 
nary qualities of common sense and perse- 
verance. The everyday life. \\\\.\\ its cares, 
necessities and duties, affords ample oppor- 
tunities for acquiring experience of the best 
kind, and its most beaten paths proxide a 
true worker with abundant scope for effort 
and for self-improvement. It is along such 
lines that Asa Kendall Bacon has won a place 
among the respected and esteemed business 
men of Troy. For more than a quarter of 
a century he has acted as agent of the Unit- 
ed States Express Company and his long 
service stands in unmistakable evidence of 
his fidelity to duty. 

Air. Bacon is a native of Oberlin. Ohio, 
his birth ha\-ing occurred on the 17th of 
July, 1842. His parents, Francis S. and 
Mehnda (Kendall) Bacon, removed from 
Ashhy. Massachusetts, to Brighton town- 
ship. Lorain count}-, Ohio, in 1833, and the 
following year they went to Oberlin, spend- 
ing their remaining days upon a farm near 
that city. They were laid to rest in the ceme- 
tery at Oberlin, the father dying in 1850. He 
was a native of Gardner, Vermont, where 
the family had resided through several gen- 
erations. They are of English lineage, com- 
ing f r< un the same parental stem as did Fran- 
cis Bacon, one of the greatest philoso])hers 
that the world has e\er produced. 

Airs. Bacon was also a representative of 
an old New England family, for the Ken- 
dalls removed from the mother country to 
Jilassachusetts prior to the Revolution. They 
particii)ated in many events \\liich left an 
impress upon the historv of the nation, and 
Asa Kendall, the great-grandfather of our 
subject, was a most honored American citi- 



zen who became a trusted friend of Wash- 
ington during the struggle for independ- 
ence, serving on the staff of the commander- 
in-chief. The father of Airs. Bacon resided 
near Fitchburg, Alassachusetts, where he 
carried on agricultural pursuits. Deprived 
of his father's care and guidance at a very 
early age. Asa K. Bacon received only such 
limited educational privileges as were af- 
forded to farmer lads in frontier settle- 
ments. He was early trained to habits of 
industry and economy, however, and these 
ha\-e formed an important factor in his later 
success. Into his mind were also instilled 
the lessons which tend to develop an upright 
life and manhood. His career was begun on 
the home farm where he followed the plow 
and assisted in garnering the harvests. When 
a young man he entered the employ of the 
Lake Shore Railroad Company, and re- 
mained with that corporation for ten years, 
during which time he did his work faitli- 
fully and well and accumulatefl some capital 
which enabled him to engage in the liverv 
business on his own account in Oberlin. 
There he successfully conducted his new en- 
terprise imtil a destructive fire swept away 
the accumulations of prosperous years. At 
that time he was not only conducting a 
livery business, but was also in the employ 
of the LTnited States Express Company. 
with which he has now been connected for 
more than a quarter of a century. On the 
8th of December. 1893. he was transferred 
to Troy, assuming the agency at that place, 
and for six years he has been in charge of 
the large volume of business which is car- 
ried on in this commercial and manufactur- 
ing center. The greatest fidelity and ability 
are demanded by the corporation on the part 
of its employes and therefore no higher tes- 
timony of his ability can be given than the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



891 



fact that he has remained with the company 
through such a long period. 

Mr. Bacon was married in WelHngton, 
Ohio, in 1862, to Miss Jane Mills, a native 
of Lincolnshire, England, whence her par- 
ents came to America during her early child- 
hood. In 1880 she was called to the home 
bevond. Her death was deeply mourned by 
her many friends, as well as by her husband 
and children. In the family are two sons 
and two daughters, namely : Julia, now 
the wife of W. S. Horr, of Duluth, Minne- 
sota, a nephew of Representative R. G. 
Horr, of Massachusetts; Ella, who resides 
with her father in Troy; Louis Asa, who is 
engaged in the plumbing business in Cleve- 
land, Ohio; and Eber Aaron, who is assist- 
ant agent in the express office. 

In politics Mr. Bacon has been a life- 
long Republican, true to the influences and 
traditions of Oberlin. That city, as the 
center of anti-slavery principles, has ever ad- 
vocated the higher rights of men, and lib- 
erty to all the oppressed, and his early youth 
being spent in such an atmosphere, it had 
its effect upon Mr. Bacon. He is a public- 
spirited man, progressive and deeply inter- 
ested in the welfare and progress of Troy, 
and his support is withheld from no measure 
which he believes will be a public good. He 
and his son and daughter, who reside with 
him, enjoy the esteem and respect of all with 
whom they have come in contact through 
business or social relations. 



WILLIAM HOLLOWAY. 

One of the most important industries of 
Piqua is the rolling mills, which furnish em- 
ployment to a large force of workmen upon 
whom depends the success of the institution 
in large measure. Capable management and 



excellent workmanship are the two indis- 
pensable elements which enter into the suc- 
cessful conduct of every business enterprise, 
and one would be useless without the other. 
Among those whose efficiency has augmented 
the prosperity of the Piqua Rolling Mills 
and who has found a source of livelihood 
in performing the work connected with such 
an industrial concern is William Hollo- 
way, who is employed in the capacity of sheet 
iron roller. 

He was born in Stafl:'ordshire, England, 
on the 1st of June, 1865, a son of Jeremiah 
Holloway. He was only about three years 
of age when brought by his parents to x\mer- 
ica and in Covi'.igton. Kentucky, he was 
reared. \\'hen about fifteen or sixteen years 
of age he began working in the iron foundry 
of that city, and for three years he worked 
at night and attended commercial college 
through the day. Such a course showed 
the elemental strength- of his character and 
displayed a resolute purpo.se which has con- 
tributed to his success in life. A strong love 
of music and natural talent in that direction 
prompted his attendance at the Cincinnati 
College of Music, and for three years after 
leaving commercial college he was a stu- 
dent in tliat institution, studying theory, 
harmon}' and compositon. He began work 
as a sheet rcjller when about eighteen years 
of age and in 1SS9, when the Piqua Rolling 
Mills were estalilished, he came to this city 
and has since been employed in his present 
capacity. 

He married Miss Nellie Craig, a native 
of Covington, Kentucky, and unto them 
have been born four sons : William, Henry 
Harrison, Oscar and Charles, all yet at home. 
Mr. Holloway is an adherent of the Repub- 
lican party, keeps well versed on political 
issues and is deeply interested in his party's 



892 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



success. He is a very prominent Alason, 
belonging to Warren Lodge, No. 24, F. & 
A. M., of Piqua; Piqua Chapter, No. 31. 
R. A. M. ; Coleman Commandery, No. 17, 
K. T., and has attained the thirty-second 
degree of the Scottish Rite in the consistory 
of Dayton, while of the Mystic Shrine of 
Cincinnati he is also a member. He belongs 
to the Methodist Episcopal church and is an 
accomplished musician, performing splen- 
didly on the piano. His love of this art en- 
ables him to spend many pleasant hours and 
to furnish entertainment for his friends, 
and is a welcome di\-ersion after the arduous 
cares of the day. 



PEYTON E. CROMER, M. D. 

One of the most aljle and worthy repre- 
sentatives of the medical fraternity of Miami 
county is Dr. Cromer, who is successfully 
practicing in Piqua, lus skill and ability 
having gained him prestige in the line of his 
chosen calling. Pie was born in Cherokee 
county, Alaliama, January 13. i860, and is of 
German lineage, his grandfather ha\'ing been 
brought from Germany to America by his 
parents during his infancy. Philip Cromer, 
the father of the Doctor, was a native of 
South Carolina and was there reared upon a 
farm. When a young man he went to Ala- 
bama and served as overseer of a large plan- 
tation until thirty-two years of age. During 
that time his industry and economy enabled 
b.im to acquire a capital sufficient to purchase 
a small farm. He then judiciously invested 
liis money and operated his land until every- 
thing was taken from him during the war. 
He had become convinced that slavery was 
v.rong and his abolition principles awakened 
the bitter opposition of the slave-holding 
people among whom he lived. For some 



time he had to remain in hiding else his life 
would have be'en taken by the rebels. All of 
the buildings and improvements upon his 
farm were destroyed, and in 1865, selling 
liis land at a great sacrifice, he came north 
and rented a farm near Pleasant Hill, Miami 
county. There he lived for seven years, on 
the expiration of which period he removed 
to Darke count}', where he has since been en- 
gaged in farming and stock-raising. He is 
now a hale and hearty man of sixty-eight 
years. In his political affiliations he is a 
stalwart Republican and is a member of the 
Christian church. He married Melvina Patty, 
a native of Albany, who died in Miami coun- 
ty, when about thirty-five years of age, leav- 
ing four children. She was one of a family 
of twenty-one children. Most of her brothers 
were officers in the rebel army. 

Dr. Cromer spent his boyhood days in the 
usual manner of farmer lads. He attended the 
district schools for about three months each 
year and enjoyed no holidays. In the autumn 
before his eighteenth birthday he walked four 
miles to attend high school, pursuing his ed- 
ucation in the institution for three months. 
He then engaged in teaching in district 
schools through the winter season, while in 
the summer months he assisted his father in 
the work of the farm and attended normal 
sessions. He was thus engaged until about 
twenty-three years of age and when twenty- 
four 3'ears of age he won the degree of 
bachelor of science. Soon afterward he ac- 
cepted the position of superintendent of a 
high school in Versailles, Ohio, where he 
remained for one year, after which he was 
superintendent of schools of Arcanum, Ohio, 
for two years. \\'hile filling that position 
he received a call by telephone, entirely unso- 
licited by him, offering him the superintend- 
encv of the school at Bradford, Ohio, for 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



893 



tliree 3-ears. He accepted and was in charge 
at that place for five years, proving a most 
capable superintendent. Under his guidance 
the schools of which he had charge made 
rapid and marked advancement and' his la- 
bors were indeed commendable. On leav- 
ing Bradford the Doctor took up the study 
of medicine in the Wooster Normal College, 
of Cleveland, and after one term matriculat- 
ed in the Ohio Medical College, in Cincin- 
nati. Subsequently, however, he returned 
to the \\'ooster College, in which he was 
graduated with the class of 1892. He be- 
gan practice at West Baltimore, and after 
four years came to Piqua, where he has since 
remainetl. He is a most thorough and dis- 
criminating stutlent and keeps in constant 
touch with the progress wdiich characterizes 
the medical profession. His labors have 
been attended with excellent results and he is 
now enjoying a large and lucrative practice. 
Dr. Cromer was united in marriage to 
Miss Lucretia Patty, a native of Pleasant 
Hill, !Miami ciamty, and their union has been 
blessed with five S(ins : Paul J.. Horace 
Patty, William, Stewart P. and Luther \'. 
The family circle yet remains unbroken by 
the hand of death. The Doctor is a zealous 
Republican who keeps well informed on the 
issues of the day and gives an earnest and 
acti\e support to his party. He has served as 
major and field surgeon in the order of the 
Knights of the Maccabees, and, with one ex- 
ception, this is the highest state office in the 
fraternity. He and his wife are leading and 
prominent members of the Methodist Epis- 
copal church. The Doctor is a self-educated 
man and when he left the school room and 
took up the practice of medicine was regard- 
ed as one of the most able young educators 
in the state. He still takes great interest 
in school work and has assisted many young 



students to continue their education. His 
advice and counsel are freely given and are 
frecjuently supplemented by material aid. 
The poor and needy find in him a warm 
friend and many are the professional visits 
which he pays without hope of pecuniary 
reward. His charity, however, is quiet and 
unostentatious, being after the manner of the 
precept, "Let not thy left hand know what 
thv right hand doeth." 



ANTHONY MILLER. 

Anthony Miller is an engineer on the 
Panhandle Railroad and is also the owner 
of a farm in Newberry township, IMiami 
count V. He was born in Germany Oct(5ber 
15, 1845, '"I'l '^^''is the youngest of three 
children, his sisters being Mary and Anna. 
The father died when Anthony was quite 
young and the mother afterward became 
Mrs. Beckley. \\\t\\ her second husband 
she came to the United States, locating in 
Fostoria, Ohio, where she yet resides, be- 
ing the second time a widow. 

Mr. Miller, of this review, spent the first 
eight years of his life in the fatherland and 
then came with relatives to the Lhiited States. 
\\'ith them he took up his abode in Green- 
ville, Ohio, but a few years later he was 
again left alone, owing to the death of those 
\\ ith whom he emigrated. Pie then went to 
live with a Mr. Smith and also spent some 
time in the home of IMrs. Coover, a widow 
lad}'. Air. Smith was an engineer on the 
Panhandle Railroad. When Mr. Miller was 
fifteen years of age Mr. Smith secured him 
a position as fireman. He has been employed 
in various capacities by the railroad com- 
pany, having acted for some time as bag- 
gage master, was also brakeman and for 
five or six years was an engineer on the 



894 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Bradford yard engine. For tlie past twen- 
ty-tliree years lie has been an engineer in the 
employ of tlie Panliandle Railroad, his run 
1)eing between Bradford and Logansport, In- 
diana. He is a most careful, conscientious 
and reliable employe and enjoys the unqual- 
ified conficlence of the corporation \\hich he 
serves. 

On the 1 6th of Xovemher. 1871. Mr. 
Miller was united in marriage to Miss Eunice 
Conea, who was born in Newton township 
July 31, 1856. Their union has been blessed 
with eleven children: Franklin J., who wed- 
ded Anna Hooper and resides in Logansport ; 
Orpha: William A., of Bradford; George 
F., who died in infancy; Charles A. ; Harry; 
Joseph J. ; Edgar ; Pearl May ; Earl Ray ; 
and (irace. Mr. and Mrs. Miller l>egan 
their domestic life in Bradford, where they 
lived until 1884, when they removed to their 
present home in Newton township. There 
Mr. Miller owns eighty acres of land, the 
farm being a highly cultivated tract, the sale 
of whose products adds materially to his 
income. In politics he is a stanch Repub- 
lican, keeps well informed on the issues of 
the day, but has never sought office. As a 
courteous and obliging employe of the road 
he is \\idely known and has many friends 
all along the line, having spent the greater 
part of his life in this section of Ohio. His 
many good qualities have gained him the 
respect and esteem of his fellow men. 



CHARLES E. GAINES, M. D. 

.Among the successful practitioners resid- 
ing in Covington is Dr. Gaines, who has at- 
tained a position of relative precedence in 
connection with his chosen calling. He was 
born on a farm near L^rbana, Champaign 



county, October 21, 1857, his parents being 
Moses T. and Ann E. (Grafton) Gaines. 
His father, Moses Gaines, was born in New- 
market, Virginia, in 181 8. He was left an 
orphan at the age of two years and was 
reared by strangers. Through his own ef- 
forts he obtained a good education and later 
engaged in teaching school. At one time 
he received only twelve and a half cents per 
day for his work in the school room — so 
low were the wages paid to the teachers at 
that time. His training at farm labor was 
not meager, for as soon as old enough to 
handle a plow he began work in the fields, 
early becoming familiar with all the duties 
and labors that fall to the lot of the agri- 
culturist. At the age of twenty he removed 
to Champaign county. Ohio, where he pur- 
chased a farm, since which time he has op- 
erated his land with success. Although now 
well advanced in j-ears he still enjoys vig- 
orous health. He married Ann' E. Graf- 
ton, who was born in Champaign county and 
died February 26, 1895. Her father, 
Thomas Grafton, was the largest land owner 
in that locality at the time. He was a na- 
tive of \"irginia, to which state his father 
remnveil from Grafton, Massachusetts, that 
town having been named in honor of one of 
the ancestors of the family. The Graftons 
were also represented in the Colonial army 
in the war of the Revolution. The mother 
of Mrs. Gaines bore the maiden name of 
Margaret Downey. L^ito Mr. and Mrs. 
Moses Gaines were born sex'en children, 
nameh-; Theodore j\I.. a traveling sales- 
man of Chicago; \\'illiam T., a physician of 
Houston, Ohio; Ada, wife of John F. Ar- 
nett, of Pi(|ua, Ohio; Charles E., of this re- 
view: Mary E., wife of Dr. E. F. Shaflfer. 
of Illinois; Nettie, at home; Emma, wife 
of Hudson FIj-nn, of Houston, Ohio; and 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



895 



John E., who is a floorwalker in the "Fair" 
in Chicago. 

Dr. Gaines pursued his prehminary edu- 
cation in the pubHc schools and during the 
periods of \'acation assisted in the work of 
his father's farm. Later he continued his 
studies in Oberlin College, and after his 
graduation in that institution, with the class 
of 1879, he engaged in teaching in the pub- 
lic schools. Ambitious for a medical career 
his labors in the school room were regarded 
but as a means to this end. He saved all the 
money possible from his earnings in order 
to meet his tuition in college, but tiring of 
this slow process of accumulating funds he 
determined to seek more lucrative employ- 
ment, and secured a position as traveling- 
salesman, acting in that capacity for four 
years. He then entered the Indiana Medical 
College, but did not complete his studies at 
that time. Subseijuently he matriculated in 
the University of Louisville, in which he was 
graduated in 1892. He then practiced his 
profession in that city, removing thence to 
Houston, Shelby county, Ohio, where he 
built up a large and lucrative practice, which 
extended into Miami county. Many of his 
patrons resided in and near Covington, and 
deciding that he would be more centrally lo- 
cated in the latter city he removed to this 
place on the 15th of November, 1899. As 
a physician his skill is recognized and appre- 
ciated liy all who have had occasion to con- 
sult him. His foresight in the treatment of 
cases which ha\-e come before him is unsur- 
passed. He is very careful in his diagnosis 
and readily anticipates complications and is 
accurate in determining results. His dis- 
position is kindly, his manner aiYable and 
genial, and these qualities have made him 
very welcome in the sick room. 

The Doctor is a man of strong domestic 



tastes and it seems that he cannot do too 
much to enhance the welfare and secure the 
happiness of his wife and children. He 
was married, in 1881, in Urbana, to Laura 
F., daughter of Riley and Susan (Deston) 
Stexens, and t(j their union have been born 
three children, — ^Valdo M., Mabel and The- 
odora, who are still under the parental roof. 
The Gaines household is noted for its hos- 
pitality, which is enjoyed b)- a large circle 
of friends. The Doctor is a Republican in 
politics and is a member of the Odd Fellows 
lodge of Chicago. Although he has made 
h.is home in Covington but a short time he is 
widely known here, and his social and pro- 
fessi(jnal prominence are alike enviable. 



DAVID M. FINE. 

David ^l. Fine is engaged in gardening 
in Newberry township, Miami county, carry- 
ing on a successful and extensive business. 
He was born in Sunbury, Delaware county, 
Ohio, December 25, 1825, and is of German 
lineage. The first of the name to seek a 
home in America was his great-grandfather, 
who took up his abode in Frederick comity, 
Maryland, and there spent his entire life, 
passing away when more than ninety years 
of age. His children were Martin, who died 
in Alaryland or Virginia; John, who died 
in Maryland; Frederick; and Mary, who be- 
came the wife of John Rhodes and died in 
Mt. Vernon, Ohio, where her father was 
engaged in the milling business for many 
years. 

Frederick Fine, the father of our subject, 
was born in Frederick county, Maryland, in 
July, 1792, acquired a limited education and 
was reared to. farm work. In the county of 
his nativity he was married, in 18 18, to Miss 



896 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Mary Garber, a native of that county and a 
daughter of Joseph Garber. They hved upon 
rented land until after their removal to Ohio. 
Four children were born to them in Mary- 
land, and with their family they started for 
the Buckeye state in the spring of 1825. mak- 
ing the journey by wagon. Before crossing 
the Alleghany mountains they had to buy 
another horse to assist in drawing the wagon 
over the steep ascents. On reaching Sun- 
bury, Delaware county, the father purchased 
a tract of wild land and in course of time 
transformed it into a highly developed place. 
He built a two-story, hewed-log house, one 
of the most pretentious homes in the locality 
at that time. The country abounded in wild 
game, which often had to be driven out of 
the wheat fields. In 1839 the father sold his 
farm in Delaware county, and in April of 
that year came to Miami county, after stop- 
ping for a short time with relatives in Day- 
ton. He rented land in Newberry township 
and subsequently purchased a farm in New- 
ton township, on the Newberry line. It 
comprised fifteen acres, which he improved, 
continuing to make his home there until his 
wife's death, which occurred about 1871, 
when slie was seventy-six years of age. 
After her death the father made his home 
with his children and died at the home of 
our subject in June, 1874. This worthy 
couple were members of the German Bap- 
tist church and he was a life-long Demo- 
crat. His many excellencies of character 
made him highly esteemed and honored, for 
in all life's relations he was true and loyal 
to the right. His children were : Eliza, 
who died in Maryland in childhood ; Delilah, 
wife of David Brandenburg, of West Cov- 
ington; Washington, who married Rossanna 
Vetters and located in Delaware county, In- 
diana; John, a cooper by trade, who mar- 



ried Samantha Cheney, who died in New- 
berry township, after which he was again 
married, his second wife dying in Troy, sub- 
sequent to which time, in connection with 
a Mr. Bowman, he opened a cooper shop 
in Clay county, Indiana, where his death 
occurred; David Martin, of this review; 
Julia Ann, now the wife of George Shoe- 
maker, who is living near Muncie, Indiana ; 
Alpheus, who died at the age of seventeen 
years ; Frederick, who died in childhood ; 
and Simeon. Two of the sons were loyal 
soldiers of the Union during the civil war. 
Washington enlisted in Captain Langston's 
company of the Forty-fourth Ohio Infantry, 
for three years, and on the expiration of 
that period veteranized, but the exposure 
and hardships of war undermined his health 
and necessitated his discharge before the 
close of hostilities. Simeon become a mem- 
ber of the Ninety-fourth Ohio Infantry and 
died at Murfreesboro, Tennessee, of dis- 
ease contracted in the service. 

David Martin Fine was born on the farm 
where his parents lived for many years. His 
educational privileges were very limited. He 
pursued his education in a log school house, 
furnished in a most primitive manner. The 
scholars bored holes in the logs, into which 
they inserted pins and across those they laid 
a board which served as a desk. Mr. Fine's 
training at farm labor, however, was not 
meager. He assisted his father in develop- 
ing the farm, clearing the land, cutting wood 
and splitting rails in addition to the work 
of plowing, planting and harvesting. Almost 
from the time that he could lift an ax he 
began his labors in the forest. As oppor- 
tunity afforded he attended school. He was 
fourteen years of age when he came with 
his parents to Miami county, and in a little 
log school house, on Greenville creek, he 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



897' 



completed his education. Wdien the family 
settled here there was no school building in 
the neighborhood, but, in connection with 
Michael Williams, David Shoemaker and 
Da\-id Elmore, his father built a log school 
house and Squire Widner was employed to 
teach for twp terms. It was under his direc- 
tion that Mr. Fine finished his school days. 
His wife was then a young girl attending the 
same school. 

At the age of twenfy-one Mr. Fine 
rented a saw-mill at Sugar Grove, operat- 
ing the same for a year. At the age of 
twenty-two he was married and purchased 
fifty acres of the estate of his father-in-law, 
James Thompson. This land was situated 
on Greenville creek, Newberry township, 
and there he lived for many years, develop- 
ing a good farm. He contracted and built 
the first school house in his district and was 
actively identified with the work of improve- 
ment and progress in the neighborhood. 
Finally he sold his land, with the intention of 
going to Iowa, but changing his plans he 
purchased eighty acres in Franklin town- 
ship, Darke county. He, however, located 
upon rented land for several years, and in 
the meantime he was engaged in the stone 
quarry business. He also operated a saw- 
mill and engaged in the manufacture of 
sorghum molasses. In his undertakings he 
was reasonably successful, and as his finan- 
cial resources increased he made judicious 
investments in land and for many years was 
an extensive farmer. He also successfully 
engaged in stock raising for eight years. In 
1882 he purchased and located upon his pres- 
ent farm, since which time he has devoted his 
efiforts to gardening. He attends the Piqua 
markets and the excellence of his products 
enables him to command a ready sale. This 
venture has proved a very profitable one 



and his labors are now diligently prosecuted, 
annually augmenting his income. 

On the 1 6th of August, 1847, J^Ii"- Fine 
was united in marriage to Miss Rebecca 
Thompson, who was born July 20, 1830, on 
the old Thompson homestead in Newberry 
township, where she was reared to woman- 
hood. Unto them were born the following- 
children: Sarah Jane, born August 20, 

1848, is now the wife of Zeke Kendall, of 
Covington. Eliza Ann, born October 12, 

1849, 's the wife of John Wetzel, of New- 
berry township. David, born June 10, 1851, 
died in infancy. Jerome, born May 16, 1854, 
is now living on his father's farm on Green- 
ville creek, in Newberry township. He 
began his education in the public schools in 
Newberry township at the age of eight years, 
completing his studies in what is known 
as the White school, at the age of twenty, 
remained with his father until twenty-two 
years of age, then accepted a position as trav- 
eling salesman for George W. Hikes, a nur- 
seryman, with whom he remained for two 
seasons. He was married October 28, 1878, 
to Miss Hattie Stanfield, a daughter of 
Moses S. and Lydia (McCool) Stanfield, 
and after his marriage located on the Sam- 
uel Putterbaugh farm in Bethel township. 
After a year, however, he removed to Sugar 
Mills, Newton township, and was employed 
in a mill by E. Kendall for a year. In 1881 
he located on the Henry Shafner farm in 
Concord township, where he remained until 
the death of his wife, which occurred on the 
8th of June, 1882. He then sold his prop- 
erty and spent the remainder of the year 
in charge of the horses owned by W. H. 
Bashore. He next entered the employ of 
George E. McKaiy, of Troy, having charge 
of the importation of horses from foreign 
countries. He made the first importation, 



898 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



numbering twenty-two head of fine stock, 
and continued witli Mr. McKaiy until Au- 
gust 8, 1883. when lie entered the employ of 
Dye & Stilwell. of Troy, imiKirters of Eng- 
Hsh horses. In 189 1 lie formed a Imsiness 
connection with G. A. Hogg, of Pittsburg. 
Pennsylvania, with whom he remained one 
season, handling his horses at the Greens- 
boro fair ground. In 1893 lie returned to 
Troy, Ohio, and in the spring of 1894 en- 
tered the employ of D. \\. Ault, of Balti- 
more, Fairfield county, Ohio. In the fall of 
the same year he went to Lancaster, Ohio, 
where he i)repareil a number of horses for 
the track. In the spring of 1896 he en- 
tered the service of George Guyer. of Guyer 
City, Auglaize county, Ohio. At the end 
of two years he secured a situation with 
Swizert Brothers, of Jackson county, Ohio, 
and in 1898 he returned to Troy, in the em- 
ploy of J. N. Stilwell, there remaining un- 
til March, 1900, when he came to Covington 
and has since been in the employ of Frank 
Bernis. While in the employ of Dye & Stil- 
well he went to England and for them 
shipped a cargo of horses to the United 
States. There is perhaps no better judge or 
trainer of horses in Ohio than he. In poli- 
tics he is a stanch Democrat and is a mem- 
ber of the Christian church. Delilah, the 
sixth child oi the family, was born March 
4. 1856, married Jesse Lewis and after his 
death became the wife of Morris Stanfield, 
now of Troy. Thompson, born November 
6, 1857, married Mina Nicodemus and is 
living in Troy. Catherine, born March 4, 
1859, is the wife of A. C. Shaffer, who is 
living in Newton township. Louisa, born 
June 20, 1 86 1, is at home. Huldah Alice, 
born November 30, 1862, married Edward 
White and is now the wife of Benjamin 
Bowers, of Troy. Maud E., born October 



29, 1863, died in infancy. Roland E., born 
June 7, 1865, is at home. Simeon E.. born 
October 17, 1866, married Etta Starry, of 
Fletcher, Ohio. Frederick, born June 20, 
1872, married Ellen Fry and resides in Cov- 
ington. 

The parents of these children united with 
the Greenville Creek Christian church in 
1849 ^"'1 ^^''- Fine has since been one of its 
leading members. His wife was an earnest 
Christian lady, genial and kindly in disposi- 
tion and gentle in manner. To her family 
she was a loving and tender wife and mother 
and to her neighbors a faithful friend. She 
passed away June 9, 1898. but her memory 
remains as a blessed benediction to all who 
knew her. Mr. Fine is a man of sterling 
worth, respected and esteemed by those with 
whom business and social relations have 
brought him in contact, and it is with pleas- 
ure that we present the record of his life to 
the readers of this volume. 



GEORGE R. McCONNELL. 

The subject, to whose life history we now 
direct attention, has, by ceaseless endeavor, 
attained a marked success in business af- 
fairs, has gained the respect and confidence 
of men, and is recognized as one of the dis- 
tinctively representative citizens of Troy, 
where is located his insurance office. He 
is one of the leading insurance men of this 
section of Ohio, controlling a large amount 
of business. 

Mr. McConnell is a native of Hancock, 
Ohio, born May 19, 1862, and is a son of 
James R. and Barbara A. (Rowinsky) Mc- 
Connell, natives of Pennsylvania. In child- 
hood his parents came to the Buckeye state, 
locating in Hancock county, and at present 
they reside in Van Wert county, whither 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



899 



they removed. Throughout his entire life 
tlie father has carried on agricultural pur- 
suits and on taking up his abode in Van 
Wert county he secured a tract of land in 
the midst of the forest. Cutting away the 
trees he transformed the raw tract into richl}' 
cultivated fields and now has a good home 
there. 

Upon that farm Mr. McConnell. of this 
review, was reared and in the common 
schools of the neighborhood he acquired his 
education, to which he has added through 
experience, observation and reading" imtil he 
i'; now an exceptionally well informed man. 
In 1887 he went to Paulding, Ohio, where 
Ik engaged in the insurance business as an 
agent of the Ohio Farmers' Insurance Com- 
pany, his salary being thirty dollars per 
month and expenses. Before six months 
had passed, so successful were his efiforts 
in that direction, his salary was increased 
to one htmdred dollars per month and his ex- 
penses, and he was given the management 
of the business in Paulding county. On the 
6th of June, 1888, he came to Troy, in the 
interest of the same company, and since that 
time has had charge of its business in Mi- 
ami county. He also represents at least 
thirty other companies, and for eleven years 
has occupied the position of general insur- 
ance agent. He practically does all the in- 
surance business in Troy and Miami county, 
and has been ver}' successful, owing entirely 
to his well-directed efforts, his sound judg- 
ment and his honorable dealing. 

In 1885 Mr. McConnell was united in 

marriage to Miss Ollie Hook, of Van Wert 

county, in w-hich place she had successfully 

engaged in teaching. They now have two 

children. Glen and Edna. Mrs. McConnell 

is a member of the Alethodist Episcopal 

church and is an estimable ladv, who presides 
53 



with gracious hospitality over her pleasant 
home. Mr. McConnell owns a very fine 
residence in Troy, besides other valuable 
real estate in the city, and in 1897 he pur- 
chased the old homestead in Van Wert coun- 
ty, comprising eighty acres of rich land. In 
politics he is independent, supporting- the 
men rather than the party. Prominent in 
Masonic circles, he attained the Knight 
Templar degree in 1898 and is now a mem- 
ber of Coleman Commandery, No. no, K. 
T. His career has been crowned with a 
high degree of success and his life illustrates 
the possibilities that are open to young men 
of energy and ambition. Not a pretentious 
life has been his, but one that lias been trtie 
to itself and its possibilities, and one to 
which the biographist may revert with a feel- 
ing of respect and satisfaction. His hon- 
orable efforts have ever commanded the 
confidence of his fellow men and he occupies 
a prominent place in the public regard. 



THOMAS C. LEON.\RD. 

That the plenitude of satiety is seldom 
obtained in the affairs of life is to be con- 
sidered a most grateful and beneficial de- 
privation, for where ambition is satisfied and 
every ultimate aim realized — if such is possi- 
ble — there must follow individual apathy. 
Every efifort will cease, accomplishment be 
prostrate and creative talent waste its en- 
ergies in supine inactivity. The men who 
ha\"e pushed forward the wheels of progress 
have been those whom satiety lay ever in the 
fiiture, and they have labored consecutively 
and have not failed to find in each transition 
stage an incentive for further effort. The 
unceasing industry of Thomas Corwin Leon- 
ard and his laudable ambition have been the 
strong Qoncomitants of his success, winiung 



ijOO 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



hini a pruud position in business circles. He 
is secretary, treasurer and manager of the 
firm of Foril & Company, and his connections 
with many of their concerns contribute to 
tlie welfare of the city as well as to the indi- 
\i(liial success of the stockholders. 

Thomas Corwin Leonard was born in 
Covington, Miami county, on the 25th of 
December, 1849, and is a son of Joseph and 
Margaret (Lindsay) Leonard, both of whi mi 
were natives of Pennsylvania, whence they 
came to the Buckeye state with their respect- 
ive parents and there married. During the 
civil war the father served as postmaster 
at Covington, was also proprietor of a store 
and engaged in teaching. He died when 
his son was only two years of age, but the 
mother is still living and has survived her 
second husband, Daniel Face, who passed 
away in 1880. There was also a daughter 
in the family, who is still living — Serepta. 

Thomas Corwin Leonard continued with 
his mother until 1876. Having acquired a 
good practical education he entered upon his 
business career and in early life was em- 
ployed as a clerk in a dry-goods store, se- 
curing the position when a youth of fifteen. 
He was married. January 14, 1875, to Miss 
Mary A. Rohrer, of Tippecanoe City, a 
daughter of Jacob Rohrer. Her father sought 
his assistance and offered him a partnership 
in the business with which he has since been 
connected — the manufacture of wheels. Mr. 
Leonard purchased stock in the enterprise 
and in 1876 was given the position of book- 
keeper. Not long afterwards he was made 
secretary and on the retirement of T. J. 
Sheets he became the manager of the con- 
cern, being made a member of the directorate. 
He has since been active in the control of 
the business and the company has had a very 
successful career, its prosperity being due in 



no small degree to his efforts. It is the 
leading industry of the town, its extensive 
output indicating its excellent workmanship 
and the honorable business methods which 
are followed. The relationship between 
employer and employee has always been of 
a pleasant character, as is shown by the fact 
that some of the representatives of the busi- 
ness have been connected with it for nearly 
a (|uarter of a century, among these being 
E. A. Jackson, who is now clerk of the com- 
pany. 

Mr. Leonard is a man of resourceful 
business ability and his keen discrimination 
and sound judgment in matters of trade 
have made his counsels very valuable in the 
control of the different enterprises. He is 
now a director in the bank of Tippecanoe 
City, is a stockholder in the Troy Buggy 
Company and has been financially concerned 
in other enterprises. He now operates sev- 
eral farms, tlie aggregate being three hun- 
dred acres. For ten years he has been a 
trustee of the Knoop Children's Home, of 
i\Iiami county, which was established in 
1877 by an endowment of the Knoop family. 
L'nto Mr. and Mrs. Leonard have been born 
three children : Joseph E., Louis and ]\Iar- 
jorie, all of whom are yet in school. Mr. 
Leonard is c[uite active and prominent in the 
Masonic fraternity, belonging to lodge, chap- 
ter and commandery. His wife is a mem- 
ber of the English Lutheran church and both 
enjoy the high regard of a large circle of 
friends. In his political views i\Ir. Leonard 
is a Democrat and has served as city council- 
man for several years, also as a member of 
the school board, yet has never been a poli- 
tician in the sense of oflice seeking. His 
business career has been creditable and hon- 
orable and one which exemplifies the well 
known fact that in America advancement 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



901 



and success depend not on circumstances or 
upon the influence of friends or family, but 
upon individual merit, close application and 
determined purpose. He is recognized as 
one of the most able business men of Tippe- 
canoe City. His sagacity and foresight 
have enabled him to make judicious invest- 
ments, while his intelligence, indomitable 
energy and his unswerving perseverance 
have gained him prosperity. He has done 
much to promote the general welfare by en- 
couraging trade and commerce and his 
career, both public and private, has been 
marked by strictest integrity and faithful- 
ness to every trust reposed in him. 



PETER WEFLER. 

In the land of the Alps, where men have 
ever been noted for fidelity, loyalty and 
valor, Peter Wefler was born, and well may 
he be prtnid of the fact that he is numbered 
among the native sons of Switzerland. His 
birth occurred September 29, 1823, his par- 
ents being Peter and Susannah Wefler. He 
is the eldest of seven children, the others be- 
ing Samuel, John, Christopher, Frederick, 
Katherine and Mary. Peter Wefler spent 
the first fourteen years of his life in the 
land of his birth and then came with his par- 
ents and their children to the new world. 
In August, 1837, they bade adieu to Switzer- 
land, taking passage on a sailing vessel, 
which, after a voyage of thirty-five days 
dropped anchor in the harbor of New York. 
They first located at Albany, New York, and 
in 1844 came to Ohio, settling in Stark coun- 
tv. A few months afterward they removed 
to Pickaway county, locating on a farm, 
antl our subject, leaving the parental roof, 
established a butcher shop in Circleville, 
where he carried on business for eighteen 



years, meeting with creditable success in his 
undertakings. On the expiration of that 
period he purchased a farm in Franklin 
township, Darke county, becoming owner of 
two hundred and twenty-four acres of rich 
land, wdiich he placed under a high state of 
cultivation. He operated that farm until 
1877, when he came to Newton township, 
Miami county, settling upon his present 
farm of one hundred and nineteen acres, on 
section i. In 1885 he erected one of the 
best barns in this section of the county. It 
is a bank barn, 40x84 feet. Other excellent 
improvements have been made upon the 
place, which is lacking in no modern ac- 
cessory or convenience. Everything is neat 
and thrifty in appearance, and the well tilled 
fields yield to him golden harvests which 
annually augment his income. 

In 1850 occurred the marriage of Mr. 
Wefler and Miss Anna Rudey, by whom he 
has seven children — Samuel, Charley, Har- 
riet, Catherine, Kate, Emma and Anna. 
The family is widely and favorably known 
in the community, their circle of friends be- 
ing extensive. In his political views Mr. 
Wefler is a stanch Republican, believing that 
the party principles contain the best elements 
of government. While living in Darke 
county he served as township trustee. He 
is a self-made man who started out in life 
empty handed and by determined purpose 
has steadily worked his way upward until he 
now stands on the plane of affluence, being 
the possessor of one of the attractive and 
valuable farms of Union township. 



SAMUEL FOLKER. 

Samuel Folker, a pension attorney resid- 
ing at West Milton, was born in Union 
township, Miami county, on the 19th of 



902 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



April. 1838. His father, John Folker, was 
l;urn in Montgomery county, Ohio, about the 
year 1808. He was a farmer by occupation 
and carried on agricultural pursuits in that 
locality for many years, meeting with credit- 
able success in his business. He held mem- 
bership in the Dunkard church and died at 
the age of seventy-five. His son, John 
Folker, also followed the plow and engaged 
in the tilling of the soil throughout his acti\'e 
business career. He came to Miami county 
in 1830, but in 1862 sold his property in 
this locality and returned to Montgomery 
county, where he died at the advanced age 
of eighty years and four months. He, too, 
gained a comfortable competence through 
his well-directetl efforts. In [jolitics he was 
first a Whig and afterward a Republican, and 
in religious faith was a Dunkard. He mar- 
ried Elizabeth Fry, who was probably a na- 
tive of Pennsylvania, but during her earh- 
girlhood she came to Ohio with her parents 
and died at the age of se\'enty-eight. She, 
too. held membership in the Dunkard church. 
Her father, Jacob Fry, was born in the Key- 
stone state and was of German lineage. 

Samuel Folker, whose name introduces 
this article, spent the days of his linyhood 
and youth upon the home farm and remained 
with his parents until he was twenty-tliree 
years of age. He then responded to the 
country's call for troops, enlisting on the 
22d of December, 1 861, as a member of 
Company D, Ninety-fourth Ohio Volunteer 
Infantry, in which he served as a private un- 
til September 20, i8C)3. At i\\2 l)attle of 
Chickamauga he was captured and taken to 
Libby Prison, where he was incarcerated 
for thirty-nine days. On the day of his cap- 
ture, which occurred on Sunday, between 
sunset and dark, he was wounded by a shell 
in the right leg, the tendons being severed, 



while the small bone was broken by the shot 
and protruded below the knee. This caused 
him to lose the use of the limb. He was in 
the following engagements : at Lexington, 
Perryville, Nash\-ille, Stone River, Hoover's 
dap and Decker's Station, and at the last 
named was wounded by a minie ball in the 
thigh, but the injury was slight and he was 
not off duty. At Bridgeport he had the rim 
(-f his hat shot away. At Looki.mt ]\h)untain 
he was slightly wounded in the left hand 
and at Chickamauga he was captured and 
after being incarcerated in Libb)' Prison for 
thirty-nine days he was paroled and taken 
to Annapolis, Maryland, remaining in the 
hospital there for about eleven months. On 
the expiration of that period he was sent to 
Columbus, Ohio, on account of his injuries, 
and was honorably discharged July 28, 
1864. 

Air. Folker then returned to West Milton, 
u here for a time he engaged in contracting 
and building. Subse(|uently he conducted 
a wholesale and retail cigar store and later 
took contracts for the building of pikes. As 
the years passed his capital was annually 
augmented, until, with a comfortable com- 
petence, he retired from active business life 
in 1884. 

In 1859 Air. Folker was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth Hoover, daughter 
of Abraham and Esther (Turnfall) Hoover. 
She was born in this township, September 
3. 1838. Her mother is still living, at the 
achanced age of eighty-eight years, and is 
the wife of Captain James Sowry. Her fa- 
ther was born in Carolina and in an early 
day came to Miami county. The marriage 
of Mr. and Mrs. Folker has l)een blessed with 
four children : Hettie, wife of David W. 
Macy. of West Milton; James W., a farmer 
of Union township; Charles W., a teamster 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



903 



residing in West Milton: and William E., 
who is engaged in carpentering in the same 
tciwn. 

Mr. Folker exercises his right of fran- 
ch.ise in support of the men and measures of 
the Repuhlican party and takes an acti\e in- 
terest in ijolitical affairs, keeping well in- 
formed on the issues of the day. He has 
ser\ed as a member of the city council, has 
been street commissioner for eighteen years, 
magistrate for six years — which is the limit 
of the term — and pension attorney since 
1890. He formerly was a member of Rouzer 
Post, of Tippecanoe, and became a charter 
member of Duncan Post, No. 447, G. A. R., 
of West Milton, in which he is now serving 
as commander. He is also a valued represent- 
ative of Milton Lodge,No. 577, F. & A. M., 
'and in his life exemplifies the benevolent 
arid fraternal principles of these orders. 



BERNARD B. SCARFF. 

Bernard Barton Scarfif was born in 
Bethel township. Clark county, Ohio, Feb- 
ruary 12. 1837. Soon after his birth his 
parents removed to Bethel township, Miami 
county. He was the son of Joshua and 
L}-dia ( Stouttemciyer ) Scarff, who removed 
from the Shenandoah valley, Virginia, in 
1832. with a family of four children. The 
father was a man of sterling integrity and 
deep religious convictions, and left Virginia 
because he hated slaxery. He married Lydia 
Stouttemoyer in January, 1819, and although 
he had a good farm in Virginia he was un- 
willing to raise his children under the 
shadow and influence of slavery. He died 
in 1842, leaving a family of eight children. 
His widow was a woman of indomitable en- 
ergy, frugal and industrious. She sent two 
of her sons to Granville College, wdiere they 



graduated with honor. The eldest, Eman- 
uel Scarff, held the position of president 
of a Baptist college in Pella, Iowa, for twen- 
ty-one consecuti\e years. The fourth child, 
James Madison, settled in New York and 
was pastor of the Baptist church at Bethany 
Centre, New York, for twenty-seven years. 
The other children secured a common-school 
education and settled not far from the old 
homestead. The mother, whose life and 
happiness consisted in labors and sacrifices 
for her children, died March 14. 187 1. 

Bernard Scarff worked on the farm left 
by their father, consisting of two hundred 
and eighty acres, in connection with his 
brothers, John and W. H. Scarff, until 1865, 
when the farms were divided by agreement 
among the heirs, B. B. Scarff receiving one 
hundred and forty-three acres. He was ed- 
ucated in the common schools of his dis- 
trict and followed farming until 1893. when 
he removed to the village of Tippecanoe in 
this county. While on the farm he made a 
specialty of small fruits and raising of fine 
sheep of the Hampshire Down stock, fre- 
quently making importation for his flock 
of sheep from England. 

On the iith of October, 1859, he was 
married to Harriet S. Neff, who was born in 
Lx3gansport, Indiana. Her father was a na- 
tive of Virginia and her mother was a daugh- 
ter of Rev. Archebald Steele, a pioneer citi- 
zen of New Carlisle, Ohio, who organized 
the Presbyterian church of that village about 
1810. Mrs. Scarff 's mother married a Mr. 
Stephenson and was soon after left a widow. 
She then married William Neff, by whom 
she had four children, who by her death 
were left motherless. Mrs. Scarff, then a 
child six years of age, was sent to relatives 
in this county and was reared by Jacob Saj'- 
lor, an aged and resi>ected citizen of Miami 



904 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



county, with whom slie Hxxd until lier mar- 
riage to B. B. Scarff. Their union was 
blessed with two children : Ida. May. who 
was born July g. i860, and married Webster 
Artz, is now Ii\-ing on the old homestead in 
Bethel township, this county; and Laura L. 
Scarff, wdiO'was born January 17, 1862, mar- 
ried John Paul Stetch, a printer and journal- 
ist. They are now residing in Rushville. 
Infliana. and he is tlie editor' of the Rush- 
ville Graphic. Both daughters received a 
good English education and are happily mar- 
ried. Mrs. Scarff has indeed been a help- 
mate to her husband and a tender, loving 
mother. With a competency of this world's 
goods, they are going down the hill of time 
with e\'ery prospect of a happy, pleasant old 
age. 

The writer has known Bernard B. Scarff 
from early boyhood to old age. and writes 
from personal knowledge of his early life, 
gladly bearing" testimony that there are very 
few men whose characters are so free from 
the stain of unworthy actions. He never 
sowed any wild oats ; from his early youth 
he was an active, consistent member of the 
Baptist church and in his old age he holds to 
the faith of that denomination. \Vhen liv- 
ing on the old farm he was for fifteen years 
school director in his district, and for three 
years one of the trustees for Bethel town- 
ship of this county. In 1889 he was elected 
on the Republican ticket as commissioner of 
Miami county for the term of three years, 
and so well did he serve the people that he 
was re-elected in 1892 and served out his 
second term. In 1893 he removed to Tippe- 
canoe City, this county, where he is now 
residing. 

In every position he has held bv the gift 
of the people he has been a faithful of- 
ficial, and if he made anv mistakes thev 



were those of the head and not of the 
heart. 

He is well known in the county and is 
everywhere respected for his kind heart, pure 
life and earnest desire to do \vliat is right. 
He is a devoted Republican, but not a bitter 
partisan in politics. In the course of na- 
ture his life's work is almost done, and they 
are not many who can look back over a life 
so free from mistakes as Bernard B. Scarff. 
With only the education that could be gath- 
ered in the common schools of Ohio forty- 
five years ago, his aim has been to do what 
he could for mankind. He has always been 
acti\e in every enterprise for the benefit of 
the farmers, and has been an active member 
of the Grange and County Horticultural So- 
ciety. He is also a prominent Mason and 
has filled responsible positions among the 
brethren of the mystic tie. Old age comes 
to him and his faithful wife like a beautiful 
sunset in a clear sky. for they have done what 
they could and await the summons from life 
to death in full faith in the promises of the 
Christian's God. E. S. w. 



LOUIS H. }>IICHAEL. 

Louis Henry Alichael. a representative 
of the building interests of Troy, was born 
in, Montgomery county, Ohio, March 12, 
1855. his parents being Andrew and Susan 
( Cutcher ) Michael. He had several uncles 
who were in the war of 181 2. His father 
was born in what was then Morgan county, 
Virginia, but is now a part of West Vir- 
einia. He died at the age of fiftv-five vears 
upon a farm in M<intgomery county, but the 
mother is .still living there, at the ripe old age 
of seventy-two. 

Mr. Michael, of this review, pursued his 
education in the public schools near his home 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



905 



and in liis youtli worked upon the home 
farm, but preferring not to devote his en- 
ergies tliroughout Hfe to agricultural pur- 
suits he went to Tippecanoe City at the age 
of sixteen to learn the miller's trade, which 
he followed through ten consecutive years. 
He then learned the trades of a stonemason, 
bricklayer and plasterer, following those pur- 
suits in Dayton, both in the employ of others 
and on his own account. He also carried on 
business in Indiana for a time, be'ing en- 
gaged on the construction of a number of 
important public buildings. In March, 1899, 
he came to Troy, where he had already se- 
cured a good business as a builder, his ex- 
cellent workmanship and his reliability hav- 
ing gained a reputation that made him known 
in this locality ere his arrival here. He has 
built for himself a nice residence on Sher- 
man street and expects to make Troy his 
permanent home. 

]Mr. Michael was married, in Hunting- 
ton, Indiana, to Miss Mary E. Miller, a 
daughter of Joseph Miller, a farmer of that 
locality. They now have two daughters, 
one being a stenographer in a lawyer's office 
in Troy, while the other is employed in the 
Sunshade Works. The family attend the 
Methodist church and occupy an enviable 
position in social circles. In politics Mr. 
Michael is a Republican. 



THOMAS M. THOMAS. 

A resident of Piqua, Mr. Thomas holds 
the position of heater in the rolling mills of 
that city and has served in that capacity 
since the opening of the mills — being rec- 
ognized as one of the most faithful and 
trusted employes of the company. He was 
born in South Wales January 11, 1835, and 
when aljout twelve years of age went to Tit- 



well, that country, where he began work in 
the rolling mills at the age of fifteen vears. 
He steadily worked his way upward, master- 
ing the business in various departments, and 
was thus employed until 1865, when he 
severed the connection which bound him to 
his native land and started for the new world, 
taking- passage on the ship Boston, which 
dropped anchor in the harbur of Xew York 
on the 8th of June. For two years he worked 
in rolling mills in Rome, New York, and 
spent a similar period in Syracuse. New 
York. Later he was employed in the rolling 
mills of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, for about 
three years, removing thence to Portland, 
Maine, where he also spent three years. 
When that period had elapsed he made his 
way to Cleveland, Ohio, where he secured a 
position in the rolling mills, but after a year 
he made bis way to Chattanooga, Tennessee. 
In a short time, however, he left that city 
on account of yellow fever, going to Cov- 
ington, Kentucky, where he worked in the 
mills for about seven years. After a short 
time passed in Findlay he came to Pic|ua, 
and from the opening of the mill has oc- 
cupied the position of heater. He has since 
served in that capacity and his faithfulness 
to his work is most marked. 

]\Ir. Thomas was married, in Wales, to 
Miss Elizabeth Jenkins, of Nother, South 
Wales, who came to America with her hus- 
band and died in Covington, Kentucky, at 
the age of forty-four years, leaving a son, 
Renzi, who is no^v engaged in teaching music 
in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He studied music 
under Professor Herman Coshmeyer, of 
Portlantl, Maine, and was afterward grad- 
uated in Stuttgart, Germany. He is a teach- 
er of both piano and organ music and is 
meeting with excellent success in the profes- 
sion. After the death of his first wife Mr. 



906 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



Thomas was again married, liis seccind union 
being with Miss Elizabetli Price, of Pom- 
ei'oy. Oiiio, and tliey had three chilch'en, but 
one (bed in early life. One is now study- 
ing music under her lirotiier's direction 
and displays considerable talent in that art, 
while Louis, who also possesses considerable 
musical talent, is learning the business of 
building pipe organs and pianos. 

^Ir. Thomas is a progressive and enter- 
prising citizen and gives considerable 
thought and study to the great problems 
which ;ire interesting the thinkers of to-dav. 
He is a Socialist, believes in co-operation 
and does all in his power to promote prin- 
ciples which will lead to the uplifting of man- 
kind and the establishment of better svstems 
of li\ing. 



, EDWARD McCONNELL. 

Edward McConnell has for the past 
twenty- foiu' years l)een foreman on the 
Miami & Erie canal from Bremen to Troy. 
a distance of twenty-eight miles. He is a 
resident of Piqua, his birth having occurred 
on South Wayne street February 22, 1850, 
ori the block north of his present home. His 
father, James Boyd McConnell, removed 
from Pennsylvania to Picpia when a young 
man and was married here to Miss Sarah 
Jane Carey, a daughter of Benjamin and 
Hannah fWinans) Carey. The mother was 
a niece of Frances Winans Statler. The 
W'inans were an old N'ew Jersey family who 
were prominent and respected pioneers of 
Miami county, where they located in 1807. 
Benjamin Carey was one of the pioneer con- 
tractors and builders of Piqua and died in 
this cit}- in 1877 at the age of seventy years. 
His wife survi\ed him some time and passed 
away at an advanced age. James B. McCon- 



nell. the father of our subject, resided in 
Piqua from the time of his emigration west- 
ward and died in 1889. when alxjut seventy 
years of age. His wife passed away some 
time previously. 

^Ir. McConnell, whose name introduces 
this sketch, learned the mason's trade and 
followed that pursuit in Picpia until 1875, 
when he began work on the canal. In 1877 
he was promoted to the position of foreman 
and in this capacity he superintended the 
labors of from six to eight men and ofttimes 
manv more. He has charge of the repairs 
of the banks of the canal, its waste gates and 
aqueducts, and has been an efficient and 
faithful officer of the state, respected by all, 
and has been \erv true and conscientious in 
the performance of his duties. Prior to the 
advent of railroads this canal was the great 
highway from Toledo to Cincinnati, and 
was of \ast importance in opening up the 
state to civilization. Between the years 1827 
and 1897 Ohi(j expended on repairs and col- 
lecting fi\e million, one hundred and twenty- 
two thousand, two hundred and twenty-nine 
dollars and forty-seven cents, and collected 
a total of six million, six hundred and sev- 
entv-two thousand, one hundred and seventy 
dollars and eleven cents. The total expendi- 
ture of 1897 was eighty-three thousand, si.x 
hundred and forty-two dollars and two cents, 
and the receipts were eighty thousand, two 
hundred and ninety-three dollars and four- 
teen cents. The suliject is now being greatly 
agitated as to doing away with the canal ; 
many think it should be turned into a great 
mill race, while many believe that it should 
be turned into a ship canal. 

Mr. McConnell was married, in Piqua, 
to Miss Margaret Ouinn, who was liorn in 
this city in 1856 and is a daughter of Robert 
and Lillie (McCullough) Quinn. both of 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



907 



wliom were natives of county Tyrone, Ire- 
land. They built the pleasant home in whicli 
Mr. and Mrs. McConnell now reside, the 
lady having there made her home since her 
tenth year. Her father died in 1877 at the 
age of fifty-four years, and the mother in 
1891 at the age of ninety-four. She was 
their only child and by her marriage she has 
two chikh-en, Lillie and James Boyd, the 
latter now a promising student in the high 
school. The parents are members of the 
Grace street Methodist Episcopal church, 
and in his political views Mr. McConnell 
is a Republican. Socially he is connected 
with the Odd Fellows Society and the Im- 
pro\ed Order of Red Men. He is a warm 
advocate of the principles and policies for the 
public good and is recognized liy those who 
know him well as a man of most kindly 
heart, of sterling worth and integrity, pure 
and incorruptible in all his business methods 
and relations. 



JOHN R. THORNE. 

John R. Thorne is the oldest photog- 
rapher of Piqua, having for many years con- 
ductetl a studio in this city. He was born in 
Culpeper county, Virginia, near Fort Royal, 
on the 22<\ of June, 1837, and is a son of 
Almalphe E. and Ann L. (Berkshire) 
Thorne. On the paternal side he is probably 
of English descent, at all events he repre- 
sents an old eastern family. His grandpar- 
ents. John and Sarah Thorne, were both na- 
tives of \'irginia, and the former was known 
throughout his locality as "Honest John," 
his integrity being proverbial. He conducted 
a mill and operated a large plantation, and 
in all his business dealings his word was as 
good as his bonfl. He lived to be alxiut fifty- 
five vears of age. His son, A. E. Thorne, 



was born and reared in the Old Dominion 
and liecame the owner of a flour and carding 
mill which was on his father's plantation 
and which he operated after his father's 
death. He wedded Ann L. Berkshire, who 
was also born in Virginia and was a daugh- 
ter of Judge Ralph Berkshire, who served 
for many years as circuit judge in his dis- 
trict. Mr. and Mrs. Thorne became the par- 
ents of five children, one son and four daugh- 
ters. The mother died when about fifty- 
five years of age and the father also has 
passed away. He had come to Piqua in 1868 
and was a well known resident of the city. In 
\'irginia he ser\ed as count)^ sherifif. In 
autc bcUum days he owned a large amount 
of land and many slaves, but during the 
war he lost much of his property and in con- 
sequence remo\-ed to the north. In his po- 
litical \iews he was a Douglas Democrat and 
in religious belief his wife was a Presby- 
terian. 

John R. Thorne, whose name introduces 
this record, sj^ent his bovhcjod days in his 
parents' home amid refining influences. He 
obtained a good education and in early life 
learned photography, following that profes- 
sion in Virginia until that state passed the 
ordinance of secession. He then went to 
Cincinnati with the intention of enlisting in 
the Union army, but was ill for several 
months, which prevented his serving with 
the Union troops. He then went to Indian- 
apolis, where he opened a photograph gal- 
lerv, which lie C( inducted successfully for 
about two years, when he returned to Cin- 
cinnati and engaged in the same business 
for three years. On the expiration of that 
period he sold out and in 1869 came to 
Piqua. where he has since conducted a gal- 
lery, his labors meeting with creditable and 
merited financial returns. Throughout the 



908 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



years lie has kept in tniich with the progress 
that lias been made in photography, and is 
not only the oldest establislied photographer 
of the city, but is also one of the leading 
representatives of the business here. 

In September, 1865, at College Hill, 
Ohio, occurred the marriage of Mr. Thorne 
and Miss Frances C. Sadd, a native of the 
Empire state, who came to Ohio in early 
girlhood. They now have three daughters, 
— Rose, Lelia and Anna. Mr. Thorne ex- 
ercises his right of franchise in support of 
the men and measures of the Democracy. 
He was appointed postmaster in July, 1885, 
serving for four years under President 
Cleveland's administration. He was ap- 
pointed United States ganger for this dis- 
trict in February, 1895, and still holds the 
office, discharging his duties with prompt- 
ness and fidelity. His wife and their daugh- 
ters are members of the Presbyterian church 
and the family is one of prominence in the 
community, enjoying the hospitality of the 
best homes of the city. 



ARTHUR E. BUTCHER. 

This gentleman is the present well-known 
secretary, treasurer and general manager of 
the Piqua Daily Despatch and Weekly Jour- 
nal. The latter is one of the oldest news- 
papers pul)]i?he<l in Piqua, having been es- 
tablished in 1855 by D. M. Fleming, who 
carried it on until October, 1899, when it 
was purchased by the Democrat Publishing- 
Company, and has since been under the con- 
trol of the fdlliiwing officers: L. C. Cron, 
president, and A. E. Butcher, secretary, 
treasurer and genera! manager. It is a well 
edited sheet, and is the official organ of the 
Democratic partv in Miami county, having 



a large circulation. It is an eight-page pa- 
per and is issued once a week, on Thursdays. 
Mr. Butcher was born in Indiana, in 
1864, and in that state grew to manhood, 
the greater part of his education being ob- 
tained in its public schools, though he at- 
tended the Uni\-ersity of Indiana for a time. 
On leaving school he turned his attention 
to the newspaper business and went to 
Georgia, where he started a paper called 
Americus — the first penny paper published 
south of ]\Iason and Dixon's line. He con- 
ducted it quite successfully from 1891 to 
1895. In the latter year Mr. Butcher ac- 
cepted the position of foreman with the 
Shon Printing House of Piqua, Ohio, and 
remained with them until 1899, when he 
accepted his present responsible position on 
the Piqua Daily Despatch. He is also con- 
nected with the Union City Times, of Union 
City, Indiana, being president of the com- 
pany publishing that paper. His skill and 
abilitv in his chosen field of labor is attested 
by the uniform success that has crowned his 
efforts, and he is to-day one of the leading 
journalists of his section of the state. As a 
citizen he has the good vi the community at 
heart and both personally and through his 
paper wields a wide influence. Socially he 
is a member of both the local and grand lodge 
of the Ancient Order of United Workmen. 
In 1884 Mr. Butcher was united in marriage 
with Miss Emma Brown, of Portland, In- 
diana. 



FR.\XK H. FRISCH. 

Frank H. Frisch is a well known mem- 
ber of the firm of Frisch & Hershey, who 
constitute the Piqua Flora Company. He 
v,-as born in Washington township, Miami 
county, February 25, 1871, a son of Fred- 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



909 



erick J. Frisch, wliose birth occurred in Ger- 
many. ^^'hen abimt thirteen years of age 
tile father came to America in company with 
two of his bnjthers and settled in Kentucky, 
where lie was employed as a common laborer 
for some time. Subsecjuently he came to 
Picjua, Oliio, and soon afterward purchased 
a small farm of thirty acres, three miles west 
of the city. This land he operated and later 
added to it a tract of twenty-one acres. He 
placed it under a high state of cultivation 
and made excellent improvements thereon, 
continuing its cultivation until 1893, when 
he retired from the farm and came to Pic|ua. 
Here he erected a residence in which he has 
since made his home, living retired at the 
age of seventy years. His political support 
he gives to the Republican party. Inde- 
fatigable energy and perseverance have 
brought to him a comfortable competence, 
which enables him to rest from the arduous 
business cares. He married Miss Margaret 
Hanaman, who was born in Germany and is 
still lix'ing. She is a member of the Luther- 
an church. In their family are four chil- 
dren: Maggie, wife of A. Nill, a farmer of 
Washington township; George W., a gar- 
dener near Dayton, Ohio; William F., a 
florist residing in Picjua; and Frank H. 

The last named remained upon the old 
liome farm through the days of his boyhood 
and youth and obtained his education in the 
public schools. \\'hen he was twenty- 
one years of age his father established him 
and his brother, William, in the floral busi- 
ness, which they conducted together, miv 
subject as manager until 1899, when he and 
his present partner, also his brother-in-law, 
purchased the business. They sell some to 
the wholesale _trade, but mostly to the retail 
trade and are enjoying quite a liberal pat- 
ronage, carrving a large and well selected 



stock of plants and shrubs and also sell cut 
fiowers. 

On the 3d of March, 1897, Mr. Frisch 
led to the marriage altar Miss Nettie M. 
Hershey, of Miami county, and they now 
have one son, Edwin Alfred. The parents 
are members of the Lutheran church and 
Mr. Frisch is a Republican in his political 
views, but has ne\-er l)een an aspirant ior 
otSce. 



CLARENCE G. SNOOK. 

Clarence G. Snook occupies the position 
of foreman in the trimming department of 
the Troy Buggy Works, and in the line of 
liis chosen vocation he has attained a repu- 
tation which has made him known through- 
out Ohio and far beyond the limits of the 
.state. His exceptional ability has contribut- 
ed in no small measure to the success of the 
corporation with which he is connected and 
which bears a verv enviable name in trade 
cir.cles on account of the superior workman- 
ship turned out in its many departments. 

Mr. Sncjok is a native of Kno.x county, 
Ohio, born December 24, i860. His father, 
John P. Snook, was a resident of Waterloo, 
New "S'ork, whence he emigrated to Knox 
county in 1848. He engaged in the hard- 
ware Inisiness in ]\It. Vernon until 1878, 
v.hen his life's laljors were ended in death. 
His father was Matthias Snook, and the an- 
cestry of the family, according to tradition 
partially verilied, was traced back to a Ger- 
man nobleman, who, owing to political dis- 
turbances, came to America and settled in 
New Jersey. There he and his sons lived in 
idleness until their patrimony was exhaust- 
ed, when the sons from necessity were forced 
to start out in life for themselves. Accord- 
ir.gly they went to New York, where they be- 



910 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



gan tiusiness. Jolm P. Snook, the father. 
of our sul)ject. married Miss Elizabeth Ben- 
nett, a native of Knox county, Ohio, and a 
dnugfhter of Jester and Nancy (Jones) Ben- 
nett, both of whom were natives of Ticon- 
deroga. New York, and came to Knox coun- 
ty, Ohio, about 1820. Tlie Bennett family 
has always been noted for their marked 
loyalty and patriotism and the old homestead 
farm of two hundred and fifty acres at Ticon- 
dcroga was a part of the old fort reserva- 
tion and was ceded by the government to 
Sylvanus Bennett, the great-grandfather of 
our subject, for meritorious service in the 
Revolution. It still remains in possession of 
some of the descendants. Jester Bennett 
was born upon that farm in 18D2, and after 
his arrival in Ohio, in 1820, devoted his en- 
ergies to farming and stock raising. Sub- 
sequentl)- he conducted a li\er}- and sale 
stable at Alt. V'ernon, wdiere he died in 1883. 
He was \ery active in political afifairs, being 
a leading member of the Whig party until its 
dissolution, when he joined the ranks of the 
Republican party. He was not old enough 
to enter the army in the war of 181 2, but two 
of his brothers served their cimntry in that 
Struggle. When the civil war was inaugu- 
rated Jester Bennett gave four of his sons to 
the Union and one of his sons-in-law also 
became a follower of the stars and stripes. 
The eldest. Captain Henry P. Bennett, 
served throughout the Mexican war, and in 
1849, at the time of the discovery of gold in 
California, he went to the Pacific slope, 
where he remained until 1852, when he re- 
turned to this state. In 1861 he enlisted 
in the Ninety-si.xth Ohio Infantry. Corporal 
George S. Bennett was a member of the 
One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio Infantry 
and went with Sherman from Atlanta to the 
sea. Dr. J. B. Bennett was a member of the 



Signal Coqjs and Murry Bennett served as 
a private. The son-in-law was Colonel B. 
A. F. Greer, of the One Hundred and Twen- 
tv-second Ohio Infantry. In the family of 
John P. and Elizabeth (Bennett) Snook 
were two sons and a daughter. The brother 
of our subject, Charles Lester Snook, died 
some years ago and left a widow and one 
son, who are now living in Mt. \'ernon, 
Ohio. The sister, Mary, is the wife of St. 
Clair Elliott, of Columbus, Ohio. 

Mr. Snook, whose name introduces this 
review, pursued his education in the public 
schools of Mt. \'ernon. Init put aside his 
text books at the close of the junior year 
in the high school in order to learn the car- 
riage trimmer's trade. He worked for sev- 
eral years in his native county and in Penn- 
sylvania. Kentucky and Indiana, coming to 
Troy in 1886. Here he entered the employ 
of the Troy Buggy Works Company, with 
which he has since been connected, and in 
1890 he was made foreman of the trimming 
department, having entire charge of that di- 
vision (jf the work and of the men who are 
employed therein. 

Mr. Snook was married, in 1893. in 
Troy, to Miss Anna Counts, a daughter of 
Davis and Rachel ( Lloyd ) Counts, of Troy, 
and a sister of Dr. Counts. Two children 
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Snook — 
-Adelaide Elizabeth and John Lloyd. The 
family attend the services of the Troy Epis- 
copal church and Mr. Snook is serving as 
vestryman. He takes a \-ery acti\-e interest 
in the promotion of religious and social af- 
fairs and was one of the originators and 
general sui)erintendent of the Sunday after- 
noon meetings held for men in the Troy 
opera house. There once a week the men of 
the city are provided the opportunity of 
hearing one of the noted speakers of the 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



911 



Slate, and many avail themselxes of the op- 
portunity. Mr. and Mrs. Snt)ok lia\e an at- 
tractive and prettily furnished home, in 
which a well-selected lilirary indicates the 
literary taste of the iiousehold. Socially Mr. 
Snook is a prominent Odd Fellow and has 
twice represented his lodge in the grand 
lodge of the state. He is also a meniher of 
the Knights of Pythias fraternity. His 
courteous dei)ortment, genial manner and en- 
t>.'rtaining conversation make him a \alued 
addition to social circles, and throughout the 
coiumunitv he has nianv warm friends. 



JOHN McKEE. 

To give the origin of the McKees, we 
go to Ireland as early as 1750, where we 
have first trace of the McKee family. John 
McKee. Sr.. came to America when a mere 
boy, settled in I'errv county. Pennsylvania. 
He had five sons and two daughters, Da\"id 
II.. John, James, Thomas, Samuel, Martha 
and Mariah. David H. McKee, l)orn Octo- 
ber 6, 1 79 1, married Agnes Reed, May i, 
18 1 7, moved to Ohio the same year, and set- 
tled in Spring Creek township, Miami coun- 
ty, Ohio, in June. By this imi(.in six chil- 
dren were born, namely : Martha, who mar- 
ried William \\'iley; ^lary Ann. who mar- 
ried Daniel Creegan : Eliza, who died single: 
Alathilda. wife of John W. Brooks; Penel- 
ope, who marrietl William J. Wiley; and 
John, who married Catherine Kerns, daugh- 
ter of Joseph Kerns, who was horn in Le- 
high county. Pennsylvania, November 25. 
1788, moved to Marylanil with his parents 
when a mere child, and thence went to Ohio. 
When of age he went to Kentucky, thence 
to Missouri, where he was a neighbor of 
IJaniel Boone and family, thence m(j\e(l l)ack 
to Ohio. In iSii Joseph Kerns enlisted as 



a soldier in the war of 1812 and was pres- 
ent with General Harrison when the treaty 
01 Green\-ille was made. At the close of 
the war. in October, 1814, he was married 
to Barbara Markly and this union was 
blessed with nine children: John M.. Clarin- 
da. Mary. Jacob, Elizabeth. Elias. Cather- 
ine. Stephen W. and Joseph. 

John McKee. who married L'atherine 
Kerns in 1847. 'i''^^' h\-es on part rif the old 
hiime of David H. McKee. To this union 
of John McKee and Catherine Kerns three 
children were born, Mary Agnes, David X. 
and Joseph W. David X. married Clara 
Knox and Joseph W. married Clara Hunter. 
Mary Agnes married Joseph E. Wilkinson, 
\v hose ancestry is traced back to the north of 
Ireland, near Antrim, whence his grandfa- 
ther emigrated. 

Joseph E.. a son of Isaac A. and Ruth 
I\ ( lu'c Persinger) Wilkinson, was born in 
Shelby county, Ohio, and is the youngest of 
six brothers. He was reared on a farm and 
remained with his parents until eighteen 
years of age, when he enlisted in the Ninety- 
ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry, Company C, 
the regiment being organized at Lima. The 
date of his enlistment was August i, 1862. 
He was with his regiment in the Kentucky, 
Tennessee and Georgia campaigns, and par- 
ticipated in the battles of Stone River and 
Chickamauga, one of his brothers being 
killed at the latter engagement. On Sun- 
day after this battle he was with a wounded 
comrade rendering him such assistance as 
he could, wdien he was captured by the 
Rebels, .\fter serving a long period of im- 
l)risonment he was finally released and re- 
tiu-ned home in March, 1865. He then at- 
tf-nded school for a time and prepared him- 
self for teaching, which profession he fol- 
lowed about eight years. In 1875 he mar- 



912 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



ried I\Iary A. ]\IcKee, of Piqua, Ohio, ami 
soon afterward located at Sidney, where he 
engaged in the lumljer and planing-mill busi- 
ness. In 1 88 1 he sold his interest in this 
i:idustry to accept the appointment of post- 
master of Sidney. Mr. \Vilkinson's family 
consists of his wife and three children, Kath- 
arine L., John A. and Thomas R. 

Having spoken of his long imprisonment 
during the war, it is fitting that we speak 
more fully of the' subject as one illustrating 
some of the horrors and barbarities inflicted 
by a people of pretended cix'ilization and cult- 
ure upon the helpless prisoners of war. We 
will present a sketch of Mr. Wilkinson's life 
in southern prisons just as he narrated it to 
us : 

"I was captured at Chickamauga, Sep- 
tember 20, 1863, and conveyed to Belle Is- 
land, \'irginia, where I was confined a few 
days. I was then taken to the city of Rich- 
mond, and confined there until in December, 
at which time it became understood there 
would be no further exchange of prisoners, 
and about five thousand of us were trans- 
ported to Danville, Virginia, and confined 
in toliacco houses until the fdllowing April. 
During our confinement at this place small- 
pox broke out among the prisoners and 
proved very malignant in type. Unfortunate- 
ly I was prostrated by the disease, but passed 
through it and acted as nurse for several 
weeks in what they called the 'hospital.' It 
did not deserve the name, for we had no 
medicines whatever, except red pepper pods, 
which we boiled and administered the tea to 
the sick with apparently beneficial results, as 
it seemed to hasten the striking out of the dis- 
ease. At this time there were twenty-three 
of my regiment with me, but, alas ! nineteen 
of the numljer died in the prison pen, and 
only four ever saw the old flag again. In 



April, 1864, we were removed to Ander- 
son\i]le, Georgia, a distance of about seven 
hundred miles. \\'e were transported over 
this distance in close box cars, there being 
from sixty to ninety of us in each car. The 
trip occupied seven days, and during that 
time none of us were permitted to leave the 
cars for any purpose whatever. When we 
reached Andersonville a number of dead 
men were found in each car. The sight of 
this new prison made many of the boys look 
down-hearted, as they contemplated the evi- 
dences of horrid cruelty, and thought of the 
governmental policy which refused exchange 
of prisoners. The cjuestion. Can we endure 
another eight months of this torture? was 
staring us in the face and demanding an an- 
swer we could not give. Arriving April 19, 
1864, we found but few prisoners on our ar- 
r:\-al, but each day brought in old prisoners 
from other places of confinement. Ander- 
sonville is situated about one hundred and 
sixty miles south of Atlanta, and is quite 
an obscure place scarcely worthy of a vil- 
lage name. The prison ]jen was out in the 
open field, in which a number of trees and 
slumps were yet standing. We made good 
use of the time laying in a supply of wood, 
which we buried in the ground, and then 
slept over it to prevent its being stolen. All 
the time our number increased by the ar- 
rivals of each week, until in August the num- 
ber reached thirty-five thousand. We re- 
mained until September, 1864, when the ad- 
vance of Sherman after the capture of At- 
lanta alarmed the Rebel go\-ernment touch- 
ing our safety, and it was determined to re- 
move us. We were then transported to vari- 
ous points in the south, about one-third be- 
ing sent to Florence, South Carolina, a 
similar prison, but one which proved e\en 
more destructi\'e to life than .Vndersonville. 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



913 



With many others I was sent to Charleston, 
South Carolina, and put in such a position 
as to defy our government, and prevent our 
army from further slielling tiie city. After 
being kept in this position about thirty days, 
we, too, were sent to Florence. Aly experi- 
ence at Andersonville is too horrid to relate, 
and almost beyond belief. It is sufficient to 
say, the rebel history makes this statement 
touching the fatality in the prison: April, 
1864, one in every sixteen died; May, one 
in every twenty-six ; June, one in every twen- 
ty-two; July, one in every eighteen; Au- 
gust, one in every eleven; September, one 
in three; October, one in two; and Novem- 
ber, one in every three. 

"Think of it for a moment. To realize 
it fully put yourself in our position and see 
the increase of the death-rate, until after 
risking a thousand chances you find in No- 
vember that the chances are even, and then 
think of that mortality which carried off 
thirteen thousand of our boys, actually 
starved to death in a land of civilization and 
plenty ! To add one more horror to the 
pictiu^e recall the infamous and diabolical 
order of John H. Winder, commander of 
prisons, who, hearing of the capture of At- 
lanta, and fearing for our safety, issued the 
following notice, which he posted promi- 
nently before the prisoners : 

'Order No. 13. 

'The officers on duty and in charge of 
the Battery of Florida Artillery at the time, 
will, upon receiving notice that the enemy 
has approached within seven miles of this 
post, open upon the stockade with grape- 
shot, without reference to the situation be- 
yond these lines of defense. 

(Signed) John H. Winder, 

Brig.-Gen'l Com'g.' 

"Think of a man issuins: an order for 



forty guns to open a deadly fire upon thirty- 
five thousand unarmed, sick and helpless 
prisoners ! It is an infamy so diabolical 
that history need not be asked for a parallel. 
It has been said that this man Winder 'died 
a peaceful death.' Perhaps so; in such case 
justice had not yet been meted out to him, 
and stern must that justice be which will ever 
pay him back in ciu"rency of his own coinage. 
At Florence the prisoners numbered aliout 
eleven thousand. ]\Iost of us had already 
been imprisoned about twelve months, and 
were wearing the same clothing in which we 
were captured. That clothing had become 
so ragged and tattereil that it scarcely cov- 
ered our nakedness. \\'inter was approach- 
ing and no prospects of release further than 
the advance of Sherman. Mortality was 
thinning our ranks, and our prison was a 
charnel house. Rations were reduced. For 
four months one pint of coarse corn meal 
was a daily ration, no salt or meat of any 
kind, and half the time no wood to cook it. 
All we could do was to mix our meal in 
water and drink it without boiling or other- 
wise cooking it. Such surroundings, such 
starvation and exposure told terribly against 
us, and the monthly mortality footed up fifty 
per cent. In my eighteen months prison life 
none was more severe than that at Florence. 
From Florence I arrived at Richmond, 
March 10, 1865, about one year after leaving 
it. We were sworn not to take up arms 
against the Confederate government until 
duly exchanged. Six hundred of us were 
then taken down the James river and turned 
over to United States officers. Quite a 
number of these were old prisoners. For 
myself, it had been eighteen months since I 
had seen the old flag beneath which I had 
marched and fought. We were all sick and 
weak, but as we came in sight of the starry 



914 



GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD. 



I.annei" we yelletl wildly and crazily at the tup 
of our \'i)ices. I'he rebel autlmrities threat- 
ened to ■pre^■ent our nutbursts of cheers. l)Ut 
we were iu s\ghx of our men and c<juld not he 
restrained. We told them we would }ell and 
ever}' one of us'kept our word. The ha])])i- 
est moment of my life was when I stepped 
ashore. Ste])pino- from the boat we were 
met ])\ northern ladies, who had ])rovided 
sandwiches and coffee for our reception. 
One of them — she seemed an angel — handed 
me a cup of coffee, whicii I gladly accejited 
and drank, but m\' stomach re\'olted at an 
article it lunl not known for a year and a 
half. The lady saw and appreciated my 
difficulty, and. as if 1 were her own child, 
she uttered the words 'P(jor fellow' so sym- 
pathetically that they almost overcame me. 



Those words were the first I had heard ut- 
tered by a woman from the time of my cap- 
ture, and tliey came like an angel's benedic- 
tion ! This is all long since passed, liut while 
memory lasts I will not forget that the pris- 
I ms of the south were inducted by heartless 
an.d murderous agents. It is needless to add 
anything to this brief recital. The words 
Convey horror enough. Init a more revolting 
chapter may be read between the lines. \\^e 
know the south, witii all the dignity of insult- 
ed pride, has denied the charge of inhuman 
treatment of war prisoners ; but the boys who 
suffered, as well as the thousands who died, 
attest the truth of the charge with an una- 
nimit}' which cannot be challenged by a 
reasonable man.'' 



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